CIS Security Solutions Shows Continued Support for the Loss Prevention Foundation by Becoming the Newest Bachelor Level Partner

(Mooresville, NC – February 8, 2023) The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) announced that CIS Security Solutions has advanced its partnership to become the newest Bachelor level partner. CIS has been a long-time associate level partner and supporter of the LPF and with their commitment to becoming a Bachelor level partner they are continuing to set an example to the industry regarding the importance of continued education. The Bachelor level partnership secures numerous certification course scholarships for distribution to retailers, universities, and internal associates. It also enables CIS to provide complimentary LPF memberships to loss prevention practitioners.

CIS Security Solutions and Peter Morello have been providing loss prevention and asset protection solutions to the retail industry for over 34 years. CIS Security Solutions is heavily involved in the design and development of their products, changing the technology as needed, to answer the needs of the retail industry in fighting shoplifting, forged notes, and ORC. Whether you need an alarming recoiling tether, alarming tag, a counterfeit bill detector, a money counting scale, POS register rolls with special ink or just about anything else to turn the criminals away…CIS has a solution for you.

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California, Texas and Florida lead nation in supply chain thefts
Cargo thefts spike 15% across US, Canada in 2022
The end of 2022 saw a surge in cargo thefts that pushed the yearly total to above an estimated $223 million worth of goods stolen across Canada and the U.S., according to recent data from CargoNet.

The Verisk Analytics-owned data firm, which tracks voluntarily reported cargo thefts, recorded 1,778 “supply chain risk incidents” in Canada and the U.S. in 2022, a 15% jump compared to 2021.

“The No. 1 commodity [for cargo theft] was household goods for all of 2022, electronics was No. 2, and then food and beverage commodities were No. 3,” Scott Cornell, transportation lead and crime and theft specialist at Travelers, told FreightWaves.

California led the way with 417 reported cargo thefts in 2022, a 41% year-over-year increase, followed by Texas with 223 and Florida with 153.

Cargo theft in Georgia increased 34% year over year, partly due to organized crime groups that took advantage of increased traffic at the Port of Savannah.

CargoNet’s 2022 data showed the average value of cargo stolen in a theft was $214,104, a 20% increase compared to 2021.

Cargo theft hot spots are typically areas around major ports, as well as intermodal facilities, distribution centers and truck stops.

Organized crime rings can react quickly to market trends

Cornell said nine out of 10 times a cargo theft incident occurs, it’s usually perpetrated by an organized crime group usually fulfilling orders. freightwaves.com


Organized Crime's New $20M Jackpot in Southern Calif.
Brazen food stamp scammers steal millions from L.A.'s poorest. ‘They’re hemorrhaging money’
For about eight minutes on the morning of Feb. 2, authorities say, they inserted cloned Electronic Benefit Transfer cards into the slot at a U.S. Bank ATM in Tarzana.

The beeps of the machine carried across the street as the machine dispensed stack after stack of other people’s cash.

For over a year, authorities say similar scenes have played out with increasing frequency in Southern California, as a ring of organized criminals has stolen people’s personal EBT card information and pilfered their accounts.

They strike early in the morning of the first few days of every month — hours, sometimes minutes after the state deposits benefits onto the cards. They do the same with food stamps, which the state also deposits on EBT cards, then rack up mammoth bills at grocery stores.

In Los Angeles County, officials say more than $19.6 million in EBT benefits were stolen in 2022 — a more than 20-fold increase from the year before, when the county lost less than $1 million. This January alone, the county lost over $2.9 million — a one-month record.

“They’re hemorrhaging money,” said L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Alex Karkanen, who works in the public assistance fraud division, referring to the county. “It’s just got to be stopped.”

But no one quite knows how. “This problem is much bigger than any one agency can handle,” Lopez said. “This will not end purely through arrests.”

Thefts are made possible by skimmers — difficult-to-spot devices that easily attach to legitimate card readers. They are usually placed on card machines in locations that people frequent weekly — convenience stores, ATMs and gas stations. Skimmers are the closest an “average person is going to come to organized crime in their life.”  latimes.com


ORC - Fencing of Stolen Goods Still Runs Rampant in S.F.'s UN Plaza
Seems like SFPD is not involved or responding

‘It has not worked’: S.F.’s crackdown on street vending under fire as inspectors get attacked
On a recent cold and drizzly Friday, dozens of vendors lined up at UN Plaza, spreading their wares out on the brick sidewalk. Several elderly men and women were selling produce and canned goods, while a few dozen yards away, two women applied makeup and took hits from a glass pipe.

