Axis Wins 2022 SIA New Product Solutions Category Award at ISC West Conference

LAS VEGAS – The Security Industry Association (SIA) has announced the 2022 winners of the SIA New Products and Solutions (NPS) Awards.

Video Surveillance Advanced Imaging Technologies

● Winner: Axis Communications, Inc. – ARTPEC-8  securityindustry.org

September 27, 2021: Axis launches 8th generation ARTPEC system-on-chip powering deep-learning analytics on the edge

Axis announces the 8th generation of its custom-designed system-on-chip (SoC) made for network video. The ARTPEC-8 SoC was designed first and foremost to create new opportunities for impressive analytics applications based on deep learning on the edge.

Furthermore, the fact that ARTPEC-8 was designed in-house gives Axis a level of control crucial to cybersecurity. Going forward, the new chip will be the basis for the vast majority of Axis network video products. Some of the first cameras to include this chip are the soon-to-be-launched AXIS Q3536-LVE/38-LVE Dome Cameras and AXIS Q1656-LE Box Camera.

Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight column below


Auror Expands Commitment to Loss Prevention Foundation

Auror supports LPF by becoming the newest Doctorate level partner

(Mooresville, NC – April 11, 2021) The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) announces that Auror USA, Inc. has advanced its partnership to become the newest Doctorate Level Partner. Auror joined the LPF as a Bachelor level partner and quickly advanced to a Master level partner and supporter of the LPF. Now, less than a year later, with their commitment to becoming a Doctorate level partner they are continuing to set an example to the industry regarding the importance of higher education.

Read more here
 

WSJ Calls Out Progressive DAs For Retail Shoplifting Epidemic & ORC Spike

'America’s Shoplifting Epidemic'

Walk into a big-city pharmacy these days and you’ll notice that much of the merchandise is in locked plastic cases. Dishwasher pods, shaving cream, even shampoo bottles are locked up to reduce losses from what has become a shoplifting epidemic.

Two recent reports show the scope of the stealing. Business.org surveyed some 700 small businesses and found that 54% had an increase in shoplifting last year. Small business owners reported that daily shoplifting nearly doubled year-over-year, from 14% in 2020 to 23% in 2021, with 25% of respondents dealing with shoplifting on a weekly basis and 23% on a daily basis. The National Retail Federation surveyed 61 medium to large retailers and found that organized retail crime cost an average of more than $700,000 per $1 billion in sales in 2020.

Mike DeAngelis, a spokesman for the CVS drug-store chain, says “our stores have experienced a 300% increase in retail theft incidents since the pandemic began.” In New York City, retail-theft complaints rose by nearly 16% between 2019 and 2021, according to police. The clearance rate, which means when a suspect is arrested or identified, dropped to 28.4% from 48.5% over the same period. In San Francisco, retail theft drove five Walgreens stores out of business last October.

WSJ Supports the INFORM Consumers Act

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s response is to urge Congress to pass the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act. The legislation would require Amazon, Ebay and other online platforms to verify the identity of any seller who makes 200 or more sales valued at a total of $5,000 or more a year. When a seller passes $25,000 in annual sales, the online platform would have to disclose publicly the seller’s name and current contact details.

The political assault on police has also reduced the number of cops across the U.S., even as homicides, shootings and other violent offenses have surged. That leaves fewer cops to address crimes like theft. In cities with progressive prosecutors, even repeat thieves are often freed without legal consequences.

The Chamber recommends that states change the criminal code to address organized retail theft and increase penalties. Fine with us, but cities also have to end the impunity that’s driving this stealing spree.

Editor's Note: WSJ video calls out progressive DAs across the country and says they appear to be in a state of 'denial.' An absolute must watch video as we've never heard such a plain spoken, honest and direct description of the current state of affairs. Watch on our second page

Using Science to Fight Soaring Retail Crime
A UF research scientist built a think tank into the world's leading center for finding ways to stop retail crime
Read Hayes spends his days discovering what thieves don’t like; they tell him they “don’t like noise.” Criminologist, raconteur, researcher, he co-founded and leads the world’s top organization for studying how to combat retail theft — an industry-funded organization called the Loss Prevention Research Council in Gainesville. At any given time, he’s sharing the science of loss prevention with American retailers, California legislative aides or European authorities.

Hayes is still with UF, and the Loss Prevention Research Council — a freestanding organization — is housed on the second floor of UF’s entrepreneurial support building, UF Innovate@The Hub. Its 72 member-retailers include, among others, Walmart, Target, Publix, Lowe’s and Home Depot, collectively with 200,000 stores globally. Each member retailer pays $6,300 a year, as do 90 “solution provider” security and tech companies drawn by the chance to collaborate with decision-making loss prevention executives and the research.

