ADT and Miami Marlins announce historic, multi-year partnership

The Miami Marlins and ADT, the most trusted brand in smart home and small business security, team together to announce a history-making partnership highlighted by the club’s first-ever jersey patch.

Additionally, ADT becomes the newest Pillar Partner of the Marlins organization as well as the Official Smart Security Partner and Official Solar Energy Partner of the Miami Marlins.

The partnership connects two premiere South Florida-based organizations committed to providing the best service and positively impacting the communities where their employees live, work and serve. ADT, a safety innovator for 148 years, has called Boca Raton, Florida, home for more than two decades and is the No. 1 smart home security provider in the U.S.

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ISC West 2023

ADT Commercial Among 2023 'Sammy Award' Winners
2023 SAMMY Award Winners Honored at ISC West

The annual SAMMY Awards were held this year at ISC West 2023 in a ceremony at 2:00 p.m. at The Bridge on the show floor.

Congratulations to the security dealers and system integrators who were honored for professionalism in their sales, marketing and installation endeavors at the annual SAMMY awards event.

• Overall Marketing Program: ADT Commercial

• Social Media Campaign: ADT Commercial

• Vehicle Graphics Design: ADT Commercial and AlarmSouth

• Installer of the Year: LOUD Security Systems

• Integrated Installation of the Year: Preferred Technologies and Securitas Technology

• Community Outreach Program: Acadian Total Security

• Display Advertisement: LOUD Security Systems

• Newsletter or Content Marketing: Acadian Total Security

• Promotional Video or Audio: Vector Security

• Website Design: Bates Security

• Sales Brochure: Acadian Total Security

• Promotional Giveaway Item: Schmidt Security Pro

Click here for the complete list of SSI 2023 SAMMY Finalists  sdmmag.com


Q&A With Axis VP for the Americas, Fredrik Nilsson
Axis Communications continues its tradition of customer-centric solutions

Security veteran Fredrik Nilsson discusses how 2023 ISC West event will showcase full range of technologies and services

It has been a busy two years at Axis Communications. There have been several new Axis Experience Centers opened around the country. These state-of-the-art technology solutions facilities recently welcomed clients in Manhattan, the Minneapolis/St. Paul metroplex and Houston. Other locations include Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, San Jose and Washington D.C, along with several around the globe. Then there are the myriad technology partnerships that have emerged as well, including those with Genetec, Pedestal Pro, SecuriThings, Ambient.ai, Wasabi and BriefCam to name but a few.

Through it all, Axis Communications Vice President for the Americas, Fredrik Nilsson, has either shepherded or spearheaded many of the missions of providing clients with cutting-edge technology. I was fortunate to speak to Fredrik prior to the ISC West kickoff about the Axis roadmap and how they see the future.

Steve Lasky: You're probably busier than ever as Axis has experienced the previous mergers and acquisitions and is now driving new partnerships. But you have also been opening new solution centers around the country over the last several months. Tell us a little bit about the newest ones that have opened. What are the solution labs all about and what's the mindset for opening these around the country?

Fredrik Nilsson: Great question. This is a journey that we started back in 2015 and we had a mantra of getting closer to the customers. We had also grown a lot by that point, so we needed to change our organization. We created here in the U.S. what we call the "business areas" that were self-sustaining units close to the customer and used those Experience Centers as a base for them to interact with the customers. We had one here in Chelmsford outside of Boston, back in 2010 when we opened our offices here. We soon realized that a lot of people in North America don't necessarily want to jump on a flight, fly six hours and then drive an hour outside of Boston to see what kind of solutions we have. So, we decided to get closer to the customers and build out teams around those and Experience Centers.

Read the full Q&A here: securityinfowatch.com


ISC West 2023 show floor report:
Wave of technology innovation advances security industry

ISC West 2023, a show in transition for the positive, delivered a diverse and often fragmented ecosystem this week, with artificial intelligence dominating much of the attention.

