More highlights from this week's virtual NRF PROTECT event

It's time to talk about racial equity

LP experts hold a candid conversation about fighting for change

Beyond the global pandemic this year, civil rights issues have been brought to the forefront and are reshaping the country. During NRF PROTECT ALL ACCESS this week, Debbie Maples, who leads loss prevention at Williams-Sonoma, and Keith White, global chief security and safety officer for Salesforce, spoke of their shock and disappointment with the events of the past few months, including the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Protests and demonstrations around the country have created a need and urgency for conversations about racial equity and justice. "I feel like I've never had more urgency and sense of responsibility to speak out and champion diversity and inclusion [and] equity in the workforce," Maples said.

While these types of conversations can be difficult, both White and Maples emphasized their need. White mentioned that, while people might have silently believed in racial justice and felt they were doing their part to encourage diversity, they are now speaking out and actively fighting for change.

This is the moment to lean in, they said: CEOs and team members alike must promote inclusion and equity, both within and outside of an organization. Maples encouraged driving awareness of a commitment to racial justice, citing research that 61 percent of shoppers prefer organizations with a solid position on diversity and inclusion. Read More Here


Loss prevention pros talk managing operations in the face of crisis
A panel session at NRF Protect this week on Managing Store Operations in the Face of Crisis and Critical Incidents included several loss prevention professionals discussing their organization's response to COVID-19, to social unrest, and to potential election impact on their operations.

Chris Nelson, VP Global Loss Prevention at Gap Inc. discussed his departments role in being creative with COVID-19 response and also using the lessons they have learned thus far into 2020 to get them through the fall. Nelson said that the loss prevention department at Gap is already doing tabletop exercises to continue to deal with future critical incidents. He anticipates impact from more social unrest and from the presidential election in November and they are poised to act, he says.

"Don't wait to get ready. It could happen now," Nelson says in response to a nugget of advice he has for other professionals. At one point during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Nelson talked about how his organization had difficulty sourcing some supplies such as face shields. His response? Over a long weekend, the loss prevention team went out individually and sourced 8,000 face shields for employees themselves. Being creative during these times and adapting to new challenges, according to Nelson, is something that loss prevention professionals have been known for and must continue during these times.

In addition, David Johnston, Sr. Director, Loss Prevention & Corporate Security/Dunkin' Brands Inc., said that his advice to loss prevention teams is to make sure their value is known across the entire organization. He says, that during this time in particular, it's an opportunity for loss prevention professionals and departments to demonstrate their value to the organization and particularly to the C-suite, to garner that seat at the table, ultimately allowing security professionals to build those necessary initiatives to keep employees and the organization safe and secure. Read More Here
 

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Continuing the Topic From NRF Protect & Today's Top Article
NRF Protect's Session 'The Quest for Racial Justice'
Which Debbie Maples, VP, Global LP Williams-Sonoma, and Keith White, Global Chief Security and Safety Officer Salesforce, just did an incredibly exceptional and passionate job with. Truly one of the highlights of the show and so timely that it should be mandatory watching for the entire industry once it is released.

WHARTON EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
Three Steps for Creating a More Equitable Workplace
Wharton's Stephanie Creary speaks with Kwasi Mitchell from Deloitte Consulting LLP about how company leaders and employees can contribute to diversity initiatives.

The impassioned protests for racial justice that have erupted across the U.S. in recent months have been an ardent call to action for many business leaders, pushing them to move quickly on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts within their organizations. But one expert warns that they shouldn't rush through the necessary steps.

Creating a more tolerant and just workplace takes time, said Kwasi Mitchell, Principal and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead at Deloitte Consulting, LLP.

Mitchell, who heads an initiative to advance more female, minority, veteran and transgender practitioners at Deloitte, offered his guidance during a segment of Leading Diversity at Work, a Knowledge@Wharton podcast series hosted by Wharton management professor Stephanie Creary, an identity and diversity scholar. upenn.edu
 

Protests & Violence

Breonna Taylor Decision Sparks More Protests as Leaders Urge Calm

Nationwide Protests and Arrests Continue for Second Night
Louisville, Ky., police faced off with protesters for a second night Thursday, as political leaders pleaded for calm. Protesters gathered at a Unitarian church in downtown Louisville, in a standoff with police after a citywide curfew. Police declared an unlawful assembly after protesters broke windows in Kentucky's most populous-city, according to the department's Twitter feed.

Marchers took to the streets for a second night in New York, Los Angeles and other cities in response to the announcement Wednesday that a grand jury indicted one police officer involved in Breonna Taylor's fatal shooting. The charges were related to endangering Ms. Taylor's neighbors, not her death - a decision civil-rights activists considered woefully inadequate.

Police arrested 127 people over Wednesday night and Thursday morning and identified 16 incidents of looting, interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder said at a news conference Thursday.