“LPRC is unique because it takes a scientific approach to the challenge of loss prevention and asset protection,” says Randal Dunn, technology leader at Sensormatic Solutions, a Boca Raton-based retail support company. Working with the council, Dunn says, allows Sensomatic to test its thinking and hypotheses about best practices, vet product concepts and participate in a community debating and discussing loss prevention.

The council researches myriad protection issues: Supply chain theft, active shooters and office safety. But, Hayes says, its main focus is protecting against shoplifting and, of equal priority as its risen in the last decade, violent crime. One area of increasing study: Parking lot design, lighting and landscaping.

Hayes has turned the Hub’s campus block into a testbed — the UF SaferPlaces Lab — for street crime-prevention and monitoring tech, with solar-powered towers running cameras, various types of sensors and monitors, gunshot detectors and more. He says his primary UF role is research into how to protect people in public places.

A mock store serves as a one-stop place to see hundreds of tech offerings from industry players, including that clicking knob securing the Gillette razors. In a published journal study, Hayes and researchers outfitted razor racks at 14 stores with the knobs, another 14 stores with video monitors and 14 as a control. The video monitors were ineffectual. The knob cut theft by 21%.

Indeed, Magersupp says, much loss prevention tech and strategies used industrywide came from LPRC research. “We can brainstorm ideas, and they can do the back-end research. They’re a very unique group,” he says. “Hayes is “one of the premier specialists in the industry.” floridatrend.com

Manhattan DA Under Fire Over Crime Policies
Alvin Bragg Says He’s Not a Politician. Is That the Root of His Trouble?
The Manhattan district attorney has had an uncommonly tumultuous first three months on the job, drawing criticism from all over the political spectrum.

Mr. Bragg had already been the subject of intense criticism from the other side of the political spectrum, after a memo he released in his first days on the job announced, in complex legalese, that the office would cease to seek jail and prison time for all but the most serious crimes.

Between the backlash to the memo and the fallout from the Trump investigation, Mr. Bragg managed, in less than 12 weeks, an unlikely feat: He united the New York Post’s editorial board and the viewers of MSNBC in a posture of mutual disdain. Rarely has a politician become a piñata so quickly.

In interviews with more than 20 people closely tracking the district attorney, critics and supporters alike suggested that Mr. Bragg’s failure to engage with the political realities of his office jeopardized his chances of accomplishing his goals.

“The whole criminal justice reform movement is very much on the defensive,” said Janos Marton, a former candidate for Manhattan district attorney who endorsed Mr. Bragg after dropping out of the race.

But the rise in shootings and Mr. Bragg’s stumbles may have hurt his chances of realizing his agenda. In early February he clarified his first-week memo, which implemented the policies he had announced on the campaign trail, saying his prosecutors were not bound by his guidance and were free to determine the course of their cases.

“The most disappointing thing was how quickly he seemed to cave to this prevailing, fear-mongering narrative,” said Amanda Jack, a member of 5 Boro Defenders, a coalition of public defenders. nytimes.com

There's No Quick Fix in the Bay

SF Mayor's 90-Day 'Tenderloin Emergency Initiative' To Reduce Crime, Homelessness & Overdoses Backfires
San Francisco's Homeless Problem Spiked 55% - in Tents Citywide
As the number of tents were taken down in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood during Mayor London Breed’s recent emergency declaration, sidewalk dwellings increased overall across San Francisco, new city data show.

The collective data paints a complicated picture of whether or not the emergency initiative is making good on its goals, or just shuffling homelessness to other parts of The City.

From June 2021 to March 2022, tents in the Tenderloin decreased by about 55%, going from 77 to 35, according to The City’s data dashboard on the Tenderloin Emergency Initiative. Meanwhile, the total number of tents in San Francisco increased by 55% over the same time period, going from a total of 387 structures in June 2021 to 601 in March 2022.

As of March 2022, 6% of tents citywide are in the Tenderloin, down from 20% last summer.

Breed’s 90-day Tenderloin Emergency Initiative, which allowed The City to waive certain government rules and implement a series of initiatives aimed at reducing crime, homelessness, overdoses and other challenges. But broader factors contributing to homelessness — racial and economic disparity, cost of living, and access to healthcare and high-paying jobs — have not budged. Between 2020 and 2021, overdose deaths skyrocketed to more than 1300 in San Francisco.

