Robert Oberosler Announces Retirement After
'Blessed and Challenging 47-Year Career'

Bob Oberosler is retiring after nearly five decades of leadership in the loss prevention / asset protection industry. Among his many roles throughout his storied career, he has served as SVP Loss Prevention at Dollar Tree Stores, Group Vice President - Asset Protection at RITE AID, SVP Supply Chain at Pathmark Stores, VP at Lowe's, and VP LP & Safety at Robinsons May Department Stores.

In an exclusive statement to the D&D Daily, Bob said: 

It's time to ride off into the sunset and make way for the next generation. I want to thank the thousands of people that have helped and supported me during my days with Hecht Company, May California, Robinson's May, Lowe's Home Centers, Pathmark Stores, Rite Aid, Dollar Tree/Family Dollar.

I also want to thank the Loss Prevention/Asset Protection professionals and vendor partners for your help, support and collaboration. We face many hard challenges and having people you can trust makes a difference.

Click here for a list of people (my apologies for forgetting a few names - it was not intentional) that I owe a special thank you for your support and trust. In closing, there are few people I owe an apology for times I was not professional: I am sorry.

All the best to the LP/AP & Safety professionals and vendor partners. Be safe and God bless - and thank you to our military and first responders for your service.

The D&D Daily thanks Bob for his decades of leadership and wishes him the best as he begins this next chapter of his life!
 

It's 'Auror Week' on the D&D Daily! Follow along in the 'Vendor Spotlight' column all week as Auror  showcases what its up to at this year's RILA AP conference.

Is North Carolina the Nation's Model in Battling ORC?
North Carolina Wages War Against Retail Theft - But Federal Action Still Needed

North Carolina is taking action and chasing down organized retail crime as small and big retailers alike get rocked with heavy losses.

North Carolina has emerged as one of the nation's leaders in taking action against this specific theft. New legislation enacted in December makes the Tar Heel State one of the few to adopt serious laws addressing the crimes - and retailers are hoping it makes a difference.

In fighting organized retail crime, legislation is the key, said Maria Michel-Manzo, a division chief with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Comprehensive legislation has yet to be passed on the federal level - but North Carolina jumped to the forefront of the fight last year with the passage of a new bill.

The law, in effect as of December, takes multiple stabs at curbing theft and protecting retailers in the state. It creates a new Class F Felony for perpetrators who steal $50,000 and up from one or more retail stores over a 90-day period.

If $100,000 or more is stolen, the perpetrators could see a Class C felony charge with a sentence of between four and 15 years in prison.

"It gives [retailers] a stronger stick to swing with to protect them against crime," said N.C. Rep. Robert Reives, who helped pass the legislation. "It's a disincentive for theft and for these types of activities. And the more disincentives you put out there, the better off everybody is because a mom-and-pop may seem to feel the same thing as a Walmart."

In addition to stronger punishments, the legislation allows retailers to recoup damages for the property stolen as well as damage caused during the crime - such as broken windows.

It also makes an effort to curb online marketplaces from selling stolen merchandise.

The INFORM Consumers Act, focused exclusively on verification for third-party sellers, was passed by the U.S. Congress at the end of last year. A larger bill aiming to combat organized retail crime was introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year but has not yet progressed.  bizjournals.com


'Organized Looting' Hitting Delaware Retailers
But police lack the 'manpower' to deal with the theft surge

Retail theft continues to plague Delaware businesses
While retail theft continues to increase in Delaware, according to state police records, it doesn't seem to be happening at the level reported in some cities. At least one retail official says her stores see organized looting by groups.

Julie Miro Wenger, executive director of the Delaware Food Industry Council, which represents grocery and drug stores with a total of 12,000 employees, said that most of the retail theft they're seeing is from organized groups.

Retail theft in Delaware in 2023 is on pace to be higher than in recent years, state police records show. State police have had reports of 1,059 incidents of retail theft or shoplifting this year, he said. In 2022, it had reports of 3,319, up from the 2,477 incidents in 2020.

Police and business officials say that it's possible more theft is occurring, but with hiring problems in police departments, manpower is often steered to more serious crimes.

Mike Quaranta, president of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, said it's easier to see that larger companies have a big issue with theft, but the chamber also is still hearing from smaller companies that theft is an issue.

A small shop like a Rehoboth Beach bodega may not be seeing a higher rate of theft, but larger companies, including those national stores like Target and Walmart as well as regional companies such as ShopRite are reporting higher levels of theft, officials said.