But the scene – which looks much as it did last summer before San Francisco said it would start to enforce a ban on the fencing of stolen goods in the area – isn’t a happy one to just about anyone else.

Nearly five months after the city vowed to fully carry out a new law banning illegal vending at UN Plaza, the practice remains rampant there.

Businesses in the area and politicians say they’re frustrated with the lack of progress in cleaning up UN Plaza, which fronts City Hall but has attracted illegal activity for much of its 50-plus-year history.

The Department of Public Works, which is leading enforcement, has not issued any violation notices to vendors at the plaza.

The reasons there have been no citations at UN Plaza are complex, said Department of Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon. Illegal vendors “did not stick around to have the notices handed to them,” she said.

But inspectors, who are only there two days a week, have removed abandoned goods from the area at least a dozen times, she said.

“We don’t want to put our inspectors in danger,” she said, “and our inspectors have been attacked.” At least five times, Gordon said, inspectors have been “physically confronted” while trying to do their job

Supervisor Ahsha Safai, who co-sponsored the ordinance regulating street vending with Supervisor Hillary Ronen, said he believed the law has been effective in his district, which includes the Excelsior and Oceanview, and some parts of the Mission.

“In UN Plaza, it has not worked,” he said. He blamed the persistent challenges on more organized criminal ventures dedicated to selling stolen property.

The ordinance, he said, “is not going to be wholly effective in areas where vending is hard to suppress if consequences are not stronger and police are not the ones leading efforts of suppression.”

San Francisco Police did not respond to a request for comment. The situation, however, highlights the challenge of rejuvenating the plaza, which has been a troubled spot for decades with drug use and dealing out in the open as city workers look on.

Whole Foods has curtailed hours due to the illegal activity, according to news reports. sfchronicle.com


Is Crime Forcing Some Walmart Locations to Close?
Crime-Plagued Walmart store in Albuquerque to close in March
The southeast Albuquerque Walmart store near Highland High School will be closing next month, according to the company. Confirming the closure with KRQE News 13 Wednesday, the company said the store on San Mateo near Central will close for good by Friday, March 10.

The closure appears to be the only New Mexico store that will shutter soon. However, several local news reports of store closures began emerging Thursday, including some in Illinois and Wisconsin. In December, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon forecasted possible store closures company wide amid discussion of retail theft.

The company says the San Mateo location is underperforming. It also said there’s no single cause for why a store closes and that the company’s decision is based on several factors, including historic and current financial performance.

Considering financial performance, the impact retail crime is having on retail stores has been a significant talking point in New Mexico politics over the last year. In May 2022, KRQE News 13 shadowed special agents conducting a retail crime sting at the San Mateo Walmart location. Several other reported incidents have taken place at the location over the last several years. Lawmakers are evaluating several bills that would address different charges or tougher penalties for the crime.

Walmart operates 15 other stores in the Albuquerque metro-area, all within 20 miles of the San Mateo location. In all, the company says 53 stores and Sam’s Club warehouses in the Land of Enchantment.  krqe.com


Policing Tops Minn. Mayor's List
These are Mayor Jacob Frey's Top 2 priorities for Minneapolis
For anyone following the city, the broad strokes won't sound new: Housing and policing top the list.

But this is the first time since Minneapolis voters approved the "strong mayor" structure in 2021 that Frey can unilaterally direct city departments to pursue them via his cabinet.

Public Safety

Frey committed to continuing the city's new approach to provide public safety and racial justice after the murder of George Floyd by police and an increase in violent crime over the past two years.

The plan includes replenishing the Police Department's ranks, as well as expanding initiatives aimed at preventing violence, such as expanding behavioral crisis response, which focuses on responding to mental health emergencies with mental health expertise before badges and batons. startribune.com


Walgreens Store Bans Purses and Bags to Prevent Shoplifting—Will Others Follow?

