viisights Announces Integration with Genetec Security Center Designed to Improve Early Detection of Security and Safety Events

New York, NY (April 19, 2023) – viisights, Inc., a global leader in behavioral recognition video analytics, today announced the integration of viisights Wise™ with Genetec™ Security Center, enabling customers to benefit by adding behavioral recognition video analytics to their existing or new systems.

viisights unique behavioral recognition video analytics leverage investments in video systems by autonomously detecting and issuing real-time alerts on unsafe conditions and security incidents so they can be addressed before they cause injuries or losses.

The integration with Genetec Security Center, along with the early notification of impending and real-time events of interest from viisights Wise, enables responders to take faster action, effectively reducing or eliminating negative outcomes from potentially threatening or harmful events.

Read more here
 

Businesses Worry That San Jose Is Becoming New San Francisco
San Jose businesses face violent encounters, repeated property crimes

“San Jose will not become San Francisco,” Mayor Matt Mahan said

The repeated property crimes, theft and disturbing confrontations with individuals exhibiting erratic behavior have left San Jose business owners and employees frustrated — a precarious situation that mirrors what has already started to boil over in San Francisco.

Whole Foods recently announced it was shuttering its flagship store after just one year of operation because of theft and employee safety concerns. The store had previously reduced its business hours citing similar issues.

When it comes to property crime — which includes burglary, larceny theft and vehicle theft — the data shows the city fluctuating between 25,000 to 28,000 total incidents per year between 2012 and 2022, with no major recent spikes in any of the categories. As for burglaries, there’s been a downward trend since 2012, with 5,206 incidents that year, the highest number in about a decade.

Certain violent crimes paint a different portrait. Though San Jose saw a considerable drop in the early 2000s in reported aggravated assaults, there’s been a steady upward trend between 2012 and 2022, with 2,853 incidents last year, the highest since 2002.

Mayor Matt Mahan, in an interview about the problems facing businesses, said San Jose will not face the same uncertain fate as its northern neighbor, which faces similar problems with property crime, untreated mental illness and drug abuse in its Tenderloin neighborhood and beyond.

“I take these issues very seriously,” he said. “I will say emphatically that San Jose will not become San Francisco. I think everyone deserves to live in a safe and clean environment.”

San Jose Police Department Spokesperson Sgt. Jorge Garibay said a combination of mental health advocates and walking patrol officers are working to make sure businesses are safe. But police staffing is a consistent challenge, he said. The mayor is seeking to hire 30 extra police officers a year.

“We simply do not have the staffing to be everywhere that we would like to be,” he wrote in a statement.  mercurynews.com


Supporting Law Enforcement's Battle Against ORC
California's New Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program
The State Budget Act of 2022 (Senate Bill 154, Chapter 43, Statutes of 2022) established the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program. Funding is available to California city police departments, sheriff departments, and probation departments to support local law enforcement agencies in preventing and responding to organized retail theft, motor vehicle or motor vehicle accessory theft, or cargo theft.

Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program proposals must be received by 5:00 P.M. (PST) on Friday, July 7, 2023.

Grant funds shall be used to support local law enforcement agencies in preventing and responding to organized retail theft, motor vehicle or motor vehicle accessory theft, or cargo theft. Permissible uses of grant funds include, but are not limited to, purchase of technology or other equipment to help deter strategies for preventing or responding to crime. These funds shall be used to supplement and not supplant existing funds for these activities. grants.ca.gov


Bail Reform Turning NYC Into the 'Epicenter' of America's Crime Surge?
Critics say bail reform has fueled retail theft and other crimes in the Big Apple

New York Passed 'Revolving Door' Bail Reform. Now, a Handful of Thieves Are Committing a Third of All City Retail Crime.
Just 327 people were responsible for a third of all retail crime arrests in New York City last year, the New York Times reported Saturday, a statistic that raises new questions about the repercussions of New York State's far-left bail reform law.

Those 327 thieves, some of whom use "shoplifting as a trade," were "arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times," according to New York Police Department commissioner Keechant Sewell.

The thieves were likely able to keep stealing because of New York's 2019 bail reform law, which banned judges from setting bail for almost all misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. While the state in 2020 changed the law so that judges could set bail for some additional crimes, it still prohibits bail in most instances of retail crime.

Shoplifting complaints have nearly doubled since New York passed the bail law, making for "one of the main drivers of the city's overall crime rate."

The Times report comes as "organized shoplifting crews" target stores in primarily Democrat-run cities across America.

