Macy's VP of AP Will Talk RFID & ORC at RFID Journal LIVE!

Discover RFID and IoT Technology Solutions With The World’s Largest Gathering of Qualified RFID Buyers and End Users May 17 – 19, 2022

RFID Journal LIVE! is the world’s largest conference and exhibition focused on radio frequency identification and related technologies. Now in its 20th year, LIVE! typically features more than 150 exhibitors from 26 countries showcasing best-in-class RFID tags, readers, software and implementation services. Innovative new products are introduced at LIVE! each year, so you will be among the first to see the newest RFID products.

With attendees from all over the world, RFID Journal LIVE! unites the global RFID community with a unique educational conference. Our 2022 conference will include three days of industry-specific and how-to tracks, as well as general education for those new to the RFID market. Our educational sessions and conference offerings are specifically designed to help all attendees and exhibitors to plan strategies, network, buy and sell, and learn and share ideas.

Joe Coll, Macy's VP of asset protection, will sit down for an in-depth discussion of how RFID technology can be used to bring down organized retail crime (ORC). Macy's has long been employing radio frequency identification to improve inventory accuracy and enhance on-shelf availability, but RFID has provided new insights into what is stolen, as well as where and how this occurs. Coll will explain how RFID and video can be linked to combat ORC.

RFID Journal LIVE! 2022 will feature more than 90 educational sessions in eight industry-specific and nine technical and how-to conference tracks, plus RFID Professional Institute certification training, the co-located IEEE RFID 2022 event and the RFID Journal Awards. What's more, the conference will offer exhibits and demonstrations conducted by the industry's leading technology firms. For more information, visit rfidjournallive.com. rfidjournal.com

Business Community Urges Federal ORC Action
Rising Retail Theft: Here’s What Business Owners Need to Know

Communities and businesses large and small across the U.S. are facing a significant increase in retail theft and ORC. Here's what policymakers should do.

Fill me in: Communities and businesses large and small across the United States are facing a significant increase in retail theft and organized retail crime that requires the swift response of policymakers.

Why does this matter? These crimes are not victimless. In addition to the growing number of thefts that turn violent, innocent consumers, employees, local communities, and business owners and shareholders bear the costs of rising retail theft. Twenty-five percent of small businesses report raising prices as a result of shoplifting. Some retailers have been forced to shutter locations in response to rampant theft.

What’s next?

We have sent a letter to Congress, the National Governor’s Association, the National Conference of State Legislators, and the National District Attorney Association urging policymakers to take the following steps to address theft and organized retail crime:

● Congress should pass legislation to stop the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces: The bipartisan H.R. 5502, “Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for (INFORM) Consumers Act,” would increase transparency and identity verification of high-volume third-party sellers in online retail marketplaces while protecting the privacy of small sellers and establishing a uniform federal standard that would provide certainty and consistency for the business community. This legislation would deter retail crime by closing off a prominent avenue by which criminals seek to profit by selling stolen goods, often to unsuspecting customers.
 
● Update the definition of organized retail crime and increase criminal penalties: States should act to define the crime of “organized retail theft” in criminal law to specify those thefts involving two or more participants and an intention of resale and include increased penalties for those specific violations.

● The law and prosecutors must hold those who engage in organized and significant retail theft accountable: Since 2000, at least 40 states have raised the thresholds for the value of stolen goods to trigger a felony charge. In some instances, criminals are taking advantage of these increased higher thresholds to engage in repeated thefts and avoid prosecution. States should reconsider these thresholds and prosecutors should avoid adopting broad non-prosecution policies.  uschamber.com

California Theft Bill Hits Roadblock
Proposed California bill aimed at cracking down on retail robberies put on pause

A proposed California bill intended to crack down on rising retail robberies is now on pause due to a lack of support.

Incidents in which thieves are caught on video walking into retail stores, grabbing merchandise off the shelves and leaving without paying have become quite commonplace. Assembly Bill 2390 was intended to address that by increasing the penalties for those thieves.

It all goes back to Prop 47, which raised the dollar amount of what you would have to steal from one particular location to $950 to be charged with a felony. The bill proposed by Torrance Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi would allow law enforcement to add up all the items stolen by a particular person, which might include many different locations, to get to that $950 level.

