Google and ADT team up for new Nest-integrated security tools

Window sensors, motion sensors, keypads and more.

It’s been three years since Google and security firm ADT announced a partnership to develop Nest-integrated products, and we’re finally seeing the fruits of this team-up. ADT just announced a DIY-friendly suite of security tools under the ADT Self Setup umbrella, and each of these products boasts deep integration with the Google Nest platform.

The ADT Self Setup system includes components from both companies. On the ADT side, they just announced a slew of compatible products like door and window sensors, standalone motion sensors, smoke detectors, temperature sensors, flooding sensors and a keypad to make adjustments. Additionally, ADT will soon offer a keychain remote for even more control options.

Read more here
 

RLPSA 2023 Conference Wrap-up: Day 2

By Amber Bradley, Executive Director, RLPSA

Tuesday marked Day 2 of the Restaurant Loss Prevention and Security Association’s (RLPSA) annual conference, and attendees witnessed an incredible lineup of industry experts and rousing discussions that delved deep into the heart of restaurant loss prevention, risk management, safety and security. The day was packed with insights and valuable solutions for all attendees.

One of the major highlights of the day was Dr. Marc McElhaney, the CEO of Critical Response Associates. He guided attendees through a detailed presentation on workplace violence prevention strategies. The invaluable knowledge revealed in this session resonated with the audience, especially given its relevance to contemporary issues in the industry.

An expert panel discussion featuring Josh Phillips (Chipotle), Lise Lang (Starbucks), and David Donna (Donna Law Firm), moderated by Dan Moren (Starbucks), shed light on internal and external threat assessment, ranging from its creation to successful implementation. This engaging and informative session left the audience with a wealth of knowledge to empower and guide their organizations' security measures and loss prevention techniques.

Considering the evolving nature of industry threats, RLPSA attendees were also privy to a thorough briefing on emerging threats and their potential impact on restaurant loss prevention and security. The response to this was overwhelmingly positive, as attendees gained a firsthand understanding of how to effectively counter these challenges in a rapidly changing landscape – CHALLENGE: ACCEPTED!

The day concluded with an emotionally charged closing keynote speech from the one and only Rudy Ruettiger. His powerful words on perseverance in the face of adversity left a lasting impact on the attendees and underscored the core values of resilience and determination that the conference sought to promote.

To round off an exciting day, participants gathered at one of Denver’s most popular venues, The ViewHouse, allowing attendees and solutions providers to build meaningful connections and forge lasting relationships within the industry. Day 2 of the RLPSA conference will undoubtedly be remembered for its enriching content and unforgettable experiences!

Stay tuned for Day 3!
 

Calif. Bill to Increase Serial Theft Penalties Fails
Bill sought to right the wrongs of Prop 47

SB 316: CA committee kills proposal to increase serial shoplifting penalty
The California Senate’s Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday voted 3-1 against SB 316, a bill supported by the Citrus Heights City Council and others that sought to increase penalties for serial theft.

‌The Citrus Heights City Council earlier this month voted to approve a letter of support for the bill, in response to a request from the office of Senator Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), the bill’s author.

SB 316 would have put a proposition on the November 2024 ballot, which, if passed by California voters, would have increased the penalty for petty theft to a felony if the offender had previously been convicted of three theft-related crimes. The bill sought to address a controversial component of Proposition 47, which was passed by voters in 2014 and reclassified certain felony crimes as misdemeanors, including shoplifting of property that does not exceed $950 in value.

During the March 28 hearing, Niello, the bill’s author, said the “current lack of sufficient penalties to deter serial theft has led to an onslaught of repeat offenders committing multiple petty theft violations recently.” He also cited a National Federation of Small Business poll where 89% of respondents supported repeal of Prop 47.

“We need actual consequences to [deter] repeat offenders and save our brick-and-mortar stores from collapse,” said Niello.

Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said he agreed retail theft is a “huge problem,” but voiced opposition to the bill, stating that misdemeanors like petty theft are already punishable under current laws by up to a year in county jail, which he said “is not a meaningless punishment.” Wiener instead said low police staff levels and consistency of enforcement of existing laws should be addressed, “so that these thieves understand that there will be a consequence.”

