CLEAR Day 3 Recap: Value-Packed Event Comes to a Close

Law Enforcement and Retail Asset Protection professionals convened on the final day of the TalkLP produced CLEAR / FLEPRU conference, ready to recharge after an AMAZING Day 1 & Day 2 of educational content, investigative tactics and collaboration.

This highly anticipated sold-out event concluded with insight and uplift that left attendees excited about applying their new learnings in the field. Sessions included:



See you in 2023!!!

More Highlights from CLEAR Day 3


 

More Than 1 in 6 Mass Shootings Since 1966 Happened in Retail Settings
Kroger, other supermarkets ponder what to do about mass shootings

More than 1 in 6 mass shootings since 1966 have taken place in a retail setting with supermarkets becoming an increasingly popular target.

More than 1 in 6 mass shootings since 1966 have taken place in a retail setting with supermarkets becoming an increasingly popular - and deadly - target, according to the Violence Project, a nonprofit research group in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Three of the most deadly supermarket attacks have occurred in the past three years: the mass shooting at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo that killed 10 early on May 14 this year, the 10 killed in Boulder in early 2021 and the shooting that killed 23 in a Walmart in El Paso in 2019.

Advocates hope gun reform signed into law this summer slows the tide of violence.

Meanwhile, Kroger and other retailers are reluctant to make sweeping changes that could be costly, disruptive to the shopping experience or offend a significant number of the millions of customers it handles every day. Cincinnati-based Kroger says it last changed its gun policy to make customers feel safer in 2019 but won't discuss how it enforces it or its security measures in general. Lopez said her store in Boulder installed an exterior exit near her shop after the Boulder shooting.

The company and other retailers face a handful of lawsuits in the wake of past shootings. But lawsuits generally don't demand Kroger adopt specific safety measures. And it's not clear what a supermarket could do. No one wants to go through a metal detector in order to grab a gallon of milk. Some grocery stores are adding armed security guards, which can make shoppers uncomfortable.

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Crime Continues to Push Stores Into Closing & Reducing Hours
Downtown San Francisco Whole Foods Slashes Store Hours Due to 'High Theft'
and Hostile People
A Downtown San Francisco Whole Foods Market slashed its operating hours due to "high theft" and hostile people, according to one of the store's managers.

As of Oct. 24, the store-located at 1185 Market St.-is now opening an hour later and closing two hours earlier: from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"It's to better serve our customers, and it's more or less because of the area and security issues," said the store's manager, who asked to remain anonymous. "There's just high theft and people being hostile."

The store has a large security presence, with at least three guards at any given time, but it apparently hasn't been enough to limit incidents of theft.

"I've got so much security-we're spending more on security than any other store I would imagine," the manager said.

Whole Foods spokesperson Alyssa Patterson said in a statement that the Mid-Market location adjusted its schedule to "focus on serving our customers during the most in-demand hours."

The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Retail theft in San Francisco has been an ongoing issue for years, as other stores in the city are also grappling with a surge in stolen merchandise. sfstandard.com

Stores & Police Team Up to Fight Theft
Asheville, NC: APD and local retailers team up to fight shoplifting
After a reduction in the number of incidents reported to the Asheville Police Department in 2021, the shoplifting numbers are rising again. As of Oct. 23, 1,094 such incidents had been reported in the city this year, compared with 971 for all of 2021. Still, the 2022 numbers are slightly lower than those for the same period in both 2020 and 2019.

Under state law, larceny involving items valued at up to $1,000 is typically considered a misdemeanor; beyond that threshold, it's a felony.

In June 2021, the APD announced that, due to staffing shortages, officers would no longer respond to calls for a number of crimes, including "theft under $1,000 where there is no suspect information." But that doesn't mean they want the public to stop reporting such incidents, stresses Davis. Instead, businesses and individuals are encouraged to self-report via the department's online system.

Big-time crime

Several big-box stores, including Target and Walmart, have reported over 100 incidents each. While neither store was willing to discuss the specifics of those thefts, Robert Arrieta, senior manager at Walmart Media Relations, said the retailer is "committed to working with local law enforcement officials."

