Steven Kaiser Elected Jewelers’ Security Alliance Chair

Steven Kaiser (pictured), president of Kaiser Time, has been elected the new chairman of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA). He takes over for Stewart Wicht, the retiring CEO of Rolex U.S.A., who has completed his three-year term. The news was announced at the JSA’s annual luncheon, which took place on Jan. 12 at the New York Yacht Club in New York City.

JSA president John Kennedy began the lunch with a moment of silence for the group’s longtime employee who died in October, and a moment of silence for one jeweler killed in 2018 during a robbery.

'War on Jewelry Crime' Helps Bring Total Industry Dollar Losses to Record Low
Despite that one tragedy, Kennedy noted that jewelry crime is continuing to fall. In 1992, he noted, 37 jewelers were killed. In addition, total dollar losses have hit a record low since the year 2000. He attributes this to a “war on jewelry crime” involving law enforcement, which the JSA has helped promote, along with its members and supporters.

New JSA Board Members Elected
Alan Zimmer, CEO of Reeds Jewelers, a 60-store chain, was newly elected to the JSA board. Reelected were: Patti Geolat of the Geolat Companies; Chris Hackler of Signet Jewelers; Mark Smelzer, publisher of JCK; and David Tearle of the Gemological Institute of America.

Law Enforcement Partners Recognized
JSA also presented the Annual James B. White Law Enforcement Awards to three members of New Jersey’s Paramus Police Department: Deputy Chief Robert M. Guidetti; Detective Lieutenant Frank Scott, and Detective Nicholas Luciano. jckonline.com

Shutdown Impacts Air Travel

East Coast Flight Delays - Staffing Shortages
LaGuardia Flights Halted Due to Staffing Shortage
The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights into New York La Guardia Airport, one of the nation’s busiest transportation hubs, due to a shortage of air-traffic control staff, escalating the pressure on President Donald Trump and lawmakers to end the government shutdown.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop at the New York airport, citing staffing at an air traffic control facility in Washington. Flights at Washington’s Reagan National, Newark Liberty International and Philadelphia International airports were also delayed Friday.

A staffing shortage also was reported at a facility overseeing air traffic in Jacksonville, Florida, according to an FAA website. crainsnewyork.com

2:45 PM Update: Trump agrees to end government shutdown

STANLEY Security Launches Retail Software that Integrates Exception-Based Reporting and Video Surveillance
STANLEY Security, a leading global manufacturer and integrator of comprehensive security solutions, introduces TRENDS, an exception-based reporting and video surveillance solution for retail organizations. This solution allows corporate leaders and managers to drive operational efficiency while maintaining strong business ethics inside the company.

“TRENDS automates many of the day-to-day tasks that managers juggle,” said Matt Kushner, president of STANLEY Product Solutions. “The solution helps accelerate leadership decision making by allowing them to focus more time on the actual business.”

For more information on TRENDS, please visit www.stanleysecurity.com/trends. paymentwek.com

Responsible use of facial biometrics in focus at World Economic Forum
As issues related to artificial intelligence, and facial biometrics in particular are receiving significantly increasing attention from the public and elected representatives, several presentations at The World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) annual meeting for 2019 in Davos, Switzerland have explored the potential benefits and risks posed by these advanced technologies.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a presentation that self-regulation by facial recognition providers is important, not sufficient on its own, CNBC reports.

Heavyweight panel weighs facial recognition benefits and risks  biometricsupdate.com

Amazon Is Pushing Facial Technology That a Study Says Could Be Biased
In new tests, Amazon’s system had more difficulty identifying the gender of female and darker-skinned faces than similar services from IBM and Microsoft.

Over the last two years, Amazon has aggressively marketed its facial recognition technology to police departments and federal agencies as a service to help law enforcement identify suspects more quickly. It has done so as another tech giant, Microsoft, has called on Congress to regulate the technology, arguing that it is too risky for companies to oversee on their own.

Now a new study from researchers at the M.I.T. Media Lab has found that Amazon’s system, Rekognition, had much more difficulty in telling the gender of female faces and of darker-skinned faces in photos than similar services from IBM and Microsoft. The results raise questions about potential bias that could hamper Amazon’s drive to popularize the technology.  nytimes.com

Fortune Article - LP's CCTVs Getting More Coverage
"Retailers Are Using Cameras to Help Keep Their Shelves Stocked"
The use of computer vision combined with artificial intelligence in retail is still in its infancy, but the technology is getting a lot of attention, not just with small mounted cameras, but also with robots that patrol store aisles to track inventory on store shelves.

Variations on the idea are pitched as a possible boon to retailers in dealing with staff shortages, high employee turnover, and constant changes to their product lineups. Several big chain stores are already experimenting with the technology.

Walmart is testing robots that scan shelves at 50 stores across the country. Meanwhile, home improvement store Lowe’s has developed robots and shelf cameras that it is now testing. And finally, Kroger’s has partnered with Microsoft to create “digital shelves that can show ads and change prices on the fly along with a network of sensors that keep track of products,” according to Bloomberg. fortune.com

#1 Challenge - Talent Shortage
Same For Integrators & Solution Providers
SSN News Poll gauges state of the security systems industry
The majority of News Poll respondents are bullish on 2019 with 85 percent saying that they see continued growth. In total, 72 percent said they expect “continued strong growth,” while 14 percent said, “yes, but not as strong as 2018,” and another 14 percent said they do not expect to see the same growth in 2019.