New York Republican representative Elise Stefanik, who has said that bail reform created a "revolving door of criminals," directly blamed the reform laws for the Big Apple's crime spike. Stefanik also pointed the finger at far-left Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg (D.), who has announced that his office will not prosecute many nonviolent crimes.

The Empire State is "the epicenter of the catastrophic crime crisis happening across our country," Stefanik told the New York Post.

Stefanik's fight against bail reform has garnered some bipartisan support from Democratic New York mayor Eric Adams. The mayor has called on the State Legislature to toughen the law and said that "we are not going to stand by and let criminals undermine our economy." freebeacon.com


New York - Only State Judges Can't Use 'Dangerous Standard' in Bail Decisions
Bail is solely to ensure someone returns to court

N.Y., Albany Dems, Hochul reach deal on bail reform: report
ALBANY – State lawmakers are reportedly set to give judges more discretion over bail as part of a bitterly fought compromise with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The Democratic supermajorities in the state Senate and Assembly have agreed to eliminate a controversial bail-reform measure that currently requires judges to impose the “least restrictive” standards to ensure people return to court, City & State reported Monday.

The move would clarify that for eligible offenses, judges are allowed to consider setting bail they deem necessary to ensure a defendant returns to court, after jurists complained about ambiguities in existing state law.

But Hochul lost out on a key proposed change that backers say is necessary to curb crime and thwart violent recidivists.

The tentative agreement would still not allow judges to use what is effectively a “dangerousness” standard to hold criminal defendants they believe endanger public safety by removing existing law stating bail is solely to ensure someone returns to court, the magazine said.

New York is the only state to not allow that standard to be considered when setting bail.

“There will be changes to [the] bail system to make clear judges have discretion and least restrictive standards will be removed for serious offenses,” a source with knowledge of the negotiations told the outlet. “The governor should be happy.”

Changes to the state’s bail laws have faced fierce resistance from progressives, who championed limits on cash bail that were first implemented at the beginning of 2020 to reduce the number of people languishing in places such as Rikers Island as they await their day in court.

Republicans have thrown their support behind Hochul’s proposed bail changes in hopes of securing some tweaks while continuing to push for a full repeal.

It remains to be seen whether any bail deal will hold, though, as Hochul, Heastie and Stewart-Cousins continue negotiations on other issues. nypost.com


Manhattan's Progressive DA Continues to Face Backlash Over Crime
But data suggests that NYC is safer than other overlooked places in the U.S.

The GOP is slamming NYC as a crime-ridden hellhole; here’s why
The congressional anti-Alvin Bragg brigade released a bleak and dramatic video on Monday presenting New York as a crime-infested hellhole as Republican lawmakers launched into a lower Manhattan hearing intended to tar the Democratic district attorney.

The video, published by Republicans on Twitter about an hour before the start of the so-called field hearing, shows an ominous gray sky over Manhattan’s towers followed by images of brutal violence, police tape and crime-related news clippings, interspersed with shots of Bragg during his swearing-in.

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, said that New York City has “lost its way when it comes to fighting crime and upholding the law,” and that Bragg has “earned a reputation for caring more about the perpetrators of crime than the victims.”

Crime rates rose in New York City last year, Bragg’s first year in office, according to the NYPD. But crime has flatlined in Manhattan and citywide this year, according to police data, and some violent crime rates are falling sharply.

Bragg, a son of Harlem and the first Black Manhattan district attorney, was elected in 2021 and faced criticism early in his tenure over a staff memo in which he encouraged dialing back prosecution of minor crimes.

In Jordan’s home state of Ohio, the murder rate is far higher than in New York City or Manhattan, according to Centers for Disease Control data. nydailynews.com


New Trend: Mail Carrier Robbery's Spiking Nationwide
Identity Theft - Account Takeovers - Fraudulent Credit Cards

Didn’t get your mail in Oakland? Your letter carrier may have been robbed.
Oakland leads Bay Area cities in postal stick-ups

OAKLAND — Mail carriers are being targeted for robbery across the Bay Area, but especially in Oakland, where the city’s intractable crime problem has left postal workers vulnerable to frequent muggings.

The trend, while rarely reported before the pandemic, has skyrocketed in the last couple years, with Oakland as a focal city along with Hayward, Stockton, Vallejo and Bakersfield, postal inspectors said.

“We used to have just a handful a year, and now going a week without a robbery in Oakland is refreshing,” said Matthew Norfleet, a postal service inspector who investigates mail-related crimes in the East Bay.