Some stores have hired off-duty State Troopers to be on site, Hatchell said.

Quaranta, who is also the mayor of New Castle, said that he's spoken to police in his city, where he says employment shortages are making it harder for police to address all the retail theft they come across. townsquaredelaware.com


Mass Killings Carried Out With Guns Continues to Surge
But legislative action on the federal level continues to be unlikely

Frequent shootings put U.S. mass killings on a record pace

Only 2009 was marked by as many such tragedies in the same period of time.

The U.S. is setting a record pace for mass killings in 2023, replaying the horror on a loop roughly once a week so far this year.

The carnage has taken 88 lives in 17 mass killings over 111 days. Each time, the killers wielded firearms. Only 2009 was marked by as many such tragedies in the same period of time.

The bloodshed represents just a fraction of the fatal violence that occurs in the U.S. annually. Yet mass killings are happening with staggering frequency this year: an average of once every 6.53 days, according to an analysis of The AP/USA Today data.

The 2023 numbers stand out even more when they are compared to the tally for full-year totals since data was collected. The U.S. recorded 30 or fewer mass killings in more than half of the years in the database, so to be at 17 less than a third of the way through is remarkable.

From coast to coast, the violence is sparked by a range of motives. Murder-suicides and domestic violence; gang retaliation; school shootings and workplace vendettas. All have taken the lives of four or more people at once since Jan. 1.

Yet the violence continues and barriers to change remain. The likelihood of Congress reinstating a ban on semi-automatic rifles appears far off, and the U.S. Supreme Court last year set new standards for reviewing the nation's gun laws, calling into question firearms restrictions across the country. inquirer.com


"Most people say, 'I bought the gun to protect myself and my family against home invasion'"
Americans bought almost 60 million guns during the pandemic
One-fifth of U.S. households purchased guns during the pandemic, a national arming that exposed more than 15 million Americans to firearms in the home for the first time, academic studies show. Yearly gun sales are running at roughly twice the level of 15 or 20 years ago. Between March 2020 and March 2022, 18 percent of households bought guns, according to a NORC survey

All the new weapons may be fueling a historic surge in gun deaths, which reached record highs during the same period.

"It's a totally different type of gun ownership now," "It's not a rifle stored away somewhere that you take out twice a year to go hunting. It's a handgun, probably a semiautomatic handgun, that you keep in your bedside table or in your glove compartment, or that you maybe carry around with you."

"Five percent of Americans said they bought a gun for the first time during the pandemic, which is a huge number," Roman said. "Those buyers were younger, they were more likely to be renters, they were more likely to be women, they were more likely to be people of color."

With the nation awash in firearms, gun deaths are rising anew. Research by Fleegler and colleagues found that firearm fatality rates increased by nearly half between 2004 and 2021.

More Americans died from gun violence in 2020 and 2021 than in any prior year on record. Gun-related homicides and suicides totaled 48,830 in 2021. Shootings of children nearly doubled during the pandemic. thehill.com


Controlling 'Youth Gatherings' a Top Priority in Chicago
Commission aiding in police superintendent search will weigh candidate plans for controlling youth gatherings
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, now holding public forums to gather input on helping Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson select a new Chicago police superintendent, will consider ideas for managing large gatherings of youths downtown as it sifts through prospective replacements for the department's boss.

Anthony Driver Jr., president of the commission, said Thursday that strategies for crowd control, as well as "how to deal with youth and youth incidents," are among the commission's search criteria going forward as the group prepares to hand the incoming mayor a shortlist of names.

"There's a number of issues that we face in our city and, (with) each of them, we plan on asking superintendent candidates how they would handle the situation," Driver said. And that includes, he said, the type of chaos seen in the Loop last weekend, which police struggled to handle.

Driver noted that large-scale gatherings of young people in the downtown area are "not a new issue."

Still, handling such impromptu crowds of young people moved quickly up the list of issues on the minds of many who spoke to the commission this week at its latest public hearing. Teens and young adults were captured in viral videos blocking traffic, attacking passersby and jumping on a CTA bus in the heart of Chicago's tourist district, again putting an unwanted national spotlight on city crime. chicagotribune.com


Organized shoplifters are problem in Athens and N.E. Georgia

Teens, guns and mental health: Juvenile crime in El Paso getting more violent

New Laws Could Compromise Security Systems at Businesses & Homes 
Right-to-repair fight continues for security industry

The Alarm Industry Communications Committee and Security Industry Association continue to be concerned about RTR legislation compromising alarm systems. Laws have been considered in more than 40 states.