At a recent public hearing probing the Tenderloin plan, several supervisors questioned the initiative’s overall efficacy. Some supervisors from other districts meanwhile said they have seen conditions deteriorate in their jurisdictions while attention and resources, such as police, have been focused on the Tenderloin. sfexaminer.com

Maryland Bill Outlawing Ghost Guns Becomes Law

US: 82M Cases - 1M Dead - 79.9M Recovered
Worldwide: 499.2M Cases - 6.2M Dead - 448.8M 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: 753
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Cases, Hospitalizations & Deaths Remain Low Across the U.S.

60% To Continue Hybrid Work Model - 'On-Site 3 Days Per Week'
Work-Life Balance Initiatives Factoring in Retention Strategies

Employers will turn to well-being strategies to support reopening plans, survey shows

● Employers' well-being strategies will factor heavily into their worksite return plans, according to an annual joint survey conducted by Fidelity Investments and the Business Group on Health.

● Flexibility is a common theme, with 60% of the 166 surveyed organizations stating that a majority of their employees would operate under a hybrid work model in 2022. About half of respondents said they expected most employees to work on-site three days per week. Additionally, 57% said work-life balance initiatives would be "integral components" of their return-to-worksite strategies.

Many also are still hesitant to return to physical worksites due to the risk of disease. A January survey by Pew Research Center found that while 77% said they were at least somewhat satisfied with the measures their workplaces had taken to protect them from COVID-19 exposure, only 36% said they were "very satisfied." Black, Hispanic, lower-income and younger respondents were less likely to say they were very satisfied with protection measures.

Mental health is a common focus for employer-sponsored benefits programs in 2022 given the impact two years of a pandemic have had, even as access and cost concerns prevented some employees from taking advantage of employers' offerings. Some employers have acknowledged shortcomings in their mental health support during that time. It may be worth noting the various approaches organizations took to add support in recent months.

Beyond emotional and mental well-being, physical well-being also might be a priority for worksite reopening operations. hrdive.com

The BA.2 Variant Is Spreading. Do You Need to Worry?

Keep watch on these numbers to know when—or if—you should take extra Covid-19 precautions

BA.2—a subvariant of the Omicron variant that tore through the U.S. this winter—is spreading. It’s now the dominant variant throughout the country and has triggered recent surges in Europe.

If you live somewhere where local statistics suggest cases are rising but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map still shades your county low-risk green, it can be tough to figure out what to do.

Look at rates of change—and hospital visits

More important than the absolute number of cases in your community is the trajectory of case numbers, doctors say.

Consider both the rate of increase as well as how long cases have been rising. If cases are increasing by 50% week over week, that’s a red flag. wsj.com

West Coast Seeing 'Modest Uptick' With Reduced Restrictions
Coronavirus cases are rising again in L.A., San Diego and San Francisco
Coronavirus cases have begun to rise in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco counties, likely a result of the highly contagious Omicron subvariant BA.2, decreased use of masks and waning immunity.

The increases are modest, and it’s unclear whether this is a brief hiccup, the beginning of a larger wave of cases or something in between.

“I think that it’s possible we might see a modest uptick in the next few weeks due to the fact that we are reducing some of the restrictions, such as indoor mask use,” latimes.com

China has unleashed yet another COVID Horror Show on its population
China leading citizens to jump from balconies in quest to achieve ‘COVID Zero’
For over two weeks the financial capital of China, Shanghai, has been locked down tight. Some 26 million people languish in their apartments, staring at their now-empty refrigerators, unable to set foot outside to forage for food for fear of arrest and incarceration.

Foreigners are in the same predicament, as one complained on Twitter:

Day 16 of our COVID lockdown in Shanghai today and food is the key thing on people’s minds. We aren’t allowed to leave home so delivery is the only way I was up at 6 am yesterday trying to get any kind of delivery but nothing was available all day. So far, same results today

The unlucky ones are those who test positive for COVID each day, like the 17,077 Shanghainese who did on Wednesday. Symptomatic or not — and nine out of 10 show no signs of illness — they are hauled off to hastily erected quarantine camps.

Other protests have taken more tragic forms. As they did in Wuhan two years ago, people are once again jumping off the balconies of high-rise apartment buildings. One video circulating in China shows a couple falling to their deaths. The husband was said to be distraught because the lockdown had cost him his business.

But at an even deeper level, I see the Chinese Communist Party’s insistence on lockdowns as an expression of its drive for total control. nypost.com

Federal appeals court upholds Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal workers

Retail Pharmacy Chains Hammered With Opioid Lawsuits
Walgreens trial over its part in Florida opioid crisis set to begin
A jury trial accusing Walgreens Boots Alliance of contributing to Florida's opioid addiction epidemic was set to begin on Monday after the pharmacy chain opted not to join a multimillion-dollar settlement by other defendants.

