Why you need face matching technology now

New LPM article highlights how retailers deploy face matching software to prevent deadly violence, ORC loss

If you have any stake in preventing retail violence and ORC loss, you need to read Courtney Wolfe's face matching revolution article in the latest Loss Prevention Magazine.

Wolfe's wide-ranging piece covers:

• misconceptions about facial recognition technology
• real-world face matching wins from a senior LP executive
• thoughtful privacy/security balance insights from LPRC's Read Hayes
• the latest analysis of face matching best practices and trends from SIA's Jake Parker.

Wolfe also interviewed FaceFirst President Dara Riordan. "We partner with our clients to balance safety and privacy," Riordan said. "People deserve privacy, and we do offer that to the general public. They also want to be safe. Employees and customers deserve to know when a person who is a known threat has entered a store. They want their families safe."

Riordan cleared up one of the biggest misconceptions about the technology. "Many people hear the words 'facial recognition' and think the system knows everyone who walks in, or that it's matching them against a master database," Riordan said. "That's not the case, of course. Our clients' private databases are their own. They are only populated with individuals who are known to have caused loss or disruption to the business. They are not shared. Our clients have crafted appropriate use programs and oversight policies in partnership with us, and they have been hugely successful in reducing theft and mitigating violence."

Read the article starting at page 56 here, then check out the rest of the issue from Wolfe, new Vice President Stefanie Hoover, and the LPM team.

Here's the bottom line: Modern face matching technology transforms security cameras from passive, reactive tools to proactive, real-time violence prevention tools. FaceFirst's face matching software provides retailers with immediate notifications when ORC thieves, violent offenders, and other known threats enter—a vital situational awareness advantage when seconds matter.

Retailers using facial recognition software have matched active-shooter threats, disgruntled ex-employees, violent ex-spouses, members of ORC syndicates, murder suspects, arsonists, and sex offenders. They have also helped find missing Amber Alert children, missing elderly citizens, and human trafficking victims.

FaceFirst considers the use of AI with human oversight vital for retailers. Calculate the risks of being caught unaware when a known offender enters your store. If you knew there was a proven solution to keep your valued customers and associates safer from violent offenders, would you implement it? The real risk is answering no. FaceFirst's solution is fast, accurate, and ethical—take action today at facefirst.com.
 

Violent ORC Surge Could Keep Shoppers Away from Stores
Opinion: The plague of shoplifting is not harmless

The National Retail Foundation says stores lost $94.5 billion in revenue to theft in 2021. Experts say much of this was to fund larger crimes by selling products online.

The death of traditional brick-and-mortar stores has been prematurely announced for decades. Despite the convenience of online shopping, the tactile experience of in-person shopping remains popular. And that might continue indefinitely, unless the experience becomes too dangerous.

These thefts are dangerous to store workers and the public. The New York Post reported that an 83-year-old man died in a North Carolina Home Depot when he confronted a shoplifter, who pushed him to the ground. The man was an employee of the store. The Post also reported that a Rite Aid employee died in 2021 while trying to stop a shoplifter at a store in Los Angeles.

Business Insider reports that some stores are putting more products behind locked showcases. Others, such as Home Depot, sell power tools that won't work unless activated by store employees at checkout. The trouble is, many shoppers don't like these inconveniences, and that may drive them to online shopping, instead.

But experts say the items stolen in these large-scale shoplifting incidents tend to end up for sale online. And, eventually, the thefts will lead to greater inflation, as stores raise prices to cover their losses.

President Biden just signed into law the INFORM Consumers Act, as part of the giant omnibus spending bill. This law, supported by a wide range of retailers, requires online marketplaces to verify third-party sellers who trade in a high volume of products, and to disclose basic information on these sellers to shoppers and law enforcement.

Ben Dugan, president of the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail, said: "Criminals' ability to sell merchandise by way of e-commerce sites has made this increasingly difficult," he said. "The INFORM Consumers Act will establish robust consumer safeguards and equip law enforcement with the tools they need to crack down on illicit activity."

Whether that really happens remains to be seen. One thing is certain, the amount of money being stolen, and the danger to consumers, cannot continue to grow at its current pace. It would mean the real end to in-person shopping and a serious blow to consumer confidence at a time when the economy might need the opposite more than ever. deseret.com


Walgreens CFO Says Theft/Shrinkage Has 'Stabilized'
The company may 'step away' from hiring private security guards

Top Walgreens exec says threat of organized retail theft was overblown
A top Walgreens executive on Thursday acknowledged the company may have overblown concerns about thefts in their stores after shrinkage stabilized over the last year.