Interestingly, respondents were split on what their key challenges are heading into 2019, with 43 percent saying that “finding and keeping new talent/employees” is the top challenge and another 43 percent choosing “adapting to new technologies.” The remaining 14 percent chose “having enough working capital” as the top challenge.

“We find that both ‘finding and keeping new talent/employees’ (retention/keeping tenured top performers) is tied closely to one of the other key challenges you offer: ‘adapting to new technologies, trends,’” noted one respondent. securitysystemsnews.com

Biggest Internal Retail Fraud Case in History
No jail time for 4 ex-Pilot Flying J employees
Judge orders up probation, service for 'good' citizens turned fraudsters
Good deeds, the judge said, “are not get out of jail free cards,” but those good deeds set four former Pilot Flying J fraudsters free Wednesday.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Curtis L. Collier on Wednesday turned aside prison terms for four former Pilot Flying J staffers who engaged in a $56.5 million fraud scheme to trick truckers into doing business with the truck stop giant with fuel discount offers they never intended to fully pay.

Those four were former sales executives Kevin Clark, Michael Scott Fenwick and Chris Andrews, and former regional account representative Katy Bibee. All four struck plea deals, cooperated with authorities and, on Wednesday, insisted they had been otherwise model citizens who engaged in fraud to keep their jobs. knoxnews.com

Editor's Note: The judge threw the book at the former President with a 12 year sentence.

UK Public: Drones Are National Security Risk
The Public Not Accepting Drones
The British public is dead-set against the use of drones, with the vast majority believing that as they continue to represent a national security risk and that cyber experts must do more to mitigate the threat from above.

Think tank Parliament Street polled 2000 members of the public to compile its latest report, Drones 4 U.

It appears as if recent incidents at two London airports has had a major impact on the public perception of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Three-quarters (75%) believe them to be a national security threat, with only 2% disagreeing, according to the report. infosecurity-magazine.com

Weekly Retail Sales Slide 1.3%, Showing Snow and Shutdown Impact
Adverse weather — including snowstorms across large portions of the country — coupled with concerns over the ongoing government shutdown ate away at weekly retail sales as measured by the Retail Economist-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index.

The report follows the release of several research notes from analysts trying to figure out how retail and apparel sales will shape up this year. The most recent from AlixPartners sees ongoing erosion of the middle market of traditional retailing while “digital native” brands gobble up market share across the board.

In the weekly sales report, for the period ended Jan. 19, the index showed a decline of 1.3 percent. “On a year-over-year basis, the latest week’s sales pace advanced by a sluggish 0.7 percent,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist of the Retail Economist LLC. wwd.com

Walmart ups truck drivers pay, hiring efforts amid industry-wide shortage
The discounter, which runs the third largest private-trucking fleet in the country, added more than 1,400 new Walmart truck drivers in 2018. Hundreds more are slated to join the fleet in 2019, the company said. Also, Walmart is raising driver pay beginning in February.

The initiative comes as retailers and others are being challenged by a national truck driver shortage. The American Trucking Association estimates that America will be short 175,000 truckers by 2026. chainstoreage.com

Millennials are changing remote work
Improving technology and changing expectations of work and family from millennials are giving rise to a new office arrangement: the coliving/coworking space, often on the beach but always somewhere far away. It's like WeWork meets an upgraded hostel (in paradise) with free coffee, fast internet, a kitchen and quiet spaces, along with all the serendipitous meetings and experiences that make travel great. Leading the charge are companies like Selina, Outsite and Roam, which are opening locations across the globe to meet the demands of today's digital nomads. linkedin.com

When the next recession comes, the robots will be ready
For humans, it’s a downturn. For machines, it’s an opportunity
Employers slash payrolls going into a downturn and, out of necessity, turn to software or machinery to take over the tasks once performed by their laid-off workers as business begins to recover.

As uncertainty soars, a shutdown drags on, and consumer confidence sputters, economists increasingly predict a recession this year or next. Whenever this long economic expansion ends, the robots will be ready. The human labor market is tight, with the unemployment rate at 3.9 percent, but there’s plenty of slack in the robot labor force.

If it can be replaced by technology, it probably won’t recover from a recession. washingtonpost.com

Are You Ready for the Feb. 1 OSHA Reporting Deadline?
The deadline for employers to prepare, certify and post a hard copy of their 300A annual summary of injuries and illnesses report in their workplaces for employees to see is Feb. 1—unless your business is excluded because you have fewer than 10 employees or are on a list of low-hazard industries, such as dental offices, advertising services and car dealers. ehstoday.com

Things Remembered Preparing for bankruptcy - Closing Most of the 400 Stores
The B & C Malls - America's New DMZ Zone

NRF2019: Innovation Lab Showcases Frictionless Self-Checkout, Facial Recognition And Last Mile Transparency

San Diego, CA: Del Cerro Goodwill Employee Finds $46,000 Hidden in Donated Fryer and Tracks Down the Owner


Quarterly Results
Starbucks Q1 U.S. comp's up 4%, Global comp's up 4%, net revenue up 9%

Registration now open for the 2019 LPRC Supply Chain Protection Summit
This year’s theme: Beyond Retail Supply Chain Security

The Supply Chain Protection Summit, taking place March 12 – 13 in Sunny Isles Beach, FL, is a chance for supply chain security professionals to come together and review LPRC research on supply chain protection issues, hear from industry experts on how to improve supply chain protection operations, and to collectively form & discuss the research agenda for the next year.

This year’s focus will be advancing retail supply chain security by adapting insights from other sectors, and fostering closer cooperation with manufacturers, distributors, and law enforcement. View our agenda and register today!

Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Please contact jessi@lpresearch.org for more information!

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