British Retail Consortium (BRC) Study: Retail crime is costing the industry 20% of its annual profits, or $2.5 Billion a year
Crime and crime prevention cost the retail industry 12% more in the last financial year than the year before, the annual Retail Crime Survey has revealed. Losses from customer theft rose 31% to $917M. Of those surveyed, 70% regarded the police response to retail crime as "poor" or "very poor". It noted that 115 retail employees are attacked at work every day. Knife crime was also highlighted as a growing concern.

Chief executive of the BRC Helen Dickinson said: "Violence against employees remains one of the most pressing issues retailers face, yet once again we have seen an increase in the overall number of incidents. "We hope this report will act as a catalyst for police and crime commissioners around the country to take action. Retail crime should be explicitly addressed by police and crime plans. Furthermore, parliament must play its part in stemming this tide of crime by creating a specific criminal offence to protect retail employees from assault at work, as has been done for emergency workers." drapersonline.com

Nike Hit With Racial Discrimination Lawsuit
Third Wave of Racial Discrimination Suits
Nike Inc.'s corporate culture continues to face legal scrutiny almost a year after CEO Mark Parker admitted to internal behavioral challenges at the brand.

Ahmer Inam, who worked as a senior director in data analytics at Nike, filed suit against the company on Tuesday alleging it racially discriminated against him, The Portland Business Journal reported.

In the suit, the third in a wave of recent litigation the firm has faced alleging discrimination, Inam claims he was denied a promotion in favor of a white executive who had less experience. He further alleges a white co-worker with similar qualifications received a salary $75,000 higher than his, the Journal reported.

Among his other claims, the former Nike executive - who joined the firm in 2016 - alleges the company subjected him to a "pattern of hostile and intimidating treatment, which differed markedly from the way [his former supervisor] treated the white members of her team." Inam also claims a former supervisor criticized employees of color, didn't value their work and "generally [treated] them like second-class citizens," per the publication.

In August 2018, less than four months after an exposé in The New York Times described a "toxic" boys' club culture at Nike, two former employees, Kelly Cahill and Sara Johnston, filed a lawsuit against the sportswear giant alleging that it "intentionally and willfully" discriminated against women with regard to pay and promotions, and that its majority-male executives fostered a hostile work environment at its Portland, Ore., headquarters. (Since then, several other women were added to the suit as plaintiffs, and the group is seeking class action status for the claim.)

A second sweeping suit came in September when three Nike shareholders sued Nike founder Phil Knight, CEO Mark Parker and former Nike brand president Trevor Edwards, as well as the company's board, alleging that they "facilitated and knowingly ignored the hostile work environment that has now harmed, and threatens to further tarnish and impair, the company's financial position." footwearnews.com

Sam's Club Now - Walmart's Answer to Amazon Go?
CEO: What We've Learned From Cashierless 'beta lab' Store
The store is smaller than the average Sam's Club, and it has zero cashiers. Customers use their smartphones and an app to shop instead.

In the past few months, Sam's Club Now has tested new features for Scan & Go's cashierless checkout system and digital shelf tags, which are seeing wider tests.

Opened in November 2018, Now is a functioning Sam's Club, 32,000 square feet warehouse store in Dallas, Texas, where Sam's Club members can shop with zero cashiers.

Instead, shoppers use the Scan & Go functionality of Sam's Club's shopping companion app, adding items to their cart both virtually and physically. After they pick their items, they scan a bar code with the host, Sam's Club's new name for the employees posted at the exits.

Still, Now has as many employees in the store as a regular Sam's Club warehouse store does, when scaled down proportionally.

"They have time to talk to you and to serve you and to help you, where before they were wrapped up" in other tasks, Furner said.

Every four to five weeks, new functionality designed to be used in Now is put into Sam's Club's shopping app. If successful, it gets rolled out to the rest of Sam's Club's almost-600-store fleet.

Examples of this is Now testing adding all products in the store to the Scan & Go service - even beer and wine - and rolling out computer vision in the app in order to identify items without needing to scan a barcode.

"It was never designed to be, from our view, a format that we would expand. If we did, we'd make that decision later, but that's not why we did it," Furner said. "It was really just to learn." businessinsider.com

New Zealand: After Mosque Attacks, Immediate Ban of 'Military-Style' Guns
Government 'buy back' program could cost $140 Million
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban Thursday on sales of "military-style" semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines in the wake of a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 worshippers. Ardern said the sales ban was effective immediately to prevent stockpiling and would be followed by a complete ban on the weapons after new laws were rushed through. She said people could hand over their guns under an amnesty while officials develop a formal buyback scheme, which could cost up to 200 million New Zealand dollars ($140 million). nbcdfw.com

America's Cannabis & New Security Jobs
Part One

Green Team Opens Michigan & California Offices
to Manage Increased Marijuana Business

State & City Regulations Driving Growth for Integrators - Video -
Alarms & On Premise Guards

With the states and in California the cities setting the regulations for compliance they've been focused on three basic elements. Video, alarms, and access control. With the video storage piece being the one with the greatest variance between states. In the beginning a few were requiring up to six months of video storage. However now the general tendency is hovering around 30 - 60 - 90 days.