While right-to-repair (RTR) laws have been championed by consumer advocates, legislation tracking across dozens of U.S. states is still giving the security industry some heartburn.

The Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC), an arm of The Monitoring Association, continues to be concerned about RTR legislation compromising alarm systems by requiring the disclosure of lockout codes, passwords, system design schematics or other information to customers and third-party contractors attempting their own repairs.

The National Picture

RTR legislation is making its way across the U.S. and it does not appear concerns about security issues are being taken up by lawmakers. Several states have used the Repair Association's template as a basis for their bill. To date, some 40 states have explored such legislation in the last decade, and two dozen of them are actively considering bills this year, according to the Repair Association's website.

The Security Industry Association says a total of 80 RTR bills have been filed across the U.S. at the state level this year, and none of the bills include security exemptions.

Serious Risks

AICC and other industry members are trying to educate relevant state and federal lawmakers that if security codes, passwords, system schematics and other information for alarm systems are made available to the public -- however well-intentioned, "this information will inevitably find its way to those that would use it to defeat alarm services," Prendergast notes.

Bad actors could use the information to disable the alarm systems at businesses or homes, or devices intended for personal safety to prevent stalking. Even critical infrastructure could fall risk to terrorism through an alarm system being disarmed, he says. securityinfowatch.com


Walmart Shareholder Meeting to Hold Votes on Workplace Safety, China Risk
Walmart Inc shareholders will be asked to vote on a number of new proposals including revealing its exposure to China and conducting an independent review of its safety practices related to gun violence at its annual general meeting next month, a securities filing on Thursday showed.

The National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative group, urged Walmart to "report annually to shareholders on the nature and extent to which corporate operations depend on, and are vulnerable to, Communist China, which is a serial human rights violator, a geopolitical threat and an adversary to the United States."

Walmart asked shareholders to vote against the proposal, saying it believed the request for an "open-ended" annual report was "unwarranted," and that it has been transparent in reporting key business risks and following human rights policies.

Walmart does not break out sales in China, where it operates nearly 400 stores and clubs. It recently noted that it "still thinks it has a lot of runway" in the country.

The late Thursday filing also revealed a proposal from a Walmart worker, Cynthia Murray, who asked the company to "conduct a third-party, independent review" of the impact its policies and practices have on workplace violence.

Murray urged Walmart to review its existing workplace safety plans following a mass shooting incident in November at a store in Chesapeake, Virginia, where seven people were killed.

Walmart in response said such a report would not help uphold its commitment to protecting the health and safety of its associates and urged shareholders to vote against it. businessoffashion.com


Straight Out of a Hollywood Script: DoorDash Kidnapping Plot
DoorDash driver kidnapped at gunpoint while making delivery to Tampa hotel

Her family tracked her phone and tracked her down. Police said they'd made an arrest.

A DoorDash driver was saved by her family after she was kidnapped while making a delivery to a hotel in Tampa, Florida, police said. The delivery driver, a woman in her early 20s, was attempting to make a delivery on April 18 at a Residence Inn on W. Boy Scout Blvd., when a man armed with a gun approached her and forced her back into her car.

At the time of the kidnapping, the Tampa Police Department said in a press release: "The victim had AirPods in her ears and an open line with her girlfriend, who quickly realized that a robbery was occurring. The family of the victim called the police and officers were dispatched to the hotel."

The woman's family tracked her phone to the Belara Lakes Apartments on N. Waterford Avenue and rescued her from the car. The suspect fired multiple times, "with one shot striking a family member of the victim's girlfriend, a female in her 20s, before fleeing the scene," police said.

Both the DoorDash driver and the wounded woman were transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Julian Crowley, a DoorDash representative, said in a statement to Insider: "We are appalled by this heinous and abhorrent crime. No one should ever have to endure something as horrific as this and we're here to support the Dasher in any way we can."  businessinsider.com


Retail 'Racial Profiling' Investigation
Investigation launched as Black woman wrongly accused of theft at Aldi condemns store's 'racial profiling'
Aldi has launched an investigation into claims of racial profiling after a Black female customer was mistakenly accused of theft at one of its stores, The Independent can reveal. The woman was shopping in a branch of the supermarket chain when she says a white manager approached her and alleged she was a known shoplifter.

