D&D Daily Partner	Booth Number
	1923
	1900
	1905
	1801
	1911
	1700
	2005
	1610
	1722
	2012
	1617
	1816
	1628
	1807
	1604
	1712
	2016
	1624
	1815
	1917
Click here to see the full list of RILA exhibitors

Industry Executives Celebrate RILA's In-Person Return
From Hedgie Bartol's LinkedIn: I think everyone wanted to get back to in person conferences! Look at all the folks at the RILA AP Conference!!		From Tony D'Onofrio's Twitter: Welcome to RILA 2022. Great to see so many friends in person. It’s been a long time.

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New ORC Law Hitting the Books in Illinois
(Update) Hastings champions measure to curb organized retail crime
Illinois retailers will soon have a law on the books to help curb organized retail crime and hold ringleaders accountable, thanks to State Senator Michael E. Hastings.

Hastings (D-Frankfort), serves as a chief-cosponsor of House Bill 1091, which cracks down on smash and grabs and targets the organizers of retail crime to help promote economic growth and give Illinois businesses the tools to hold perpetrators responsible.

“These criminal networks deprive our state of vital taxpayer dollars, risk the safety of employees and wreak havoc on businesses across the state,” Hastings said. “This measure gives our state the opportunity to hold people responsible by enacting one of the most comprehensive crime-curbing efforts in the nation.”

In partnership with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the office of the attorney general, this initiative defines organized retail crime as a criminal charge and gives prosecutors additional resources to charge crime ringleaders. Specifically, the measure codifies ORC as the theft of retail merchandise with the intent to sell.

Under House Bill 1091, prosecutors would have new opportunities to bring charges against offenders regardless of where the crimes takes place. For example, if the conspiracy, theft and selling occurred in different jurisdictions, each jurisdiction would have the ability to prosecute the entire crime. The Illinois attorney general would also have the ability to prosecute via a statewide grand jury.

ORC was on the rise before 2020, but the pandemic created a shift to digital storefronts which has led to an increase in these types of crimes. While only 29% of retailers reported an average dollar value loss of $1,000 in 2019, that number dramatically rose to 50% in 2020. The most common items targeted by ORC perpetrators include designer clothing and handbags, laundry detergent, allergy medicine, razors, high-end liquor and pain relievers. A small group can make off with thousands of dollars in merchandise in less than a minute when targeting high-value items

To prevent stolen goods from being sold online, the measure also creates the Integrity, Notification and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act, or the INFORM Act, to require third-party sellers to verify users’ identity with bank account numbers or other personal identifying information. Sellers who do not comply may be suspended. illinoissenatedemocrats.com

NYC's Retail Crime Explosion Continues
NYC crime spikes in Manhattan’s East and West villages

Major crimes are surging in both the East and West villages, turning Manhattan’s once iconic arts and culture hubs into cesspools of rampant property thieves.

The Sixth Precinct, which patrols the West Village, saw an 84 percent spike in major crime rates when compared to 2021’s year-to-date numbers — the highest increase among Manhattan’s 22 precincts and nearly two times the citywide jump of 44 percent — NYPD data shows. The Ninth Precinct, which serves the East Village, the Bowery and NoHo, is also seeing an uptick in property thefts and violent attacks with the total major crime rate jumping 54 percent so far this year compared to the same time period in 2021, police data shows.

In Greenwich Village:

● Grand larcenies more than doubled from 147 to 308
● Burglaries surged from 59 to 100, or 70 percent
● Robberies rocketed from 47 to 69, or 47 percent
● Vehicle thefts increased from 3 to 12
● Felony assaults ticked up from 32 to 41

Residents and business owners there are fed up with the abundance of shoplifters that include vagrants, small-time fencers and even families. Sara Morales at the West 4th Market Place said she’s dealt with constant shoplifters since the deli opened in January.

An NYPD spokesperson said the Sixth Precinct’s neighborhood coordination and public safety officers are now focusing their patrols more on commercial establishments and retail stores. Some incidents in the Sixth Precinct were perpetrated by recidivists criminals, a statewide consequence of bail reform laws that is only exacerbated by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s soft on crime policies and catch-and-release strategies.

Over in the East Village, things aren’t much better. Compared to 2021’s year-to-date numbers, robberies more than doubled from 37 to 81, grand larcenies shot up 79 percent from 154 to 275 and felony assaults increased from 42 to 55. Folks there say the neighborhood is starting to revert to the bad old days. nypost.com

Two Years Of Surging Crime for NYC Retailers
For a small NYC business like mine, there’s no such thing as ‘petty’ crime
Small businesses are the beating heart of New York City. Yet the crime wave, particularly retail theft, is leaving many businesses fighting for their lives. I know this firsthand, from my own painful experience.

Over the past couple of years, my store has faced a slew of serious break-ins and robberies — thousands of dollars of merchandise taken within minutes. And these incidents have become all too frequent. June 2020, a typically glorious start-of-summer month, turned out to be the start of two years of fear. The city was already reeling from the pandemic; we were in lockdown, and all non-essential businesses were closed.

By today, we’d hoped the crime wave would be coming to an end. No such luck: This month, in a moment of déjà vu all over again, another middle-of-the-night alarm blared, bringing our total losses to over $100,000.

When criminals break into our store, we’re left to foot the bill on repairs and the cost of merchandise owed to our consignors, and we’re expected to get back to business “as usual,” despite the great mental and emotional burden and financial disaster.

If small businesses like ours continue to face these kind of hits, only big-name corporations will be left to further monopolize our retail environment. Instead, we should be boosting small businesses to foster grass-roots growth and development of our community. We need to address this spike in crime before more New York businesses are forced to shutter.