The police, he explains, were able to work with those stores both because of the large number of thefts they've had and because they already had strategies in place, such as high-quality camera and security systems and dedicated loss-prevention professionals on staff, that would help ensure arrests could be made. mountainx.com

Retailers & Law Enforcement Brace for Holiday Crime
'Going to get you': How Mentor police are protecting shoppers during holidays
As we hit the holiday season, shopping comes to mind for a lot of us, even for our local law enforcement.

The city of Mentor is one of the top retail destinations in the state, netting their economy around $1.9 billion a year in sales. That's why Mentor Police Captain Mike Majernik said his team is turning to their retail theft deterrence program to protect shoppers.

"We want to make sure our businesses feel safe as well as our people feel safe when they shop," Majernik said.

Since 2014, Mentor police have used some simple but efficient moves to catch retail theft quickly. This includes deploying plain-clothed officers and patrolling parking lots in marked cars. The program has proven to be a huge success.

Majernik has a message for the community regarding this year's holiday season. "Don't come to Mentor to steal, we are going to get you. One way or the other, we want people to know you are safe in Mentor to shop during the holidays," he said.

Mentor police also wanted to point out that thieves are usually looking to steal high-value items, so make sure you are careful not to leave those items in plain sight in your car. fox8.com

San Francisco PD to Step Up Presence After Store Owner Uproar
Cotopaxi reopens SF store as CEO apologizes for slamming city on break-ins
Just three weeks after posting a viral message on LinkedIn slamming San Francisco as a "city of chaos" following a year of repeated break-ins, outdoor apparel store Cotopaxi reopened to the public on Thursday.

In a new LinkedIn post, the Utah-based company's owner, Davis Smith, apologized for the uproar his initial message caused.

Smith says while he didn't intend for it to cause controversy, it did catch the attention of local leaders. He says he's since had productive meetings with Supervisor Dean Preston and the San Francisco Police Department.

"They've agreed to come into Hayes Street and have more of a presence there, which I think everyone is excited about," Smith said. And that increased police presence is already getting noticed by other businesses in the area too. They tell ABC7 News, it's giving them more peace of mind.

Because he hopes this time, Cotopaxi is staying open for good. "We really, obviously, hope that this is lasting. That we can have a lasting change, but we need to do a better job as a city, as police, as neighbors and everyone to kind of get together and figure out solutions," said Smith. abc7news.com

Security Guard Killing Prompts Protests in Baltimore
Protestors gather after security guard kills man who threw a brick
Protestors gathered by the dozens and eventually number more than 100 hundred to protest the death of a man by a security guard. The Baltimore police responded to a large crowd protesting outside of a Baltimore Highlands bar Tuesday, calling for justice for a man who was killed last weekend.

Police said the security guard, who is under investigation and has not been identified, claimed that 35-year-old Kevin Torres threw a brick at him, causing him to fire his weapon around 1:30 a.m. Monday outside the ChrisT bar in the 4000 block of East Lombard Street.

Protesters carried a "Latinos Lives Matter" sign and chanted "justice for Kevin" in Spanish.

Torres was the third time in recent weeks that a private security guard has shot someone in Baltimore. On Oct. 30, police said security guard Kanisha Spence shot and killed 26-year-old Marquis Powell as he was being held back by another woman. Spence, 43, of Baltimore, faces charges of attempted murder, assault and weapons violations.

On Oct. 23, a security guard at a CVS in Harbor East shot a shoplifting suspect who threatened him with a syringe. No charges have been brought in that case. privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com

San Antonio dessert shop shuts down store due to violent crime in area

State crime-fighting plan will focus on city crime that carries over into the counties

US: 99.8M Cases - 1M Dead - 97.3M Recovered
Worldwide: 639.5M Cases - 6.6M Dead - 619M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 813

COVID Cases, Hospitalizations & Deaths

Worker-Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit
Supreme Courts rejects plea from NYC workers who lost their jobs due to COVID vaccine mandate
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Thursday rejected an appeal from New York City workers who are challenging the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The workers include firefighters, teachers, police officers, sanitation workers and others who lost their jobs after the city rejected their request for a religious exemption to the COVID vaccine mandate. They filed an emergency application to Sotomayor requesting that the court temporarily stop the city from enforcing the vaccine mandate while the group challenges the city in a lower court.

In a legal filing to the Supreme Court last week, the workers argued that New York City violated their right to "freely exercise their faith by forcing them to choose" between keeping their jobs or taking the vaccine against their "sincere religious beliefs."

Lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom, said in their filing that while they await a decision from the Second Circuit, their clients "are suffering the loss of First Amendment rights, are facing deadlines to move out of homes in foreclosure or with past-due rents, are suffering health problems due to loss of their city health insurance and the stress of having no regular income, and resorting to food stamps and Medicaid just to keep their families afloat." foxnews.com

Good News for Retail's Return to Normalcy
Fears of catching COVID lowest since summer of 2021: Gallup
Less than 30 percent of Americans are currently worried about catching COVID-19, marking the lowest total reported since June of 2021, according results of a new Gallup poll.

At that time, 17 percent of Americans reported being worried about catching the disease compared with 28 percent who said the same in October 2022.

The results also found 6 in 10 Americans are not attempting to isolate themselves at all, while a new record, 78 percent, advise healthy individuals to live life normally to avoid interruptions to work and business.

Findings come as the World Health Organization reports a 90 percent decrease in global COVID-19 deaths since February 2022. However, around 2,000 Americans continue to die from the disease each week and around 3,400 individuals are admitted to the hospital for the condition each day, according to CDC data. thehill.com

COVID-Fueled Worker Shortage Across the Pond
UK Says 500,000 Drop Out of Work Due to Ill Health After Covid

At least 500,000 British workers dropped out of the labor market due to poor health since the pandemic, adding to the difficulty companies report in finding staff.

About 2.5 million people cited long-term sickness as a reason they were unable to work this summer, up from 2 million in early 2019, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday. Those reasons include chronic illness and mental health issues, with the largesst increase reported by younger people aged 25-34. bloomberg.com

Elon Musk ends remote work at Twitter after mass layoffs

U.S. set to face third Covid winter, this time without key tools and treatments

How My Company Balances In-Person And Remote Work Post-Covid

Workers Are Burning Out Fast
In a Deskless Economy, What do Workers Want?

49% of frontline managers are feeling burned out on a daily basis.

Frontline managers are critical but burning out-fast

The research shows that 49% of frontline managers are feeling burned out on a daily basis. As the single source of truth, they are relaying often key information in-person, via text or other messaging systems that aren't organized, trackable or optimized. This means there's no way to ensure messages are getting to the right people at the right time, both from corporate to employees and feedback that's moving in the other direction. This is, at best, an ineffective way to operate and, at worst, detrimental to any culture that claims to prioritize communication.

Misalignment is leaving fundamental employee needs unmet

Organizations want employees to understand the "why" behind their work but it's a two-way street. Frontline workers have a "why" too, and without equitable compensation, steady schedules, adequate support or a dependable way to communicate when things aren't right-all identified as significant happiness drivers for workers-success and satisfaction will continue to stay out of reach. ehstoday.com

Walmart Discrimination Lawsuit
Walmart was ordered to pay $420,000 after firing a worker with Down syndrome

A judge ordered Walmart to pay the worker $420,000 and rehire her, citing disability discrimination.

A federal judge has rejected Walmart's request for a new trial related to a disability discrimination lawsuit. The retailer had previously been ordered to pay more than $400,000 to a former employee with Down syndrome for firing her for "excessive absenteeism" after changing her schedule.

In July 2021, a federal jury determined that Walmart had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it fired Marlo Spaeth, a sales associate at a store in Wisconsin, in July 2015. She had worked for the company for close to 16 years.

A federal jury awarded her $125 million in damages, though the judge later reduced this to $300,000, the maximum amount allowed under federal law. In March, Walmart was also ordered to pay Spaeth a further $119,660, including back pay, and to rehire her. businessinsider.com

Target pivots to larger stores with new 150K-square-foot format
Target is introducing a new large-format store that will stand at around 150,000 square feet, which would make it roughly 20,000 square feet larger than its average, according to a company release.

Juul lays off 400 staffers to cut costs as the vaping company faces growing setbacks

These 10 companies may be at risk of bankruptcy
 

DOJ Continues to Wage Global War on Cyber Threats
DOJ: Russian and Canadian National Charged for Participation in Lockbit Global Ransomware Campaign
NEWARK, N.J. - A Russian and Canadian national has been charged with participating in the LockBit global ransomware campaign. Mikhail Vasiliev, 33, of Bradford, Ontario, Canada, is charged by complaint unsealed today in Newark federal court with conspiring with others to intentionally damage protected computers and to transmit ransom demands in connection with doing so. He was arrested Nov. 9, 2022, is awaiting extradition proceedings to bring him to the District of New Jersey.