Biden calls for assault weapon ban in State of the Union address
 

US: 104.6M Cases - 1.1M Dead - 101.8M Recovered
Worldwide: 676.8M Cases - 6.7M Dead - 649.3M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 830

COVID & Remote Work's Impact on Retail
Downtown Downturn: The Covid Shock to Brick-and-Mortar Retail

Neighborhoods with more exposure to the adoption of work-from-home lost more establishments

Nearly three years after its onset, work-from-home (WFH) technologies and their effects are one of the most important and enduring economic legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 27.6 million Americans reported primarily working from home in 2021, triple the size of that population in 2019.

Overall, these results suggest a set of mechanisms through which the adoption of WFH behaviors has affected the location of retail establishments. The first is the relocation of residences. A majority of consumer shopping happens around residences and recent entry patterns for establishments reflect the new suburban locations of customers.

Second is the decline of commuting trips. Downtown locations that heavily rely on consumption chained with commuting continue to suffer.

Last, is that beyond the changes in residential and employment location choices, changes in consumer habits driven by the adoption of WFH has depressed the recovery of physical retail establishments.

The WFH population may make fewer overall consumption trips and have lower demand for clothing and personal care services that are less relevant for their new working environment. jpmorganchase.com


Determining the next phase in the new world of work
The companies backtracking on flexible work
Amid looming economic instability and widespread layoffs, bosses are ordering their workers back to the office. Does it mark a permanent return to in-person working?

In January, Disney employees received a memo from CEO Bob Iger. Like other entertainment conglomerates, the media giant had been operating a hybrid-working policy, in which teams were allowed to work remotely twice a week. However, Iger explained in the memo, the company was now reversing course, mandating a four-day return to office beginning in March.

Disney isn’t the only major corporation pulling back on workplace flexibility. Across sectors, companies including Starbucks, Twitter and auditing firm KPMG are mandating more in-person days, or even a return to full-time office working patterns. According to a January 2023 survey of 1,806 US workers by recruitment-agency Monster, while half of employers believe giving employees flexible schedules has worked well, a third who planned to adopt a virtual or hybrid model have changed their minds from a year ago.

While there’s not yet proof of a definitive trend pointing to a mass return to office for all workers, it’s not an impossibility, say some experts. “It’ll be over the course of the year, and forcing people back that we’ll all get a sense of whether productivity remains the same,” says Cooper, “and if companies really are more innovative when people work together in the same room.” bbc.com


No new variants emerged from China’s Covid outbreak, study finds

U.S. House votes to end foreign air traveler COVID vaccine requirement

Employee Safety Is Key - For Both Permanent & Temporary Workers
Keeping Temporary Workers Safe Starts with Training & Communication

It has long been a challenge to protect workers from injury and harm. That’s especially true for temporary and contract employees, who often perform the least desirable work—and have the least amount of training.

Safety professionals should ensure that the periodic training, safeguards and other programs they provide for internal employees are consistent for temporary workers. It will take more time and energy to ensure that temporary workers are ready to perform the task at hand—whether that’s due to lack of training, exposure or muscle memory—as compared to your experienced internal employees.

But, if you treat temporary workers well and give them the same equipment, access and attention, they’ll be more likely to integrate into your culture and become a fully productive member of your team. Don’t treat temporary workers differently. After all, they are doing the same work as your internal employees.

Remember, as a general rule, staffing agencies will provide “generic awareness level” training, but OSHA expects the host employer to provide “site specific” training at the same level as their internal employees receive.

The pandemic has taught us that there is no such thing as too much training or communication—and that hearing from leadership helps build inclusion and belonging, which positively affects the safety culture, too. ehstoday.com


Walmart Mass-Shooting Suspect Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crimes

Patrick Crusius agrees to accept 90 consecutive life sentences for racist attack that killed 23 in El Paso, Texas

The man accused of killing 23 people and wounding 22 more in a racist attack on an El Paso, Texas, Walmart in 2019 pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes charges Wednesday.

Patrick Crusius, 24, agreed to accept 90 consecutive life sentences for the mass shooting, according to the Justice Department, one for each of the counts that included hate crimes resulting in death, hate crimes resulting in bodily injury and dozens of firearms violations. wsj.com


92% of CFOs Say They’re Fully Prepared for a Recession: Weekly Stat
CFO self-assurance around their performance, the economy, and their ability to ride out a recession are high, per recent CFO research.