The one significant variance is Pennsylvania's requirement for facial recognition software.

The video principal applied seemingly nationwide is that anywhere the marijuana can be moved to or stored in must be covered by video.

As it relates to access control the states are requiring security guards in all locations. Whether it's an actual dispensary/retail store or a growth & cultivation facility. With a number of these facilities costing as much as $15 to $20 million dollars to build out. With the actual state license costing anywhere from $30k to $500K.

The application process is a lengthy extremely detailed process that requires an extensive security program/plan that could take thirty to sixty pages to complete, along with a physical security floor plan.

'Green Team Total Security Solutions'

Providing comprehensive security solutions specifically for the legal cannabis industry. With un-paralleled expertise throughout application and planning to execution and compliance and all other security related or effected aspects of your facility. We are a systems integrator and strive to be your security partner for the long term.

Learn more about Green Team Total Security Solutions here.

Thanks to Joe Malone, Jr., of Security Resources and Tony Gallo of Sapphire Risk for assisting with this series of articles.
 

211,000 Marijuana Jobs in U.S. & Is Booming
Marijuana is the fastest-growing industry in the US job market
The US added 64,389 full-time legal cannabis jobs in 2018, according to a new report from the cannabis website Leafly and the consultancy Whitney Economics. That represented a 44% increase in total positions, which rose to 211,000. That outpaces growth in other sectors in the job market.

And that's not counting jobs indirectly related to the marijuana industry, like lawyers, accountants, security consultants, media companies, and marketing firms. With those included, the report said, there were 296,000 payrolls in the sector last year.

The report estimated that jobs in the industry would grow by at least 110% from 2017 to 2020, outpacing what are often seen as the top sectors. Job openings in the cannabis industry listed on the careers site Glassdoor rose to 1,512 last year from 858 in 2017.  businessinsider.com

America, cannabis may be this year's brightest spot in retail.
Cannabis Sales Reach $10.5B in 2018
As of February, Colorado had 550 active retail marijuana licenses. California currently has 625 licensed retail locations, and Oregon has 606. Together, the three states alone rival the 1,981 U.S. Home Depot stores open for business as of Q3 2018. Legal in 10 states for recreation and medical usage legal in 33 states. A detailed analysis of the business itself. msn.com

The blunt truth: Cannabis retail is here - Detailed Perspective By Retail Dive

The Reality - Getting High at Work
Survey Shows 25% of Cannabis Users in Legal States Consume at Work
And it looks like a lot of you are still aren't out of the marijuana closet. A new study of cannabis users in Washington, Colorado, and Oregon found that 79 percent agree that marijuana is still viewed in a negative light.

Employers will be keen to note that one in four respondents said that they've gotten high at work, and that an equal percentage copped to using marijuana while on the job.

The study suggested that marijuana use across the population is evenly distributed in terms of age, marriage status, income, political orientation, race, and ethnicity. One area in which cannabis use skewed high was among men - the study found that cannabis users were about 60 percent male. hightimes.com

State Legalization of Marijuana Presents Thorny Issues for HR
● Next to alcohol, marijuana is the second most frequently found substance in drivers involved in fatal car accidents.

● Employees who test positive for marijuana have 55 percent more industrial accidents, 75 percent higher absenteeism and 85 percent more injuries than those who test negative for the drug. shrm.org

Vector Security is First Alarm Company to go Live with Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) in Roanoke, VA
Vector Security is the first alarm company to go live with Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) in the City of Roanoke, VA on March 12. ASAP is technology designed to automate communication between alarm monitoring central stations and public safety dispatch/911 centers. Electronic data transmission results in the following benefits for alarm users and first responders:

● Less phone calls to emergency response centers. Alarm center data is passed to public safety dispatch/911 operators electronically within seconds and then provided to first responders upon dispatch.

● Quicker processing times. Data doesn't have to be input manually or communicated verbally, resulting in reduced hold times, less chance of human error, and faster responses.

● Greater accuracy of information transmitted. Electronic transmission of data reduces chances for errors. vectorsecurity.com

StarKist Settles Tuna Price-Fixing Claims With Kroger, Others
StarKist Co. announced Friday that it has agreed to a settlement with Kroger Co. and other retailers to resolve allegations of a widespread tuna price-fixing conspiracy that have been the focus of multidistrict litigation in California federal court. StarKist didn't disclose financial details of the deal, which a Friday press release said would apply to claims brought by 33 companies, including Kroger. But the packaged seafood company said the agreement was another step toward leaving the price-fixing scandal in the past. law360.com

Report: Walmart to stop mobile price-matching
According to Business Insider, Walmart will stop offering Savings Catcher in its app on Monday, May 14. Savings Catcher enables customers to scan their Walmart receipt and have prices they paid automatically compared to advertised prices on the same items at other area retailers. If Savings Catcher detects a lower price from a competitor, it automatically issues the customer a Walmart gift card worth the total of the difference. chainstoreage.com

How Sears Lost the American Shopper
An oral history of its undoing from executives and employees who lived it
It was the 1970s and Sears was at its peak. It dominated American retailing. Its corporate headquarters was the tallest building in the world. A job at Sears was a ticket to a long and lucrative career. But rivals like Walmart were bearing down, shopping patterns were changing and Sears started making a series of wrong bets.