Goldman Sachs had just reported this week that artificial intelligence (AI) could eventually replace 300 million jobs worldwide. So attendees, integrators and security executives had plenty of questions about implications for this technology.

Leading this massive trend for change in the industrial employment economic sector were areas that leverage data storage and scale, like security, that benefit from decision making made on a broad range of threats and opportunities -- including legal (44% share), architectural modeling/building information management/digital twins (37% share), and engineering design and sales (31%).

Future of AI Discussed

Activities in the expo’s meeting rooms ranged from solution demonstrations for integrators and end users, sales, standards, committee meetings on a variety of topics and a unique AI forum delivered by Intelligent Security Systems Corporation (ISS).

While most agreed security industry members need to both be educated and participate in delivering AI solutions, the comparison with “analytics” and the challenges of managing “Big Data” dominated the discussion. securityinfowatch.com
 

RFID's Expansion: Tracking Items in Real-Time & Cracking Down on Theft
As theft soars and e-commerce demand surges, RFID is having a moment

Apparel Retailers Turn to Chips to Track Merchandise in Stores

Improving technology, lower costs and e-commerce demands are leading some merchants to beef up efforts to track individual items on the sales floor using RFID chips

Apparel retailers are taking their inventory-management systems to the sales floor as they look to track individual items more closely through busy environments and fulfill more online orders through stores.

Apparel sellers American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Victoria’s Secret & Co. and Nordstrom Inc. are among merchants expanding their use of a new generation of radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips to close an information gap in supply chains that grows as consumers try on and move merchandise around a store.

Retailers have long used RFID technology in tracking systems for containers, pallets and crates of goods, but high costs and limited technology have made tracking individual pieces difficult. That has left stores to take full stock of inventories at designated times, often when shops are closed.

Companies say the technology has advanced and the cost of the chips has come down enough that tracking individual items within a store makes more sense. Executives said tracking at the item level gives them better insight into customers’ shopping habits, helps stores fill orders more quickly and allows store workers to save time when searching for merchandise.

American Eagle said Tuesday it plans to outfit about 500 stores across the U.S. with technology from New York-based startup Radar that tracks items by reading RFID chips embedded in the retailer’s price tags.

Radar tracks the goods with flat white discs that are equipped with cameras and attached to a store’s ceiling. The devices can read signals emitted by paper-thin RFID tags attached to the price tags on clothes and can track the location of shoppers in the store. The system works with all RFID tags, the company said.

Zara this year is implementing a system that will eliminate hard antitheft tags in favor of sewing RFID chips into its garments. wsj.com


Law Enforcement & AP Teams Grapple with Retail Theft Epidemic
Santa Monica officials consider a return to regular safety briefings as thefts continue to plague retailers
Downtown retailers, like their counterparts nationwide, are concerned by persistent theft and representatives from downtown retail outlets, together with the proprietors of several bars and restaurants, gathered at the Downtown Santa Monica (DTSM) offices on the Third Street Promenade this week to talk about the issues faced with combating crime and the current homelessness crisis.

Owners, employees and in particular asset protection managers from the likes of REI, Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch and Ye Olde King’s Head gathered after receiving a flyer from a community ambassador titled Retail Theft Diversion Meeting last week.

The problems faced are many, including theft and safety concerns. According to the California Highway Patrol, the problem of “retail crime” extends well beyond common shoplifting and often into organized criminal activity. CHP operates several regional retail theft task forces, including one in the Los Angeles area.

“Commercial burglary, vehicle burglary, identity theft, credit card fraud, forgery, and fencing (selling or distribution of) stolen property are part of a bigger picture that finance ongoing criminal operations,” said CHP.

Stores can also have their own, very different set of problems to deal with, from simple theft, to people locking themselves inside in-store bathrooms for hours at a time to take drugs. However, participants at the meeting said if everyone within the downtown area can communicate and share resources, it’s entirely possible some of these problems could be avoided, or at least reduced.