The state accuses Walgreens of poor oversight in its dispensing and distributing opioids in Florida, allowing the drugs to be diverted to illegal use and causing an increase in addiction. Walgreens has denied the allegations.

The pharmacy chain has argued it should be immune from the current litigation based on a mere $3,000 settlement reached with Florida in 2012 following an investigation into its record-keeping policies and efforts to prevent the diversion of opioid drugs.

Under the previously-announced settlements by Walgreens' prior co-defenants in the Florida trial, pharmacy chain rival CVS Health Corp will pay $484 million. In addition, drugmakers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd agreed to will pay $194.8 million, Abbvie Inc's Allergan unit will pay $134.2 million and Endo International Plc $65 million.

Walgreens argued that the 2012 deal released it from future opioid claims in the state, even if Florida regretted those terms as a "bad bargain," according to court transcripts.

Florida in the same court transcript called the Walgreens' position "absurd," saying the earlier deal addressed only a single record-keeping violation. The settlements from the other previous defendants in the litigation totaled $878 million.

Florida has collected more than $3 billion in opioid litigation against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies, according to attorney general Ashley Moody. Most of the money will be spent on efforts to mitigate the opioid crisis in the state. reuters.com

Former McKinsey Partner Sentenced To 24 Months For Insider Trading Scheme

Defendant Puneet Dikshit Was a Lead McKinsey Partner Advising Goldman Sachs on Its Acquisition of GreenSky

GreenSky was a publicly traded financial technology company that provided technology to banks and merchants to make loans to consumers for home improvement, solar, healthcare, and other purposes. GreenSky’s common stock traded under the symbol “GSKY” on the NASDAQ.

Between November 2019 and July 2020, and again between April 2021 and September 2021, Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, engaged McKinsey, the management consulting firm, to provide services related to the potential acquisition of GreenSky by Goldman Sachs and the post-acquisition integration of GreenSky. DIKSHIT was one of the McKinsey partners leading these engagements. In that role, he had access to material nonpublic information, which he misappropriated and, in violation of the duties that he owed to Goldman Sachs and McKinsey, used to trade GreenSky call options. After the deal to purchase GreenSky was announced on September 15, 2021, DIKSHIT sold these options and realized profits of approximately $450,000.

In addition to his prison sentence, DIKSHIT, 41, of New York, New York, was ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $455,017. justice.gov

Does Supreme Court Ruling on Malicious Prosecution Impact Shoplifting Suits?
Thompson Ruling Will Shore Up Malicious Prosecution Suits
Until the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Monday in Thompson v. Clark, many former criminal defendants seeking to sue their arresting officers in federal court for malicious prosecution faced an almost insurmountable barrier: demonstrating that their criminal proceedings ended with an affirmation of their innocence.

In the American justice system, where a defendant only has to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, that is easier said than done. Very rarely, even when DNA evidence exonerates the defendant, does a criminal case end with a proclamation of innocence.

"Criminal courts don't determine actual innocence. They determine guilty or not guilty,"

For years, former criminal defendants in half of the country were barred from suing police officers for state torts, including malicious prosecution, in federal court because they couldn't meet the innocence threshold. Prosecutors or courts dismissing cases with little explanation — sometimes for lack of strong evidence, other times for jurisdictional reasons — effectively nipped potential lawsuits in the bud.

The high court's ruling Monday in favor of Larry Thompson, a Navy veteran from Brooklyn who alleges that he was arrested without probable cause in his home in 2014, brought that doctrine down.

With a 6-3 vote, the court decided that it was enough that defendants show that their cases ended without a conviction to be able to bring a malicious prosecution case against police.

Legal experts say the ruling will give a higher number of former defendants standing to sue police for malicious prosecution in the future, but caution that it likely won't trigger a wave of lawsuits, in part because of existing barriers in bringing such cases.

In the majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said, "Officers are still protected by the requirement that the plaintiff show the absence of probable cause and by qualified immunity." law360.com

Pain @ The Pumps Due to Russia Raises Fees & Increases Fraud
Visa & Mastercard Quadruple Maximum Transaction Amounts at Gas Stations Due to Gas Prices
Associated with better interchange rates for purchases made with small business and commercial cards. it will also raise the fraud-liability threshold to $175, resulting in fewer transaction limits and fewer shutoffs at the pump.

Purchases made using Visa cards are limited to $125 at many gas stations due to the higher credit card fees triggered by larger transactions, according to a Bloomberg report.

Mastercard is increasing its allowable preauthorization amounts at gas stations from $125 to $175 for consumer cards and from $350 to $500 for commercial cards to support fuel merchants. "This will be complemented by additional fraud-monitoring efforts to support fuel merchants during this time."