On Thursday night police made several arrests, including state representative Attica Scott, a Democrat who has called for justice for Taylor. "At least 24 people were arrested throughout the evening for charges including unlawful assembly, failure to disperse and riot in the first degree," the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) said in a statement. theguardian.com wsj.com

Louisville, KY: LMPD investigating 16 reported looting incidents
Louisville Metro Police say they are investigating 16 different incidents of reported looting stemming from Wednesday night. "These include Broadway, Preston, Outer Loop and Poplar Level Road." Some of the disclosed locations where looting took place include one-T-Mobile, two Gamestop, and two Walgreens stores. whas11.com

Pro-Trump activists plotted violence ahead of Portland rallies
Leaked chat logs show Portland-area pro-Trump activists planning and training for violence, sourcing arms and ammunition and even suggesting political assassinations ahead of a series of contentious rallies in the Oregon city, including one scheduled for this weekend. The chats on the GroupMe app, shared with the Guardian by the antifascist group Eugene Antifa, show conversations between Oregon members of the Patriots Coalition growing more extreme as they discuss armed confrontations with leftwing Portland activists, and consume a steady diet of online disinformation about protests and wildfires. theguardian.com

Los Angeles: Vehicle plows through protesters in Hollywood, hitting at least one person

Orange County, CA: Video shows sheriff's deputies fatally shooting Black man, sparking protests

Portland: Police declare unlawful assembly outside police union building, make 14 arrests

Seattle: Cop rolls bike over protester's head during Breonna Taylor demonstration

Minneapolis: Protesters, police face off downtown; no arrests

Governors in these states deploy National Guard in response to protests:
- Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky,  Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri

AP & NORC @University of Chicago: New Poll
Growing Disapproval of Protests Against Police
Compared to June, fewer Americans think that deadly force is more commonly used against a Black person than a white person or that police who cause harm need greater consequences.

A new survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that the major shifts in opinions on race relations observed shortly after the killing of George Floyd, have receded over the past several months. However, large gaps remain in the views of Black and white Americans, in the survey which was conducted Sept. 11-14, before Wednesday's announcement in Louisville.

The poll finds that 44% of Americans disapprove of protests in response to police violence against Black Americans, while 39% approve. In June, 54% approved.

Views of the protests differ by party identification with 70% of Democrats approving and 75% of Republicans disapproving. This partisan difference emerges even among white Americans: 72% of white Democrats approve of the protests while just 9% of white Republicans agree. Read the full poll

Defunding Police 'Foundations' Movement
Taking the defunding movement another step

Politico 9/18/20: New racial justice target : Defund the police foundations

Racial justice advocates are calling on corporations to sever their relationships with police foundations

Wall Street banks and other big corporations are under pressure to cut ties with nonprofit police foundations, which racial justice activists say are increasingly funding law enforcement practices that fuel violence against Black people.

Color of Change, an online racial justice group with 7 million members, is calling on the companies to sever their relationships with the foundations, which for some police departments have become a resource for surveillance technology, SWAT team guns, armor, drones and K-9 dogs. Critics say the gifts by the nonprofits to police departments escape public accountability.

The conflict underscores the perils of corporations taking public stands on social issues. Many of the companies have also pledged this year to fight racial inequality following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May, which sparked demonstrations nationwide and a movement to "Defund the Police." But they also have deep ties to law enforcement. Police foundations say much of the work they are doing is aimed at supporting their communities rather than equipping local police.

"Our end goal is to have an intervention on the funneling of private money into police forces and into policing," said Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns at Color of Change. "If the police foundations existed to raise money for the families of fallen police officers, we wouldn't say we need to abolish police foundations. It's the specific type of work that they're doing that we object to."

Some corporations are beginning to reconsider the support. Wells Fargo says it has paused donations, while other companies including Goldman Sachs have agreed to hold discussions with activists.

The companies facing heat from advocates have long records of supporting police foundations across the country, according to a report from the watchdog group LittleSis, public filings and information available on the foundation websites. politico.com

Editor's Note: Supporting your local police may have consequences. Regretfully reporting, Gus Downing

Texas & Florida Take a Stance
Texas Gov. Abbott Proposes Strict New Protesting Penalties,
Following Florida's Lead
Hitting a police officer with a water bottle would come with a minimum six-month jail term in the state of Texas under a proposal unveiled Thursday by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), along with a slew of other new, severe penalties for protesting that's viewed as going too far, in a very similar plan to one released in Florida earlier in the week.

Abbott announced the proposal during a news conference at Dallas Police Association headquarters Thursday afternoon, just three days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced proposed very similar new restrictions in the state of Florida. forbes.com

TX. Gov. Greg Abbott calls for new crimes, mandatory jail time for certain offenses related to protests

FL. Gov DeSantis Urges Lawmakers To Pass Protest Criminalization Bill By November