Eleanor, who does not want to use her full name for fear of backlash, had already bought her goods and was about to leave when she says the manager, flanked by a security guard, demanded to search her handbag.

She has now lodged a formal complaint of direct race discrimination and is considering legal action: "The manager racially profiled me; I am deeply distressed by what has happened."

Aldi later confirmed the incident was a case of "mistaken identity" and denied the staff member was racist, despite suggesting that the staffer may be sent on diversity training hours after receiving the initial complaint. It subsequently apologised and launched an investigation following enquiries from The Independent.

The security guard also said the reason the manager targeted Eleanor was "definitely because she is Black" and bemoaned racist conditions within the store among colleagues. independent.co.uk


Bed Bath & Beyond Store Closures Will Start Wednesday
Bed Bath & Beyond Files for Bankruptcy

The company, which failed to fully reckon with the rise of online shopping, said that store closing sales would begin on Wednesday.

Bed Bath & Beyond came out of the 2008 downturn a winner. While competitors like Sharper Image and Linens 'n Things filed for bankruptcy, Bed Bath & Beyond actually expanded its business by acquiring other retailers. Its home-goods emporiums full of towels and kitchen aids - all available at a reduced price with that Big Blue coupon - were beacons that kept shoppers coming back.

Now, as the U.S. economy experiences another period of uncertainty, Bed Bath & Beyond is no longer on top, the result of an increasingly unwieldy corporate structure and its failure to fully reckon with the ascendance of online shopping.

On Sunday, the 52-year-old retailer said it was filing for bankruptcy protection in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. It said it would start the process of closing the company's 360 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and 120 Buy Buy Baby locations on Wednesday and seek to sell parts of its business. In its Chapter 11 filing, the company said it expected all stores to close by June 30. nytimes.com


Luxury Spending Is Propelling New Store Growth, But Has It Peaked?
Luxury retailers are spending beaucoup dollars to dress up their U.S. presences. Major brands like Dior, Gucci and Hermès are expanding their footprints in prime urban locations like Madison Avenue in New York City and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. They're also exploring new stores in emerging hubs like Austin, Las Vegas and Nashville to cater to higher-income consumers.

Luxury brands largely have found success in expanding retail space. Global luxury conglomerate LVMH's U.S. sales grew 15% last year, and the U.S. market accounted for 27% of its overall revenue, despite rising prices caused by inflation.

But some of the gold may be coming off the lily. LVMH said U.S. sales at its top-shelf brands slowed in the first quarter. And U.S. luxury spending in March declined 18% to the lowest monthly rate in nearly three years as fewer people purchased high-end goods, according to credit card data from Citi.

Even so, the weakening market will allow strong, established brands like those owned by LVMH to grab market share, experts said. icsc.com


Lyft slashes 1,200 jobs amid a layoff wave expanding beyond tech

Most corporate economists do not expect a U.S. recession in the next year

UK Shoppers' Use of Contactless Cards Spikes 94% YOY & is #1 Payment Method

UK: Rainfall washes out retail sales in March


Last week's #1 article --

Home Depot Guard Mourned by Community After Fatal Shooting
Shooter: Licensed Security Guard With Criminal Past - Was Shoplifter & Shooter

(Update) Pleasanton, CA: Home Depot guard fatally shot by shoplifter; city grieves
A Home Depot employee set to marry this summer was fatally shot when he confronted a suspected shoplifter inside a store on Tuesday, according to authorities.

Blake Mohs, 26, was working at the home-improvement store when he confronted a woman he suspected of shoplifting, according to a release from Pleasanton police. The woman resisted and shot him; he was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

After the shooting, police said, the woman ran to a getaway car and fled along with the driver. After alerts were sent to nearby law-enforcement agencies with a suspect and vehicle description, the pair were detained by Alameda County sheriff's deputies in East Oakland.

The woman was identified Wednesday by Pleasanton police as Benicia Knapps, 32. Knapps, a licensed security guard with a criminal history involving theft, had attempted to steal a phone charger, according to witnesses.

The man and suspected driver is David Guillory, 31, police said. Alameda County jail records showed Guillory in custody Wednesday on suspicion of child abuse, as well as evading and obstructing police. mercurynews.com  sfchronicle.com  dailymail.co.uk