During an earnings call, the company's chief financial officer, James Kehoe, said shrinkage was about 3.5% of sales last year but that number is now closer to the "mid twos." He also said the company would consider moving away from hiring private security guards.

"Maybe we cried too much last year," Kehoe said. "We're stabilized," he added, saying the company is "quite happy with where we are."

Shrinkage is the difference between a company's recorded inventory on their balance sheet and its actual inventory. It primarily accounts for items that were shoplifted but also includes inventory that was damaged, lost or stolen by employees.

Over the last two years, Walgreens has been raising the alarm about increased theft. As a result, it hired private security guards and locked up merchandise so it can't be accessed without a store associate.

Kehoe said the company has spent a "fair amount" to crack down on the thefts but acknowledged the private security companies they've hired have been "largely ineffective." These guards can do very little but call law enforcement or hold a suspect until police arrive.

"We've put in incremental security in the stores in the first quarter. Actually, probably we put in too much. We might step back a little bit from that," said Kehoe. The company is using more law enforcement as opposed to private security, he added.

Other retailers, such as Walmart and Target, have said recently shrinkage remains a growing concern. cnbc.com sfchronicle.com


Dealing with Shopping Centers that Become Violent Hot Spots
Op-Ed: Can you blame a shopping center for a shooting?
The people who got on Baltimore City Councilman Kristerfer Burnett after the shooting in Edmondson Village on Wednesday morning might not know this, but he has been pushing for investment in that old shopping center for several years.

So, when gunfire erupted among high school students outside a fast-food restaurant in Edmondson Village, some residents dumped on Burnett about the lack of progress.

The suggestion, from both Burnett and his critics, is that conditions in the shopping center contribute to the problems there. Mayor Brandon Scott suggested the same thing: that neglectful ownership fosters and abides a fraught environment.

Some might think it odd or deflecting for public officials to reference the conditions of a shopping center in the aftermath of a mass shooting when those who squeezed triggers are solely to blame for the death of a 16-year-old boy and the wounding of four other students. And yet, that bit about conditions is not far-fetched. Conditions in a place, physical and behavioral, matter.

Some properties are, indeed, associated with crime. Using the city padlock law a few years ago, police shut down a Southwest Baltimore gas station connected to 16 mostly violent crimes within two years, including two homicides. Residents in Northeast Baltimore recently called for the shuttering of a gas station in the smartly redeveloped Northwood Commons Shopping Center after a 56-year-old man was fatally shot there.

The issue in Edmondson Village is different. It's not about shuttering a particular business. It's about the lack of investment and care. Burnett has been working on that for close to a decade, and his hopes now turn to the pending sale of the shopping center to a Chicago developer, Lyneir Richardson, known for turning them around.  baltimoresun.com

RELATED: Family of slain teen calls for justice, prayers after shooting at Baltimore's Edmondson Village Shopping Center


'Out-of-Control' Teens Driving NYC's Crime & Robbery Surge
Teen violence spiraling out of control in NYC, Eric Adams and NYPD warn
Out-of-control teens are committing a growing portion of the Big Apple's robberies, the NYPD revealed on Thursday — as Mayor Eric Adams warned that many city kids were headed toward a "career in violence."

During a briefing on last year's CompStat numbers, Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri said that 20% of robbery arrests during the fourth quarter involved "individuals under the age of 18," compared to 17% for the entire year.

"Under 18, robbing New Yorkers. The statistics are out there," he said ruefully.

Even worse, Lipetri said, "The trends continue on, unfortunately, with 10% of all shooting victims — 10% of all shooting victims in New York City — are under the age of 18.

Youngsters made up about 17% of the 9,942 robbery arrests last year, compared to 13% of those in 2021, according to NYPD data. In 2020, the statistics show minors accounted for about 19% of robbery busts.

That number was higher in pre-pandemic years, with those under 18 accounting for 27% of robbery arrests in 2019 and 23% of those in 2018, according to the data.

The disturbing statistics came despite what the mayor described as a turnaround from when he took office on Jan. 1, 2022, when "crime was on a trend increasing upward." "We're leaving 2022 with crime...trending downward," Adams said.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said there was an overall decrease in major crimes during the fourth quarter, as well as during "the current seven and 28 days."  nypost.com


Op-Ed: America's crime problem is real. Tackling it requires respect for cops

Seattle Credit Union to shut down locations over crime, cratering foot traffic



Progressive DAs Under Fire Amid Violent Crime Surge

Effort to Impeach Progressive DA Over Crime Surge
Court weighs halting Philadelphia prosecutor's impeachment
A Pennsylvania court is weighing whether to step in and stop the Legislature's impeachment proceedings against Philadelphia's district attorney, in a case that is part of a wave of efforts across the country to remove progressive prosecutors as violent crime rose nationally.