D’Andrea mentioned that in the past he had attempted to hold meetings on a weekly basis, but might try again to arrange similar meetings, but on a monthly or bimonthly frequency this time.  smdp.com


Good Lighting is Key to Retail Crime Prevention
Poor outdoor lighting outpaces bad customer service as biggest c-store deterrent, study says
Negative ratings of outdoor lighting deterred consumers from visiting convenience stores in 2022 far more than negative ratings of other elements of the business, according to a new consumer study from retail loyalty and technology company PDI Technologies and fuel savings platform GasBuddy.

Specifically, about 8.5% of consumers said that insufficient outdoor lighting would deter them from visiting a c-store, which outpaced poor cleanliness (4.6%), customer service (4.5%), coffee quality (3.9%) and restrooms (1.3%), according to the study.

The impact that poor outdoor lighting can have on a c-store’s foot traffic underscores just how much one aspect of a retailer’s experience influences the way consumers perceive both the forecourt and in-store environment, the study said.

In the report, PDI and GasBuddy agreed that although negative ratings for factors like outdoor lighting have more impact than positive ratings, c-stores are able to control these conditions and, consequently, their ratings.

With challenges like retail theft and vandalism continuing to persist throughout the c-store industry, good lighting on c-store forecourts at all times could go a long way toward crime prevention, experts say.

“If something looks run down, crime is more likely to occur,” Wade Horton, director of Pinkerton, a corporate risk management services firm, said in a previous interview. “A single store operator on a dark street will probably see an increase [in crime] than one on the corner of two major highways with major lighting.” cstoredive.com


Crime & Policing Reforms Enacted in Minneapolis
Minneapolis City Council unanimously approves sweeping plan to reform policing
The Minneapolis City Council on Friday unanimously approved a sweeping plan to reform policing that aims to reverse years of systemic racial bias.

The 11-0 vote means that the public can now read the 144-page settlement agreement between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which charged the city with a pattern of discrimination in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.

"This is the legacy of George Floyd," City Council President Andrea Jenkins said shortly before the council voted on the agreement. It restricts aggressive police tactics, seeks to reduce officer misconduct and supports the wellness of cops on the street.

Some examples:

• Officers will no longer be allowed to pull over a driver solely for mechanical issues like a broken tail light.

• The smell of marijuana won't be enough to justify a stop-and-frisk.

• Officers will have a duty to intervene if they see a fellow officer breaking the rules. If they fail to do so, they could be disciplined as severely as the first officer. startribune.com


Progressive Manhattan DA Facing Renewed Backlash Over Crime Policies
Alvin Bragg's soft-on-crime policies scorched after Trump charges

Victim Rights NY founder Jennifer Harrison slammed the activist DA for being 'completely incompetent'

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg fulfilled a major campaign promise with his indictment of former President Donald Trump last Thursday, but the move raised larger questions about the safety of New York streets under his watch.

"From day one, Alvin Bragg announced that he would not prosecute even the most violent of criminals," she said. "Almost immediately after he took office and distributed the now-infamous day-one memo, two police officers lost their lives, a 19-year-old girl was shot and killed while working at a Burger King in Harlem, he's downgraded 52% of felonies and only has about a 50% conviction rate."

She said her victim advocacy group called for Bragg to be removed from office from the beginning, claiming members of her organization saw Bragg's soft-on-crime policies on the horizon and, since he took office in January 2022, things have gotten "progressively worse."

"He's basically a revolving door," she told Jones. "No one is safe in New York until these people are behind bars, and clearly the reform programs are not working."

"I really don't know why they're focusing on Donald Trump when they should be focusing on the crime out here because crime is very bad," another said. foxnews.com


State Police & National Guard Stand Ready for Violence & Unrest
Hochul says police, National Guard ready for possible Trump indictment unrest
Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that New York’s National Guard and state police are ready to assist the Big Apple if requested by Mayor Eric Adams to control any unrest resulting from the impending arraignment of former President Donald Trump.