Financial executives must make decisions that will prove to be pivotal over the next several quarters. But with much at stake, they appear to be confident in their ability to achieve their goals, regardless of what happens to the U.S. economy.

In CFO’s most recent outlook survey, 51% of finance leaders surveyed said they are confident in the economy, and a majority of CFOs (92%) said they are prepared for a recession this year, should one occur. cfo.com


51 Retailers That Will Open More Physical Stores This Year
More U.S. tenants are opening stores this year than are closing them. U.S. retailers plan 522 store closures and 1,846 store openings for 2023, according to Coresight Research. Commerce + Communities Today’s look at 51 growing chains, public and private, highlights several trends: Sunbelt suburbs, food concepts and grocery stores that are both larger than normal and smaller than normal.

   See the complete list here


Retail Industry Had 157 Union Elections - Unions Won 111- 71%
Labor unions notch big gains in 2022: report
Organized labor had a big year in 2022, as unions won nearly 1,200, or 76%, of the elections that were held, according to a year-end report from Bloomberg Law.

The report found that the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 835,000 grocery workers in the U.S. and Canada, more than doubled its victory count in 2022, winning 111 of its 158 elections. That compares with 51 victories in 74 elections in 2021.

Meanwhile unions overall won a higher percentage of elections last year than in any year since 2005, when a decline in unionization trends took hold. A total of 75,290 workers joined unions in 2022, more than double the 36,934 new union members from 2021

Unions at wholesale companies, meanwhile, won 33 (66%) of the 50 union elections held in that industry in 2022.

The Service Employees International Union was the most active in 2022, winning 386 (82%) of 471 representation elections, followed by The Teamsters which won 145 (66%) of its 219 elections. supermarketnews.com


LPF Announces LPC & LPQ Professionals for January
The Loss Prevention Foundation would like to recognize and congratulate the following individuals who successfully completed all of the requirements set forth by the board of directors to be LPQualified (LPQ) and/or LPCertified (LPC). View Full List Here


Watch for accidental fraud, forensic accounting expert says

Biden calls for paid leave, ban on noncompetes, and the right to organize in State of the Union

Yum Brands opened 4,506 new units in 2022 & Sold all Russian units to existing franchisee

Bed Bath & Beyond Closing 150 More Stores - Keeping 360 BBB's & 120 BuyBuy Baby's


Quarterly Results

Uber Q4 gross bookings up 19%, revenue up 49%, FY gross bookings up 28%, revenue up 83%

CVS Q4 Pharmacy Services Segment total revenues up 11.2%, Retail/LTC Segment Total revenues up 4.0%, Total revenues up 9.5%
CVS Full Year Pharmacy Services Segment total revenues up 10.6%, Retail/LTC Segment Total revenues increased up 6.5%, Total revenues up 10.4%
   CVS Q4 Retail Front Store comp's up 3.1%, Pharmacy up 9.1%, Total up 7.7%
   CVS Full Year Retail Front Store comp's up 7.4%, Pharmacy up 9.5%, total up 9%

Yum Brands Q4 Worldwide system sales grew 8%, with KFC at 6%, Taco Bell at 14%, and Pizza Hut at 4%.
Yum Brands Full Year Worldwide system sales grew 6%, with KFC at 6%, Taco Bell at 11%, and Pizza Hut at 3%.
   KFC Q4 comp's up 5%, Full Yr. comp's up 4%
   Taco Bell Q4 comp's up 11%, Full Yr. comp's up 8%
   Pizza Hut Q4 cop's up 1%, Full Yr comp's flat
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Supply Chain LP/Safety Director job posted for Ross Stores in Fort Mill, SC
Provides overall leadership to the Supply Chain network DC LP/Safety teams in safety, physical security, protection of company assets, Workers' Compensation and fire prevention programs. The Director is also responsible for supporting store merchandise loss investigations through investigation of missing deliveries. Develops and maintains a strong partnership with the DC VP's and their operating teams, and stores LP Directors. jobs.rossstores.com