For comparison, Wiener said the threshold for felony shoplifting in Texas is $2,500, which he said is “dramatically higher than the higher amount that we raised it to with Prop 47.” citrusheightssentinel.com


DOJ Report: 'Criminal Victimization in the 22 Largest U.S. States, 2017–2019'
Colorado, Arizona and Washington have highest violent victimization rate

Violent Victimization Rates Exceeded the National Rate in 3 of the 22 Most Populous U.S. States During 2017–19; 7 States had Lower Rates
WASHINGTON ― The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is announcing the release of Criminal Victimization in the 22 Largest U.S. States, 2017–2019, the first release of subnational violent and property victimization estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

Among the 22 most populous states, Colorado, Arizona and Washington had violent victimization rates that were higher than the national rate (21.6 violent victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older) during the aggregate period of 2017 to 2019. Violent victimization in the NCVS includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault.

Seven states (Texas, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and New Jersey) had rates of violent victimization that were lower than the national rate. The remaining 12 states (Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Illinois) had rates that were not statistically different from the U.S. rate. During 2017-19, these 22 states accounted for 79% of the U.S. population and 75% of violent victimizations.

Across the 22 states, between 34% and 58% of violent crimes were reported to police, compared to 43% nationwide. For property crimes (which include burglary, trespassing, motor vehicle theft and other household theft), the percentage reported to police was between 28% and 44% across the 22 states and was 34% for the nation.

Property crime rates were higher than the national rate in 6 states and were lower in 12: Washington, Colorado, Arizona, California, Indiana and Texas had higher rates; Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida, New York, North Carolina and New Jersey had lower rates.

“Not only do these data highlight differences in the rate and type of victimization across states, but they also detect a significant amount of non-reporting to police in individual states,” added Director Piquero.  bjs.ojp.gov cbsnews.com


Big City Property Crime Spikes - But Urban Centers Remain Safe: Data
Why fear of crime more than crime itself is holding back America’s downtowns

People are scared of urban centers. They shouldn’t be.

Anyone paying attention to big-city politics right now is probably aware of the salience of crime as an issue. Paul Vallas, one of two candidates in Chicago’s early April mayoral runoff, is running an unabashed law-and-order campaign in a city where car thefts doubled between 2021 and last year. In Philadelphia, 89 percent of respondents to a recent survey ahead of that city’s mayoral election in November said “crime” should be the top priority for elected officials. And in Washington, DC, President Joe Biden recently abandoned his commitment to DC home rule by refusing to veto a Republican measure to block the city’s proposed updated criminal code over concerns that it was soft on crime.

Except here’s the thing: While crime has risen since the pandemic in most US cities, it’s not spiking in downtowns.

Crime is up, but not up much downtown

That’s what Love and her colleagues found when they crunched the data. She and her team have spent the last few months collecting statistics and conducting about 100 interviews with office workers, small business owners, and other folks in New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Chicago — four cities where the downtown business districts have been slow to recover. They then broke out data for violent crime and property crime for each of those cities’ downtowns.

Homicides spiked nationwide in the early part of the pandemic, before leveling off and then declining slightly between 2021 and 2022. Violent crime more broadly — a category that includes rape and aggravated assault — trended up in each city between 2019 and 2022, to varying degrees. Chicago saw a 5 percent increase in violent crime during that time, Philadelphia saw a 1 percent increase, New York saw a 26 percent increase, and Seattle saw a 22 percent increase.

Property crime — a category that includes offenses like larceny and car break-ins — saw a sharper uptick in all four cities. Philadelphia saw city-wide property crime increase by 17 percent, New York 38 percent, Seattle 17 percent, and Chicago 36 percent.

But here’s the twist: in all four of those cities, the share of all property crimes happening downtown remained relatively stable or declined. Violent crime downtown also stayed relatively stable, declining by 2 percent in Seattle, ticking up by 1 percent in Chicago and Philadelphia, and by 2 percent in New York City.