On a weekly basis — sometimes more than once a day — a mail carrier in the city is held up at gunpoint or otherwise threatened by a robber who snatches their postal keys, typically with the intention of returning at night to test them on apartment mailboxes in the neighborhood. mercurynews.com

Editor's Note: We're starting to see this increase across the nation. However, not reporting it on the Daily. And being a federal crime we won't see this in local crime stats.


'Crucial flaw in self-checkout design makes shoppers vulnerable to theft'

There were seven mass shootings on Saturday - the most of any day this year

Teens Swarm Downtown Chicago Friday & Saturday Nights Overwhelming Police
Walgreens Looted - Three Teens Shot - Two Officers Attacked - Setting Vehicles on Fire - Firing Off Shots - Breaking Car Windows

16 arrested after 3 teens shot as groups of young adults, juveniles swarmed downtown area Friday, Saturday nights
Several large groups of young adults and juveniles swarmed downtown Friday and Saturday night as three teenagers were wounded in two separate shootings leading to 16 related arrests and sparking concern from activists and local officials about how to deal with the fallout of crime, especially as warmer weather looms.

“I don’t feel safe in my city anymore,” said Raul Montes, a Little Village activist who held a news conference Monday afternoon to demand Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson reinforce the city’s 10 p.m. curfew for teens enacted in May last year by City Council following a teen’s fatal shooting at The Bean in Millennium Park.

Brandon Johnson has not yet taken office as mayor of Chicago, but he still put out a statement Sunday after unruly teenagers descended en masse on Millennium Park and downtown Chicago, some of them breaking car windows, setting vehicles ablaze and firing off shots.

On Monday night, Chicago police issued a statement that it would be “actively and continuously” reviewing “open source social media” and that “additional resources will be available to protect those who are visiting, living or working in the areas of large gatherings. Resources include an increased police and command staff presence at these gatherings citywide.”

It said that the “Strategic Decision Support Centers (SDSCs) will also be monitoring all activity and police cameras to assist in the proactive reallocation of resources when necessary.”

“Additional security measures such as bag checks at beach entry points and the curfew for minors at Millennium Park” will be in place,” the statement said. “CPD is also working closely with youth and outreach workers for when these gatherings occur.”

Chicago police said officers responded to groups of youth near 31st Street Beach Friday night and downtown near Millennium Park Saturday night “engaging in reckless and disruptive behavior putting themselves and the public at risk for harm.” chicagotribune.com


Chicago's Progressive Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson’s statement on Loop violence was as revealing as it was lamentable
“In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend. It is unacceptable and has no place in our city,” Johnson said on social media. “However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.”

Johnson’s condemnation of violence felt like an obligatory preamble hoping to ward off criticism. The statement’s real rhetorical energy came only at the end: Johnson and his fledgling transition team apparently saw the weekend violence downtown as a chance to offer a sociological admonishment to those who were frightened.

Consider this report from Chicago’s Fox affiliate, WFLD-Ch. 32: “Shots were fired near the corner of Madison and Michigan, and FOX 32 Chicago decided that it was unsafe to keep our news crew on the scene.”

Other reports noted that the kids who swarmed downtown had overwhelmed police.

Teens used social media to organize very quickly and huge numbers of teens are interconnected and moving faster than police. chicagotribune.com


Rookie Cops & Only 1 Deputy Chief on Duty to Respond Both Nights - Lack of Experience & Leadership Caused Confusion & Hundreds of Teens Take Control of the Streets in Two Locations
Mayor takes Chicago police leaders to task amid questions on response to latest violent gathering of youths downtown
The mayhem in the city’s tourism district late Saturday sparked renewed concern about the Chicago Police Department’s ability to handle crowds of teens and young adults who were captured on cellphone cameras blocking traffic and jumping atop a CTA bus.

Ald. Brian Hopkins, whose 2nd Ward stretches into downtown’s Streeterville neighborhood, was particularly troubled by ongoing street violence.

“The fact that it happened repeatedly, without any apparent adjustment in the police tactical response, it just indicates a lack of engagement from the superintendent and the deputy chiefs,” Hopkins said.

Large youth gatherings in the downtown area have remained a vexing problem for police officials for the last decade.

A Walgreens was looted, a break-in was attempted at the Art Institute, two Chicago Transit Authority buses were attacked, the windows and windshields of a number of motorists were broken, a couple was beaten and robbed, a police officer suffered a broken bone, another officer was mobbed and had his radio stolen and two teens were shot, Hopkins said. chicagotribune.com