In an internal staff memo sent to store security, Barneys New York says it will start monitoring the police as they monitor shoppers in its flagship New York City store, the Associated Press reports.
According to the memo obtained by the AP, Barneys will start keeping a log of which police officers use its security room and also maintain video and audio surveillance of the room used by the officers to monitor video of the store.
In addition, the memo states that any officer using the room to watch customers must provide "a reasonable description of the individual or individuals that they wish to place under surveillance and the reason the police wish to place such individuals under surveillance."
These changes in security at the high-end retail store come after two black shoppers said they were racially profiled earlier this year.
Trayon Christian sued Barneys after he says he was accused of fraud when using his debit card to buy a $349 Ferragamo belt in April. Kayla Phillips filed a notice saying she would sue after she was stopped by detectives outside the store when she bought a $2,500 Celine handbag in February, the Associated Press reports.
Last week Barneys released findings of a commissioned probe that found that the luxury store did not have a written or unwritten policy of profiling customers based on race and did not initiate any police action against the two customers, AP reports.
New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has said that officers don't just hang out at department stores but are there investigating crimes, and that in both cases, the NYPD took action against the shoppers after conferring with store employees.
Read more at the Associated Press.