So downtowns were some of the safest places to be in these cities pre-pandemic. And, by the end of last year, they still were. That fact, though, makes small upticks in crime numbers more perceptible, Love said. vox.com

RELATED: The geography of crime in four U.S. cities: Perceptions and reality


Retail Theft, Customer Violence & Aggression is Surging Globally
Retail Crime in Australia & NZ Up 28% in Four Years
 
New retail crime stats reveal employee theft, customer aggression and fraud in NZ and Australia
Commissioned by the Profit Protection Future Forum, the 2022 Australia & New Zealand Retail Crime Study provides crucial insight into retail crime and aims to help retailers mitigate retail crime through evidence-based strategies and prevent losses.

"We estimate crime costs Australian and New Zealand retail economies about $4.3 billion per year, and that's a 28% increase over four years from when the last similar study was conducted," Professor Townsley said.

"Customer theft was the largest category of retail crime making up 53% of losses followed by employee theft which made up 24% of losses.

"Retailers reported an increase in customer aggression and violent incidents during the height of COVID-19 and since verbal abuse and violence without injury are likely to go unreported, the increase is likely higher than official statistics suggest," Professor Townsley said.

"However, the most frequently cited methods of theft were not very sophisticated, such as distracting staff while the item is taken, concealing an item on their person, or simply walking straight out of the store."

COVID lock-downs and working from home shifted customer traffic online and retailers responded by rapidly scaling up their online channels and this attracted the attention of new types of criminals.

"We know from other studies that online scams tripled during COVID-19, and bad actors exploited the uncertainty and insecurities of individuals for monetary gain," Professor Townsley said. phys.org


Walmart Plans to Reopen After Mass Shooting Killed 6 Employees
The shooter was a team lead at the store opened fire

Walmart set to reopen Virginia store where 6 employees were shot and killed

The store will feature a memorial to honor the six workers who lost their lives

Roughly five months after a gunman, identified as a Walmart employee, opened fire, killing six co-workers at a store in Chesapeake, Virginia, the retail giant is set to reopen the store with a redesign — including a memorial to honor the six victims and comfort survivors.

That store has been closed since November 23, 2022, when police say Andre Bing, a team lead, carried out the mass shooting before taking his own life. It will reopen on April 19, Walmart announced this week. Per the company, the store "underwent significant design changes."

One of those changes is the memorial space, which will include foliage and six seating structures in honor of the six victims, "providing a peaceful place for people to pause and remember the permanent impact these associates made on our lives," according to Walmart.

The store has also been remodeled to be a "store of the future," which includes displays, interactive elements, and a cleaner look. Walmart first unveiled this type of store in Springdale, Arkansas, in January 2022 and has since expanded the prototype to a small number of stores nationwide.

The store reopening comes as Walmart continues to wrestle with the shooting's aftermath. Several shooting survivors and at least one of the victim's families have sued the company for millions of dollars, accusing the company of ignoring reports from co-workers of "disturbing and threatening behavior" of the shooter. businessinsider.com

RELATED: Walmart Rolling Out Revamped ‘Store of the Future’ in Virginia


Trump Benefits from NY's Bail Reform Laws
Why Trump Probably Didn’t Have to Post Bail

“Bail reform” laws that took effect three years ago eliminated bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

Since a raft of changes to New York’s bail laws took effect three years ago, “bail reform” has been a rallying cry for conservative politicians who have blamed the revisions for increased crime rates.

But this week, the changes will benefit a figure many conservatives have supported: Donald J. Trump.

The former president will almost certainly not have to post bail after his arrest on Tuesday, thanks to policies that took effect in 2020. The laws eliminated bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

Here’s how bail works: When a defendant is held before trial, a court may release him or her in exchange for a payment intended to ensure a return to court. The money is typically returned at the end of the case if the defendant has followed court orders. nytimes.com


Denver businesses battle crime as voters cast ballots in mayoral race

San Francisco mayor criticized for seeking federal assistance to curb crime crisis