Even as Visa and MasterCard makes these changes to smooth out the payment process at the pump, the companies face criticism from retailers and various trade groups for their plans to increase swipe fees after a two-year, COVID-19 pandemic-related pause. Most of a $1.2 billion in fee increases will come from higher interchange fees, which are paid by merchants to the card-issuing banks when shoppers use credit cards. csnews.com

Customers Feel Safer While Shopping
Reno Walgreens using classical music to deter loiters
A Walgreens in Reno has found a unique way to keep people from panhandling and loitering outside the store: classical music.

A spokesperson for Walgreens told News4-Fox11 they are using this tactic across various locations including the store on 3495 S. Virginia Street in Reno.

"We have implemented a recorded music loop that plays outside of the store to help deter loitering on the premises," read a statement from Walgreens spokesperson, Kris Lathan.

The statement continued, "We take steps to ensure the music is only loud enough for immediate area around the store and cannot be heard by residents in surrounding neighborhoods."

Some of the tunes include Toccato and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach as well as the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini.

Customers at the Walgreens say they like the music and it makes them feel a bit safer while shopping. news4.com

Prediction: Unionizing Trend Will Continue To Grow - Big Time
So Far 2022 is Seeing the Fastest Pace of Union Petitions in 15 Years

Starbucks workers "voted overwhelmingly" to unionize 6 more stores,
pushing total to 16

The pandemic has led to a new wave of labor activism, and more votes are expected

Employees at six more Starbucks coffee shops in Upstate New York voted to unionize Thursday and Friday, delivering a string of wins for the nascent organization effort at one of America’s most ubiquitous coffee retailers.

The elections come at a time when organized labor is asserting itself as a combination of strong corporate profits, inflation, worker shortages and pandemic-inflicted hardship has given unions additional leverage.

EN: And automation is scaring the hell out of everybody and looking to eliminate thousands if not millions of jobs. Especially at Starbucks where "automating a larger portion of the drink-making process" maybe why their new CEO just stopped the company's share buy back program on his first day back. So they can invest in automation, as stated Friday in a CFOdive.com column.

From the cashier, the fast-food worker, the warehouse worker and to the delivery driver, automation is targeting those jobs and it's coming! So they're going to look for ways to re-group so to speak and fight back. - Gus Downing

A union election last week on New York’s Staten Island culminated in the first successful union drive at an Amazon warehouse, and organizers have filed dozens of petitions to unionize Starbucks coffee shops in at least 25 states.

Labor unions are hoping to capture the moment to expand their reach after decades of retrenchment. They have been pressing hard on contract negotiations, winning back long-lost benefits for their members amid a rash of strikes. And they are moving aggressively to organize nonunion shops. There have been 641 petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board in 2022 as of Friday, the fastest pace of new petitions since 2008, according an analysis of NLRB data. washingtonpost.com

Massive Home Depot Fire
San Jose, CA: Fire destroys Home Depot store in northern California
A weekend fire gutted a Home Depot store in the San Francisco Bay Area, sending up a huge plume of smoke and prompting orders for some nearby residents to shelter in place, authorities said. The five-alarm blaze in South San Jose erupted around 5 p.m. Saturday and took about six hours to contain shortly before midnight, with some firefighters remaining overnight to douse embers.

Employees and customers inside the store ran for safety. No injuries were reported. The fire apparently began in the lumber section of the store but the cause remained under investigation, fire officials said. The fire also fed on flammable materials and chemicals such as paint thinner, which made it harder to fight, Fire Battalion Chief Brad Cloutier said at a briefing. About 100 firefighters fought the blaze and protected nearby homes and businesses. Concerns about unhealthy air prompted authorities to order people living nearby to stay inside, close their windows and turn off their air conditioning.

City Councilman Matt Mahan, who lives near the store, told the Bay Area News Group that the air in his home smelled of chemicals and “burning plastic." Dozens of animals also were evacuated from a nearby veterinary hospital. The fire broke out about three hours after another blaze erupted at the Port of Benicia in the Bay Area. That fire started on a conveyor belt carrying a refinery byproduct and spread to creosote-soaked timbers supporting a commercial pier, Benicia fire chief Josh Chadwick said. No injuries were reported.

Two ships were moved away from the area, while fire boats from San Francisco and Oakland helped fight the blaze, fire officials said. By Sunday morning, the fire had “slowed considerably" and only three small flaming pockets remained, the city said in a Facebook update. abcnews.go.com

Once a retail giant, Kmart down to three U.S. stores after NJ closing