The separation of powers, and where legislative authority stops and the court's begins, were central to arguments in court over a lawsuit by District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, challenging the state Legislature's attempt to remove him from office. A four-judge Commonwealth Court panel, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, weighed precedent and authority in nearly two hours of arguments.

In his lawsuit, Krasner asked the court to halt the impeachment proceedings against him and declare not only that the Republican-controlled General Assembly lacks constitutional authority to remove local officials like him, but that the claims against him do not rise to the impeachable standard of "misbehavior in office." news.yahoo.com


Progressive DA May Stop Impeachment - But Attorneys are Fleeing Him
Exodus: Philadelphia Prosecutors Are Leaving Larry Krasner in Droves
There is an astonishing exodus afoot from the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, one of the prosecutors who took office on criminal reform platforms in recent years. Krasner has been criticized for his denial of any crime wave in the city despite other Democratic leaders complaining of the rising lawlessness (culminating this week with the carjacking of Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon at gunpoint). The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Krasner's office has lost 261 attorneys out of a staff of 340, including 70 prosecutors hired under his tenure. The office is described as in disarray with largely young, recent law school graduates carrying out the priorities and policies of Krasner. jonathanturley.org


Backers of new progressive Alameda County D.A. say they won't let her be the next Chesa Boudin

Los Angeles prosecutor pens scathing exit letter to progressive DA George Gascon

FTC Targets Noncompete Clauses
FTC Proposes Rule to Ban Noncompete Clauses, Which Hurt Workers and Harm Competition

Agency estimates new rule could increase workers' earnings by nearly $300 billion per year

The Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule that would ban employers from imposing noncompetes on their workers, a widespread and often exploitative practice that suppresses wages, hampers innovation, and blocks entrepreneurs from starting new businesses. By stopping this practice, the agency estimates that the new proposed rule could increase wages by nearly $300 billion per year and expand career opportunities for about 30 million Americans.

The FTC is seeking public comment on the proposed rule, which is based on a preliminary finding that noncompetes constitute an unfair method of competition and therefore violate Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. ftc.gov

   RELATED: Here's what the FTC proposal means for businesses and workers


1st Retail Bankruptcy of 2023?
Bed Bath & Beyond Prepares to File for Bankruptcy Within Weeks

Retailer's stock plunges after it expressed substantial doubt about its ability to stay in business

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy within weeks after the home-goods retailer came up short on sales during the critical holiday season, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The retailer is in the early stages of planning for a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the discussions could extend into February, these people said. Bed Bath & Beyond warned earlier Thursday that it might file for bankruptcy protection and that it has substantial doubt it can stay in business after enduring another quarter of deep losses and slumping sales.

Bed Bath & Beyond stock closed down 30% on Thursday at its lowest level in decades after the company said it was running low on funds and considering several options, including seeking relief in bankruptcy court. It said that sales for its third quarter, which ended in November, are expected to fall by nearly a third and that losses are expected to widen nearly 40% to $385.8 million. wsj.com


Bay Area Recovers From 'Bomb Cyclone'
Storm causes significant damage in Bay Area as region braces for more wet weather
It will take days if not weeks to clean up from the major storm that pummeled the Bay Area this week, after strong winds and heavy rain caused thousands of downed trees, hundreds of flooded roadways and hammering waves at the coast.

The storm, the product of a bomb cyclone over the Pacific Ocean and a persistent atmospheric river, was unleashed over a wide swath of California, killing two people — including a toddler in Sonoma County — and injuring several others.

Coastal areas took a beating as heavy surf, high tides and runoff combined into a destructive force Thursday, inundating homes, with Santa Cruz County seeing a wharf and two piers damaged.

And there's still more to come, with a series of storms through Jan. 19, according to the weather service. The forecast calls for the first to arrive on Saturday. sfchronicle.com


Submit Your Proposal for GSX 2023
With over 13,000 attendees and 250 world-renowned speakers, GSX is one of the world's largest security events. It's the ultimate industry meeting place where members of our community can connect, learn, inspire, and grow as professionals—and individuals.

We are honored to invite you to submit a proposal to present and share your expertise at GSX 2023. The proposal submission deadline is 23 January 2023.