In essence, that would make it more likely that someone would then be charged with a felony. Muratsuchi says there's an ongoing debate as to whether Prop 47 swung too far in terms of not holding criminals accountable.

But Muratsuchi's bill hit a snag this week. A spokesperson from his office said people from his own party, Democrats, basically gutted the bill before it got out of committee. They're hopeful to reintroduce it at some point later this month, but it's unclear what the bill would actually look like.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, the California Retailers Association urged California lawmakers to move the bill forward. "These people committing crimes, they need to know they're going to face some kind of consequences, that something is going to happen." abc7.com  foxbusiness.com

Retailers Abandon Michigan Avenue Amid ORC Surge
Illinois organized retail crime measure gains momentum
Overall retail theft in Illinois – of which organized retail crime rings are a part – was estimated at $4 billion in 2020. High-profile organized retail crimes in Cook County were in the news often in 2021. Many of them involved multiple shoplifters working together in full view of security cameras.

The organized retail crime amendment to HB 1091, a bill regulating online commerce, spells out a series of new definitions and classifies them as felonies of varying levels.

The amendment stipulates that organized retail crime is committed when there is: theft with intent to resell; theft by two or more people; or theft of goods in transit from a manufacturer. The definition also includes knowingly receiving, buying, or purchasing stolen retail merchandise, or when parties conspire, recruit, finance or organize retail crime.

Under the bill, the crimes above would be either Class Two, Class Three, or Class Four felonies. Additionally, the Illinois Attorney General would be granted authority to investigate, charge, and prosecute for organized retail theft, under the Statewide Grand Jury Act.

But alleged perps, and victims of retail crime haven’t been waiting to see what lawmakers will do. And it may be a case of too little, too late.

The owner of the marquee high-end vertical shopping mall Water Tower Place on North Michigan Avenue has turned the property over to its lender because its value is now less than the debt owed. In the wake of ongoing crime in and around the mall, a series of major tenants moved out, including Macy’s, The Gap, Banana Republic, and a food hall.

Another downtown retailer is not waiting for new legislation. Neiman Marcus has hired gun-sniffing dogs. wirepoints.org

NYC Robberies Up 47% - Burglaries Up 31%
NYC crime spiked 44% in first months of 2022 — and NYPD brass say repeat offenders big factor
The violent crime wave in New York City shows no signs of abating, according to the latest NYPD statistics, leading the city's top cop to slam the 'continuing and completely unacceptable violence in our streets.'

For the year through April 3, major crimes are up 44 percent from the same period in 2021, with felony assault up 19 percent and robberies rising 47 percent, the latest NYPD data show.

Although murders have ticked down 9 percent, other crimes are well up, with shooting incidents rising 14 percent, burglary up 31 percent, and grand larceny auto soaring 81 percent.

'This is not what New Yorkers expect or deserve, and we will not stand for it,' NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said at a Wednesday press conference about the latest troubling data.  'It's clear what we are confronting: A perception among criminals that there are no consequences, even for serious crime. We need tangible changes,' added Sewell.

Without naming names or getting into specifics, Sewell appeared to slam the recent trend toward policies such as bail reform, and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's stance reducing or dropping charges for many crimes.

'[The justice system] must be fair, but it must first and foremost favor the people it was designed to safeguard and protect. When the focus on those people is lost -- New Yorkers, who deserve to be free from fear -- the policies fail to deliver on their most basic purpose, which is public safety,' said Sewell. dailymail.co.uk

NYC's Prosecutor Exodus
Why Hundreds of New York City Prosecutors Are Leaving Their Jobs

New burdens, low pay and pandemic malaise prompted the resignations of a fifth of the legal work force in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn.

New York City’s prosecutors are leaving in droves, citing pandemic burnout, low salaries and two intersecting laws that fundamentally changed the nature of their jobs.

This year alone, 36 have left the Brooklyn district attorney’s office and 44 Manhattan’s. At least 28 have left the Bronx, and the nine Staten Island assistant district attorneys who have left this year represented about 10 percent of that office’s prosecutorial staff. The Queens office told the New York City Council that it was on track this year to more than double last year’s resignations.

In the past year, the Manhattan and Brooklyn district attorneys, who have about 500 prosecutors each, lost almost a fifth of that work force, a sharp increase from attrition averages before 2020. The Bronx is shedding lawyers at a similar pace, a total of 104 since July.