"International ransomware threats like LockBit are the most pressing cybercrime challenge facing law enforcement today," U.S. Attorney Sellinger said. "These attacks cause disruption and damage to their victims that far exceed the dollar figures of ransom demands or payments, which are themselves significant. However, the United States is up for this challenge and will use all legal means to find the perpetrators of these attacks and bring them to justice."

"This arrest is the result of over two-and-a-half-years of investigation into the LockBit ransomware group, which has harmed victims in the United States and around the world," Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said. "It is also a result of more than a decade of experience that FBI agents, Justice Department prosecutors, and our international partners have built dismantling cyber threats. Let this be yet another warning to ransomware actors: working with partners around the world, the Department of Justice will continue to disrupt cyber threats and hold perpetrators to account. With our partners, we will use every available tool to disrupt, deter, and punish cyber criminals."

"Cyber criminals who damage protected systems, exploit privileged information, or hold for ransom important files and data are a threat to our way of life," FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said. "The FBI will not stand idly by while companies and government entities are bled dry or while their systems are corrupted by these criminal opportunists. We will utilize every tool in our arsenal - including our global partnerships - to shut down these types of schemes." justice.gov

Avoiding Cyberattacks & Catching the Attackers
Opinion: The ransomware threat demands global answers
President Biden's administration brought together 36 countries and the European Union for the second round of the Counter Ransomware initiative. This year, the private sector was included, too. The event represents the closest, most concrete collaboration among nations on an issue that none of them can tackle alone. The key to stopping criminal hacking gangs is to turn their trade unprofitable.

This challenge comes in two parts: avoiding attacks and catching attackers. The most obvious thing businesses and governments can do to thwart ransomware groups is to bolster their defenses. Participants in the summit have agreed to create a task force that will put together best practices for shoring up systems generally. The task force will also exchange intelligence on cyberthreats so that systems will be better equipped against specific incursions.

A vulnerability discovered anywhere, with the right kind of communication, can be patched everywhere. Criminals who hold computers hostage for cash will also be discouraged if they can't move the money they demand. Hence the summit's well-placed focus on anti-money-laundering standards for the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including know-your-customer rules.

The cryptocurrency questions require not only potent defenses but also offensive strategies. Ideally, countries will share information about "wallets" that bad actors use to launder their gains, as well as ways to trace stolen funds to ransomware actors' accounts - with savvier nations instructing the less experienced in how to follow the money.

Perhaps the most important decision from the summit is tucked into a single sentence: Members, the official readout declared, will "work together to increase political costs on countries that harbor and enable ransomware actors." The statement reveals the inherent challenge that could impede the success of any conference like this. Willing nations have come together to take action, but without some help from the as-yet unwilling, progress will prove difficult. washingtonpost.com

Amazon & Microsoft Customer Data Exposed
Amazon, Microsoft Cloud Leaks Highlight Lingering Misconfiguration Issues

Cloud storage databases, often deployed as "rogue servers" without the blessing of the IT department, continue to put companies and their sensitive data at risk.

A string of household names lately have been responsible for misconfigured cloud storage buckets overflowing with wide-open data - once again shining a light on a cybersecurity problem for which there seemingly is no plug.

Just last week, security researcher Anurag Sen revealed that an Amazon server had exposed data on the viewing habits of Amazon Prime members. During the same period, news and media conglomerate Thomson Reuters acknowledged that three misconfigured servers had exposed 3TB of data through public-facing ElasticSearch databases, according to Cybernews, which revealed the issues.

And In mid-October, Microsoft acknowledged that it left a misconfigured cloud endpoint open that could expose customer data, such as names, email addresses, email content, and phone numbers.

And indeed, the leaks are caused by a variety of misconfigurations rather than any bugs - ranging from insecure read-and-write permissions to improper access lists and misconfigured policies - all of which could allow threat actors to access, copy, and possibly alter sensitive data from accessible data stores.