Visit www.gsx.org/call-for-presentations to review proposal requirements, topics, and the submission process.  gsx.org

   Click here to see more of this year's upcoming conferences on the Daily's LP Event Tracker


Morphe closing all 20 of its U.S. stores

Stitch Fix cutting jobs, founder returns as interim CEO

Saving money is top of mind for shoppers: Kroger survey

U.S. economy added 223K jobs in December

 
Quarterly Results

Walgreens Boots Alliance Q1 total sales down 1.5%
   U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment comp's up 3.8%, sales down 3%
   U.S. Pharmacy comp's up 4.8%, sales down 4.2%
   U.S. Retail comp's up 1.4%, sales up 0.8%
   International segment sales down 10.8%
   Boots UK pharmacy sales down 0.9%, retail comp's up 8.7%, sales up 4.3%

2023: A Year of Challenges for Cybersecurity Chiefs
Cyber Chiefs Face Scrutiny and Challenges in 2023's Uncertain Economy

Security heads must find ways to balance costs & responsibilities with fewer resources

Security chiefs will likely be told to do more with less in 2023, as economic uncertainty batters budgets and companies brace for a potential recession.

While cyber vendors have seen their funding squeezed and have cut staff, security functions at major companies have mostly been spared the worst belt-tightening moves so far, chief information security officers say.

"Security is a function that's nonnegotiable in many places. At least to some extent, the business understands that you can't take that out," said Mandy Huth, vice president of cybersecurity at bathroom fixtures manufacturer Kohler Co.

Even if security budgets stay intact or remain flat, inflationary pressures have forced some suppliers to raise prices. That leaves security teams, in real terms, working with fewer resources, Ms. Huth said.

Worsening economic conditions may also pressure CISOs to be more careful with their resources and technology. With tighter budgets, closer scrutiny is likely, she said.

"Nobody's asking us to cut, but there's certainly I think going to be a conversation about efficiency," said Ms. Naidoo, now head of cloud strategy and innovation at cybersecurity vendor Netskope Inc.

Even large, established companies with the financial muscle to expand security teams, and which plan to do so in 2023, say they face uncertainty. Retail giant Amazon.com Inc. hopes to grow its security team, said Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt, despite a company-wide hiring freeze and layoffs for up to 10,000 workers elsewhere in the company. Mr. Schmidt expects to be able to hire for critical roles at first, and possibly for more roles in later months. wsj.com


Officials Warn of Russian Cyberattacks
CISA director: US needs to be vigilant, 'keep our shields up' against Russia

A top cyber official warned the U.S. against possible Russian cyber threats as the war in Ukraine drags on.

The U.S. needs to remain vigilant in efforts to protect against potential Russian cyberattacks as the war with Ukraine presses on, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly said Thursday.

Although Russia has not made a significant cyber strike against the U.S. to date since invading Ukraine last year, Easterly said "we can not assume that won't happen going forward."

Easterly also urged an incentive structure shift that would push companies to prioritize cybersecurity at the outset of designing products and services. The current ecosystem puts the burden on consumers who have the least understanding of threats and are the least prepared to defend themselves, she said.

"If you're putting the onus back on the consumer, you already lost," Kurtz said during the same panel.

Asked about a potential ban on TikTok, the video-sharing app owned by Chinese-based ByteDance, Easterly declined to give a forthright answer but noted the "ongoing debate" and said to be mindful about giving "deep access" to companies that are not focused on U.S. well-being. thehill.com


235 Million Twitter Accounts Hacked
Email addresses linked to 235M Twitter accounts leaked in hack
More than 200 million Twitter accounts, including email addresses, were leaked this week, raising privacy and security concerns. Alan Gal, the co-founder of Israeli security firm Hudson Rock, reportedly first uncovered the leak and took to social media to alert the public.

"The database contains 235,000,000 unique records of Twitter users and their email addresses and will unfortunately lead to a lot of hacking, targeted phishing, and doxxing," Gal said on LinkedIn. "This is one of the most significant leaks I've seen," he added.

This is the latest data breach involving Twitter. In August, Twitter said that a hacker had exploited a bug in its system and was attempting to sell personal data they had obtained. thehill.com


Backups Under Attack
Data backup is no longer just about operational fallback
Data backup has traditionally been in the operational domain of IT, while security teams have been responsible for threats to data from attacks. As these attacks have become more sophisticated, backups have come under threat and vendors have had to incorporate new features into their software to address attacks and protect data, according to Info-Tech Research Group.