And we need to act, especially with regard to retail theft, fast — before it’s too late. For a small business, there is no such thing as “petty” crime. nypost.com

Crime Is Scaring Away NYC Tourists
Fears surging crime in New York could ‘frighten away’ desperately needed tourists
New York is no stranger to crime and violence but even for residents used to being on their guard, the last few months have been unnerving with surging crime rates and some exceptionally cruel and arbitrary incidents.

It’s being called “the stuff of nightmares,” fuelled by “rage and randomness”. There are concerns rising crime could deter tourists from coming back to one of the world’s greatest cities and keep commuters at home rather than returning to the office.

In February, overall crime in the city went up 58.7 per cent compared to the same month in 2021. Theft was up 79 per cent; assault by 22 per cent and murder by 10 per cent.

Only shootings were down, by a mere 1 per cent, according to New York Police Department (NYPD) data. The city’s new mayor has insisted New York will not be “surrendered to the violent few”. And while New York’s hard scrabble suburbs remain at the epicentre, bizarre violent crimes are cropping up even in tourist hot spots.

The New York Post reported that the only police precinct to see crime fall was the one covering Central Park. “Only the squirrels are safe,” an officer told the paper. “Tourists will never come back.”

A recent survey by pollster Quinnipiac University found 65 per cent of New Yorkers were personally worried they would be a victim of crime, the highest figure since polling began in 1999, reported Fox News.

Some criminals appear more brazen. There have also been controversial changes to bail laws, enacted by previous State Governor Andrew Cuomo, which reduced the number of crimes for which suspects could be locked up for while awaiting trial. Critics have said that has led dangerous people to continue walking the streets. news.com.au

Most New Yorkers back bail changes
New Yorkers overwhelmingly support changes made to bail reform in the recently passed state budget – but only about a third believe it will help drive down crime, according to a new wide-ranging survey released Monday.

Two-thirds of registered voters said they supported changes to the state’s bail reform law that will make it easier for judges to jail defendants for gun crimes, violations of protection orders or multiple appearance tickets, according to the Siena College poll. Just 14 percent of voters said they opposed the changes.

“While the original bail reform law is still viewed as bad for the state, 54-34 percent, “The overwhelming majority of Republicans and independents continue to say the law has been bad for the state, and Democrats, by a narrower but growing margin say the law has been good for New York.” nypost.com

Warm Weather = More Shootings
Volunteers work against violence as shootings spike during weekend warmth
The warmest day of the year so far came with multiple shootings across Chicago. The Chicago Police Department is investigating a number of scenes from Saturday night into Sunday morning. Now community groups are trying to find a way to cool the violence before the weather heats up even more.

Chicago does tend to see a spike in crime as the weather warms up in the city each year, and that is exactly what happened Saturday. The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago works to diffuse vioence using a trauma informed approach and principles from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cbsnews.com

Syracuse store employees want crime to stop: "These kids have to be stopped"

What is a mass shooting? Definition differs among experts

In a first, firearms were leading cause of death for U.S. children & teens in 2020

US: 82.6M Cases - 1M Dead - 80.4M Recovered
Worldwide: 509.6M Cases - 6.2M Dead - 462.5M 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: 759
*Red indicates change in total deaths

COVID Cases Continuing to Tick Up

Cases Up 70% Since March
COVID-19 cases are rising sharply again — should we worry?
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising once again across the country, driven by more contagious sub-variants of the virus and leaving health experts unsure whether vaccination and immunity from prior infection will be protective enough to prevent yet another deadly wave of infections.

Nearly a third of the country is now registering substantial or high levels of COVID transmission in the last seven days, including most Bay Area counties at the high level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nationally, average daily cases are up more than 70% since the end of March, though they remain far below the omicron and delta peaks, and the decline in hospitalization rates appears to be reversing. In California, average daily cases have gone up by more than 50% since the end of March. mercurynews.com

COVID's Lasting Impact on Work
Onboarding falls short on team-building, intro to culture, survey says
Onboarding processes provide insufficient help to new workers, according to the results of a February survey of 782 U.S. workers by Eagle Hill Consulting. The firm found that 71% of employees said their onboarding experience did not give them a clear idea of the people with whom they should build relationships, and 62% said it had not given them a clear idea of the organization's culture.

Meanwhile, more than half said they did not know how to use technology to do their job, and 46% said they did not have a clear idea of their benefits package. More than half said starting a job during the pandemic was harder than before; Nearly one-third of employees said they had a virtual onboarding experience, while 18% had a hybrid experience.

Eagle Hill found that respondents had a long list of items they wanted more information about, including performance measurement, mental and physical health resources, opportunities to make personal connections with team members, how to be successful within an organization's culture, and details about workplace changes caused by the pandemic, among other areas. hrdive.com

America Is Free of Major COVID Mitigation Measures
The tricky business of weighing COVID-19 risks now
The end of the federal transportation mask mandate this week may have removed the last big pandemic mitigation measure, but many Americans were ready to move on as far back as last summer, data from the Axios-Ipsos poll shows.

The big picture: This data on Americans' willingness to dine out and socialize offers a window into how they've perceived risk and made judgment calls with public health regulations serving as guardrails.

What's happening: In this new phase of the pandemic, Americans are freed of most institutional shackles and largely on their own to make value judgments about which behaviors are acceptable or risky. axios.com

COVID-19 cases spiking again amid mask guideline confusion
COVID-19 cases are rising once again in the U.S. as Americans try to get a handle on rapidly shifting mask rules.

It's now mass confusion over 'mask confusion' from COVID rules