“We offered to be supportive,” Hochul told reporters at the state Capitol in Albany. “Obviously, NYPD is the finest in the world. They know what they’re doing. They’ve trained for this. They’re able to handle crowds. This is not new to the NYPD.”

“But I also want to offer our assistance in any way they want to take advantage of it — our state police, the Guard — whatever they ask for,” she added.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination for president who now lives in Florida, is expected to return to his birth state early next week ahead of a Tuesday arraignment. Earlier this month, the 45th president warned his followers he expected to be arrested in the hush-money probe and urged them to “protest” when that happened.

That has led to concerns of civil unrest once Trump is arraigned, though Hochul expressed optimism Friday that the situation will be kept under control. nypost.com


US attorney declined to prosecute 67% of arrests in DC amid crime spike
Chicago and Philadelphia declined to prosecute just 14% and 4% of arrests

OSHA's Enforcement Crackdown Continues
OSHA to Expand the Use of Instance-by-Instance Penalties

OSHA's new policy could significantly increase the monetary penalty amounts associated with certain violations.

A new OSHA policy has gone into effect expanding penalties for instance-by-instance (IBI) citations. The move has the potential to significantly increase the monetary penalty amounts associated with certain violations and signals OSHA’s stated commitment to increased enforcement in 2023 and beyond.

IBI citations are those for which OSHA could issue multiple citations, with corresponding penalties, for each instance of alleged non-compliance—separate penalties for each machine, each location, each entry, each employee. Under OSHA’s prior policy, which was in place since 1990, OSHA would only apply IBI penalties for willful citations, or situations when an employer knowingly fails to comply with a legal requirement or acts with plain indifference to employee safety.

A serious violation can occur when the workplace hazard could cause an accident or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm, unless the employer did not know or could not have known of the violations. High-gravity violations are those that have a high risk of severe injury and a high probability of occurrence.

While the new IBI policy will focus on high-gravity serious violations in the above areas, it will also apply to other-than-serious recordkeeping violations. Therefore, employers with certain types of recordkeeping violations could find themselves subject to significant penalties for failures to record or inaccuracies in the records.

OSHA intends to use the new IBI policy to deter employers from maintaining or failing to fully abate certain violations and hopes that it will encourage employers to be proactive in preventing workplace fatalities and injuries. ehstoday.com


More Union-Busting Allegations Hitting Starbucks
Starbucks fired the worker who led unionization movement, just days after former CEO grilled by Congress

"That is beyond unacceptable. Ms. Rizzo must be reinstated," Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted.

Alexis Rizzo, the Buffalo-based Starbucks worker who began the Starbucks Workers United campaign, was fired after seven years with the company, Starbucks Workers United tweeted Saturday. In an interview with CNBC, Rizzo said she was fired after her shift Friday, and that managers cited four times she was late for work. Rizzo said that two of those times, she had been one minute late.

A Starbucks spokesperson told CNBC that firings at the company only occur following clear policy violations, adding that Rizzo's attendance impacted other workers at her store. Rizzo's firing follows the former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's recent appearance before Congress, where senators questioned him about alleged widespread union busting.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — who grilled Schultz over the company's treatment of employees in Buffalo stores and asked specifically about a recent ruling that Starbucks illegally monitored and fired employees there — demanded that Rizzo get her job back.  businessinsider.com


McDonald's shuts down U.S. offices in advance of layoffs
McDonald’s is shutting down its U.S. offices this week as it prepares to inform corporate employees about layoffs as part of a broader restructuring.

Major US mall closes after 43 years of business

Dollar General has nearly 20K stores across US. Here's how it keeps prices so low.

Consumer confidence edges up in March amid hope for the future
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

VP & Chief of Security job posted for Hard Rock International in Las Vegas, NV
The Vice President & Chief of Security will directly lead and execute all security related operations, security standards, strategies, and operational support to maintain the safety and security of The Mirage. This includes overseeing the security management team and staff regarding physical security and security operations. indeed.com