With many backup and recovery companies now referring to themselves as data protection (DP) platforms and with a list of new terminology and features representing a new paradigm in the backup world, staying on top of the new terms and features is complex. As well, repeated references to data security and data protection compliance make it difficult for IT teams to understand the impacts on the business and data protection strategy. helpnetsecurity.com


Fraudsters' working patterns have changed in recent years

Rackspace Sunsets Email Service Downed in Ransomware Attack

Fencing Operation - Selling Stolen Goods from Major Retailers
Portsmouth, VA: Stolen goods from Virginia stores resold through Portsmouth business
Re-selling goods online stolen from Hampton Roads stores for nearly three years—it's what federal court documents detail with three people behind an operation based in Portsmouth. Two of the three individuals are about to be sentenced. The store was known as "Bargain Empire," and was located in a shopping plaza around High Street and London Boulevard. In October 2021, the three were indicted by a grand jury on charges including conspiracy, money laundering, and interstate transportation of stolen property. Meanwhile, one nearby business owner revealed to News 3 what he saw when this was taking place. "It was constantly busy out here," the owner of Passions Exclusive Cutz and Stylez told News 3. The owner of Passions was learning more about his former neighbors Rashid ElHassani, Adil ElHassani, and Laura Ortiz. To me, they were good people," the owner of Passions said.

But Wednesday, he learned the three are named in a federal case with documents stating the three conspired to sell and transport stolen goods in interstate commerce. This is said to have taken place over a nearly three-year period from January 2018 through December 2020.

"I just thought it was, when they first came, it was like a consignment shop," Passions' owner told News 3. "A lot of people came [and] brought stuff in boxes." Documents state shoplifters would steal goods such as power tools, printer ink cartridges, electronics, and shaving razors from stores like Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe's in Hampton Roads. Those shoplifters took the items to where Bargain Empire was located. There, the defendants paid for them in cash, knowing that they were stolen, and listed them for sale online through accounts on eBay and Amazon. According to court records, eBay and Amazon accounts linked to the defendants had more than $5,000 in interstate sales of merchandise. In December 2020, court documents show a search warrant was executed at Bargain Empire and two storage units in Hampton tied to Ortiz. Inside Bargain Empire, police seized thousands of items, including printer ink cartridges and power tools. This included a generator and saw linked to a Lowe's on Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth. Meanwhile, inside the storage units, police seized items like laptops, electronics, and razors. Other items in the storage units included an upright vacuum linked to a Home Depot in Virginia Beach and a Chromebook linked to a Best Buy in Newport News. wtkr.com


Atlanta, GA: Man nabbed while stealing $22K worth of items from Saks Fifth Avenue in Buckhead
A burglar is accused of stealing more than $22,000 worth of high-end items from Saks Fifth Avenue inside Phipps Plaza. Atlanta police said they were called out to the store shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday when a security guard said a man "wearing all black, was seen on surveillance cameras walking around the store taking items and placing them into a suitcase." That's when officers began doing a sweep of the men's section of the store on the second floor. During the sweep, police said they found the burglar in the shoe section stockroom. Investigators identified him as Zabare Royale, 33. Officers said he was able to get into the store through an emergency exit. Police said they recovered luggage that Royale was seen with, as well as some of the high-end merchandise that totaled over $22,000. Investigators said Royale also had a bookbag with him that contained a wire cutter, hammer, screwdriver, and other items.  ajc.com


Snohomish County, WA: Deputy charged with Felony theft / Organized Retail Theft from Home Depot
A former Snohomish County sheriff's deputy was charged Wednesday with repeatedly stealing from a Home Depot near Everett where he worked as security. In late October, Jeremie Zeller, 46, resigned from the sheriff's office before a disciplinary hearing, spokesperson Courtney O'Keefe said. He was previously placed on administrative leave in September. Zeller had worked at the sheriff's office since April 2017. The deputy now faces allegations he committed second-degree organized retail theft, a felony. The deputy had reportedly worked at Home Depot dozens of times this year. In eight separate instances in August and September, prosecutors allege Zeller stole merchandise from the store. The merchandise was worth between $857 and just over $1,000. Under state law, the criteria for felony organized retail theft is $750. Zeller's method was similar each time, an internal sheriff's office investigator wrote in the search warrant last year. He would take items from shelves and place them in an orange Home Depot bucket. He'd then place the bucket behind a desk with a note saying it was for him. Later in his shift, he'd take the bucket to his sheriff's office patrol car without paying, according to charging papers. heraldnet.com


Twin Falls, ID: 2 Facing Grand Theft Charges in $1500 theft from Walmart
Corbin G. Hawker, 21, and Robert Williams, 32, were charged after Walmart security notified police that two men on Dec. 11 loaded two shopping carts with merchandise and went through self-checkout, only paying for food items with a food assistance card, records say. More than $1,500 worth of items were taken, a Walmart employee said, including a drone, hoverboards and license plate cameras. magicvalley.com


Smyrna, TN: Suspects Wanted for Theft of Merchandise at Ulta

Racine, WI: Man accused of stealing a car and over $1,100 in merchandise from Kohl's