"The main concern with this kind of leak is the high impact, and that is why the threat actors go after misconfigured storage [servers] and buckets," says Ensar Şeker, CISO at SOCRadar, the cybersecurity firm that discovered the Microsoft issue. "Once they discover [the accessible data], the bucket might ... contain huge amounts of sensitive data for one tenant [or] numerous tenants." darkreading.com

Farewell to PA-DSS: A Tribute to a Foundational Standard
On 28 October 2022, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) formally retired its Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS). As one of the first standards and programs of its kind, PA-DSS laid the groundwork for software security in the payment industry and has served the payment industry's needs for more than 14 years. blog.pcisecuritystandards.org
 
Remote work pushes video conferencing security to the fore

Compliance initiatives can advance your organization's security journey

Riverdale, UT: Multi-state baby formula theft ring busted in Utah
Surveillance video is showing an alleged multi-state baby formula theft ring that came to an end in Utah. According to police, the scheme involved a group of women wiping store shelves clean during a time when it's already hard to find formula. For Utah parents, a grocery run for formula can often turn into a hunt with barely-stocked shelves at many stores. At the Riverdale Target in late October, it became a heist with quite a haul when Riverdale Police said three women and a 15-year-old girl dumped basket-fulls of formula into a large plastic tote that they also found in the store. Surveillance video shows the teen girl and a woman in one aisle, looking around as the woman picks up formula to put into a basket while in the next aisle over, another woman puts a basketful of formula she's holding the into a 45-gallon tote. The group heads toward the front of the store and footage shows them making sure the coast is clear, then simply wheeling the cart out with the closed tote filled with 80 cans of precious powder meant for Utah families. Only, store security was onto them and police caught up with the women outside. That's because Riverdale Police said Target corporate alerted loss prevention at all stores around the western region of a suspected ring making the rounds at several stores in different states. According to charging documents and estimates from Riverdale Police, the group is alleged to have hit up at least 13 Target stores in Arizona between September 8 and October 6, sometimes multiple times a day. The group is accused of leaving the stores with anywhere from a few hundred dollars worth to nearly a few thousand dollars worth of formula cans stuffed inside plastic tote bins. ksltv.com

Monona, WI: Police searching for duo who stole 'felony amount' of merchandise, rammed squad car
The Monona Police Department is searching for two people who intentionally rammed a squad car with their SUV after stealing a "felony amount" of merchandise Thursday afternoon. According to a press release posted on Facebook, Monona police responded to a theft at the Kohl's on W. Broadway around 3:40 p.m. As police surrounded the suspect vehicle, a black Acura MDX SUV, with their squad cars, the male suspect "intentionally and recklessly rammed" one of the occupied squad cars. The officers followed the SUV south of Monona into Fitchburg, eventually stopping because of the speed and dangers to drivers in the area. Police believe the duo has a history of retail theft in the Madison area.  wkow.com

Highland Heights, OH: Luck runs out for Kohl's regular shoplifters
Loss prevention at Kohl's reported Nov. 4 that two male suspects stole approximately $5,500 worth of merchandise on a previous date by pushing two full shopping carts out of the store. A license plate number on their vehicle was obtained and the two were believed to have been suspects in other thefts at the store. Officers were called back to the store Nov. 6 when the two men were returned. The Cleveland man, 59, and 61-year-old Bedford man with found with over $6,400 worth of merchandise in two shopping carts. They were arrested and charged with felony theft. cleveland.com

Berks County, PA: Suspects Sought In String Of 'Organized' Walmart Thefts
Police in Berks county are searching for multiple suspects in connection with a string of highly-organized thefts from the Caernarvon Walmart, authorities say. The crew stole almost $5,000 in electronics, police say, and are suspected in similar heists at Berks, Montgomery and Delaware county Walmarts.  dailyvoice.com

Friendswood, TX: Duo wanted for stealing $25K worth of jewelry from store

Santa Fe, NM: Police arrest 4 in operation targeting shoplifters; $2000 of merchandise recovered

Tigard, WA: Shoplifting blitz by police results in 13 arrests; recovered $8,000 of merchandise

Wasilla, AK: Wasilla Police investigating a $2,000 of merchandise from Fred Meyer

UK: London, England: Police seeking suspects who stole $1000 of Lego from toy stores in Broadstairs and Lakeside, Essex; just a month after a similar raid in Kent