When the pandemic arrived in New York two years ago, it disrupted nearly all court proceedings. At the same time, two new state laws took effect governing discovery — the sharing of all evidence, potential evidence and other case-related material. Prosecutors say the measures, which were intended to make trials fairer to defendants, create onerous amounts of paperwork. nytimes.com

California: DA, sheriff frustrated that retail theft bill stalled in committee

US: 81.9M Cases - 1M Dead - 66M Recovered
Worldwide: 495.5M Cases - 6.1M Dead - 431.3M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
Know of any fallen LP exec? Let's remember & recognize.

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 354  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 751
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Still No Signs of Another COVID Surge
BA.2, where are you? Dominant strain hasn't shown signs of starting a surge
Maybe BA.2 really is the "stealth variant." The Omicron subvariant caused as many as 3 in 4 cases of Covid-19 in the United States last week, according to the latest genomic surveillance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but so far, there are no signs of a looming surge in the US.

Even as BA.2 has become dominant, overall numbers of cases are still decreasing, says Dr. Jessica Justman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "This is a clear example of how these two trends are not necessarily tied together," she says.

If things stay quiet, as some models predict, it will mark the first time a viral strain has taken over in the US without causing an increase in Covid-19 cases. cnn.com

COVID's Retail Impact?
The Future Of Retail Is Contactless And Immersive

Shoppers are returning to stores, but retailers must reimagine the customer experience

Not surprisingly, the trend to shop online from the safety and comfort of home accelerated during the past 18 months. But brick and mortar stores held their own, too: Retail sales rose 6.9% over one year to $1.47 trillion in Q4 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce Statistics. In parallel, PwC’s June 2021 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey found that consumers have evolved to become more digital. Finally, the State of Consumer Behavior 2021 report found that 90% of consumers will return to a store if they have a positive experience.

The trio of findings points to a continuing desire to shop in-store in safe, contactless and digitally enriched ways, challenging brick-and-mortar retailers to reimagine the customer experience. Throughout the pandemic, resourceful retailers spun up contactless methods of letting in-store customers browse, order and pay for physical products. Enabling the smartphones in customers’ hands to digitally interact with product barcodes and QR codes created a safe, frictionless and effective means of omnichannel retail.

Now the pairing of smartphones with smart data capture capabilities, such as computer vision and augmented reality, promises to evolve shopping experiences further and helps retailers transform the in-store experience from a transactional to an experiential one for their customers. forbes.com

The Return of Indoor Mask Mandates?
Philly’s indoor mask mandate likely to return next week, as city COVID-19 cases creep upward

Masks may soon again be needed in public indoor spaces next week

An Inquirer analysis showed the most current COVID case counts and the percent increase of cases both meet the city’s benchmarks that would trigger the return of the mask mandate for public indoor spaces. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health agreed with the analysis.

The Inquirer analysis isn’t predictive, and it is possible that key metrics triggering the return of the mask mandate could decrease by Monday. It’s “certainly possible,” Garrow said, but the city has not yet reached the peak of the case increase that appears to be building now. The city will review Monday’s hospitalization numbers and the last seven days of case counts to decide whether to change policies.

The COVID data are not alarming enough to warrant an immediate change in the city’s mask policies, though, he said. The city has said it would announce changes to its COVID safety requirements on Mondays, and an announcement on whether mask requirements would return would likely come then, Garrow said. inquirer.com

Is Instacart's Pandemic Boom Fizzling?
Instacart Won the Pandemic but Rivals Are Catching Up

Grocery-delivery firm, which rode a pandemic boom to become sector’s biggest app, works to forge its future as competition mounts

For the past two years, Covid-19 lockdowns and concerns led consumers to take more of their supermarket shopping online. This helped boost business for Instacart, the top grocery delivery app serving more than 750 retailers. Its service sends armies of on-demand shoppers to fulfill orders in stores and deliver groceries to people’s homes.

Competition is mounting. After relying on Instacart to handle the pandemic-driven surge of online orders, retailers are increasingly using multiple delivery companies to fill online orders and negotiate better terms. Other grocers are trying to build their own networks, and some are encouraging a return to in-person shopping, which remains the most profitable for the retailers and doesn’t carry delivery apps’ fees or product markups. wsj.com

UK has detected new Covid variant omicron XE