Over the last four decades, a succession of CEOs have tried to reinvent, reimagine and, finally, save Sears. One discussed merging with rivals Best Buy and Home Depot, talks not previously reported. Another opened the door to hedge-fund billionaire Eddie Lampert, who went on to slash spending with little investment in stores. Amid new consumer habits, technology shifts and Sears's own missteps, customers fled.

What were the turning points when it lost its grip on the American shopper? Here is the story, told by eight people who lived it (edited from interviews). Mr. Lampert, who is poised to steer a vastly shrunken Sears out of bankruptcy, declined to be interviewed. wsj.com

When Elon Musk Tried to Destroy a Tesla Whistleblower
It started with a Twitter meltdown and ended with a fake mass shooter.
A former security manager says the company also spied and spread misinformation.

By the larger-than-life standards of Elon Musk, the story was far from a blockbuster. On June 4, 2018, Business Insider reported that Tesla Inc. was scrapping or reworking 40 percent of the raw materials at the Gigafactory, its huge battery plant in the Nevada desert. The article cited a source who figured the inefficiency had cost Musk's electric car company $150 million, describing giant piles of scrap materials in the factory. Tesla denied the report, and a few hours later, the world moved on. The world, that is, except Elon Musk.

Cut to June 20. Tesla has identified the leaker as employee Martin Tripp and has sued him for $167 million. Later that day, Tripp heard from the sheriff's department in Storey County, Nev. Tesla's security department had passed a tip to police. An anonymous caller had contacted the company to say Tripp was planning a mass shooting at the Gigafactory.

When the police confronted Tripp that evening, he was unarmed and in tears. He said he was terrified of Musk and suggested the billionaire might have called in the tip himself. bloomberg.com

L.L. Bean Dodges Suit Challenging Return Policy Restrictions
A California federal judge on Thursday once again tossed a proposed class action that claims new limits on L.L. Bean Inc.'s century-old lifetime warranty violate consumer protection statutes, finding the company's most recent policy does not actually affect the customer's purchases.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said lead plaintiff William A. Shirley has not shown he was harmed by L.L. Bean's new return policy. The judge said the new one-year limitation policy that replaced the store's popular lifetime product warranty does not affect Shirley because it does not apply to purchases made before Feb. 9, 2018. law360.com

TJ Maxx Not Responsible For Shopper's Slip-And-Fall Injury
A Pennsylvania magistrate judge granted summary judgment to TJ Maxx Inc. on Friday in a shoe shopper's slip-and-fall suit, saying the shopper failed to make out a case beyond claiming that the store floor was "slippery." U.S. Magistrate Judge David Strawbridge granted summary judgment to the retailer in the suit by shopper Divya Varghese, who said that as she was trying on a pair of high-heels on April 30, 2016, a slippery floor caused her to fall. law360.com
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

New: Senior Director I, Security Posted For Walmart in Bentonville, AR
Senior Director, Risk & Strategy - Global Security
In this role, you will lead major change initiatives and strategies with multi scale teams employing analytical skills with the goal of accurately forecasting current and future security risk and formulating mitigation strategies in order to minimize or avoid identified threats. This process will include collecting information from multiple sources and generating insights and analysis in the form of finished products for use by security practitioners and corporate leadership. Finished analysis will inform the process of identifying solutions and mitigation strategies which will aid business decisions regarding avoidance or minimization of security risk.

Specifically, we are looking for candidates that have a desire to design a comprehensive Risk & Strategy program that determines the strategic approach for risk mitigation that employs analytical, statistical, and other research techniques in ways to provide meaningful insights and help our business to continually become stronger, more resilient, and reduce costs. walmart.com

Walmart Career Area: Corporate - Global Investigations and Security
Our Global Investigation and Security Team ensures safety for our associates, suppliers, and our shoppers - in our stores and in our offices. They investigate potential threats and risk, uphold safety protocol and procedure, and physically patrol our facilities, responding to emergency situations as needed.

 

Register Today! eBay's Connect & Collaborate Conference April 10th, 2019 in Draper, Utah Please join eBay's Global Asset Protection team for Connect & Collaborate 2019, our biennial opportunity to host some of the nation's leaders in combatting organized retail crime at the eBay facility in Draper, Utah, just fifteen minutes south of Salt Lake City. The event provides retailers, law enforcement, and eBay an opportunity to "Connect and Collaborate" on challenges, strategies, tools, and solutions related to organized retail crime. More details to follow, including an agenda and suggestions for travel accommodation. Please feel free to send the invitation to any Law Enforcement or Retail Investigator that would be interested in attending! Please send your RSVP by April 1st, with number and names of attendees, to: proact@ebay.com