Bunnings has switched on facial recognition technology at two of its stores. It marks the start of a phased nationwide rollout, with the hardware brand saying it will be used to protect staff and customers and to reduce theft by repeat offenders amid an increase in "threatening incidents". The first two stores to use the technology were Bunnings Te Rapa and Hamilton South. The technology would eventually be rolled out nationwide. As the rollout began, Bunnings shared a series of CCTV videos showing violent incidents at its stores across the country. One, taken from a Bunnings in Porirua, shows a man approaching staff with a knife as he pushes two trolleys full of items out of the store. Another, taken in Takanini, shows a person smashing into a Bunnings worker with a large box before running away. Meanwhile, another person picks up one of the boxes. Footage from New Lynn shows a man following a worker, waving his hands. When another staff member steps in, the man charges at the employees with a basket, bowling them over. Two more workers approached the scene and were also forced away by the man. A video from Bunnings Palmerston North showed a group of customers trying to stop a person pushing a trolley out of the store. When someone pulls them away, a brief scuffle breaks out on the floor before they flee out the door. Footage from the carpark of Bunnings Takanini showed a person being punched after getting out of their car by a hooded man and being chased away. Bunnings New Zealand general manager Melissa Haines said the technology was a "tool that helps us address the rising problem of violent, threatening and abusive behaviour and high-value theft, identify serious repeat offenders and act early to prevent incidents". “Threatening incidents