#1 Article Last Week in the UK's Retail Bulletin

Checkpoint Systems: Helping shape the future of retail at Retail Risk - London 2022

Protecting retailers from high levels of waste, brazen attempts of extreme shoplifting and cutting plastic use. These are among the three big challenges Checkpoint Systems – a global leader in source to shopper solutions – will take on at this year’s Retail Risk in London this May.

Reducing food waste with RFID

Returning on 19 May, the first challenge being tackled by Checkpoint Systems at Retail Risk is food waste. Managing sell-by dates on perishable goods requires retailers to have a total view of their inventory at any given time. Here, inventory accuracy not only ensures brand owners can have a complete view of all merchandise and its location within the supply chain, but reduce lost sales and improve efficiency.

Read more in the Vendor Spotlight column below


TMA’s Automated Secure Alarm Protocol Welcomes

ASAP-to-PSAP service streamlines communication and saves lives

The Monitoring Association (TMA) welcomed its 104th US-based PSAP/Emergency Communication Center (ECC) to its ASAP-to-PSAP service on April 12, 2022. The Denver 9-1-1 Communications Center is the 2nd agency in the state of Colorado to implement ASAP-to-PSAP. Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA’s ASAP service is designed to increase the accuracy and efficiency of calls for service from alarm companies to Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs).

Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Guardian Protection, Security Central, Stanley Security, Securitas, United Central Control, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Protection One, Brinks, Affiliated Monitoring, Vivint, National Monitoring Center, and ADT went live on April 12, 2022. Alarm Detection Systems based in Aurora, IL will be live with Denver in the coming days.

Learn more about TMA’s growing ASAP-to-PSAP Service.
 

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The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

Lawmakers Must Pass Federal ORC Bill
Op-Ed: The stats are alarming - Congress must act to curb retail crime
Almost 70 percent of storefronts have reported an increase in theft this past year, and the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail estimates that organized retail crime accounts for $45 billion in annual retail losses.

But what makes this current organized retail crime wave more pervasive and problematic than ever is where these stolen goods may end up once they are swiped from store shelves. Gone are the days of pawning stolen merchandise on street corners and flea markets; criminals are turning to the anonymity of the internet to peddle their loot. Stolen items are showing up on the virtual marketplaces that consumers traffic on a daily basis, seamlessly fitting in with honest online storefronts and businesses.

It has become increasingly taxing for law enforcement units to keep up with the surge of organized retail crime endangering retail employees and consumers alike. Staffing shortages, budget cuts, and a sweeping rise in violent crime — which the FBI estimates to have jumped 5.6 percent in 2020 — are all to blame. There are simply not enough resources for these precincts to additionally allocate to monitoring the vast entirety of the internet.

That’s why federal legislation such as the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers, or INFORM Consumers Act (H.R. 5502), could be a valuable and essential tool. It’s the least Congress can do to support law enforcement online as they continue to work to combat organized retail crime. The bill requires online marketplaces to clearly disclose contact information of certain high-volume, third-party sellers to consumers and provide consumers with ways to report suspicious marketplace activity. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general would have authority to enforce the requirements.

This means that passing the INFORM Consumers Act would empower online marketplaces to become better partners in tracking and identifying retail theft rings by building a more transparent and accountable online ecosystem that benefits retailers, consumers and law enforcement alike. The bill has gained support from law enforcement.

The bottom line is that the rise in organized retail crime is a national issue that must be met with a national solution. Local police departments simply don’t have the time or resources to wait for the inconsistent variety of state legislative attempts to curb criminal activity.  thehill.com

Retail Body Cams to Thwart Crime & Abuse
Target, Woolies Employees To Wear Bodycams To Tackle Customer Abuse
Australian retail employees, including Target and Woolworths, have reportedly started trialling body cameras in selected stores in a bid to protect themselves from abusive customers.

Signage at one Target store in Queensland said the cams worn by staff were “to keep our team and community safe”.

“These cameras will be worn by selected team members and turned on only in the event of an escalating situation where they feel there is a threat to their safety,” the sign said.

Head of the National Retail Association Dominique Lamb told the ABC that body cameras worn by retailers were becoming increasing more common, particularly noting spikes in retail crime throughout the pandemic.

“Predominantly, it is major retailers that are implementing technologies like this, mainly because obviously there’s a certain amount of cost involved,” she said, citing CCTV cameras and other deterrents.

“More and more, what we’re seeing is aggression towards retail workers … we know there has been quite a spike around the use of weapons in retail crime and now it’s very much about keeping retail workers safe.”

She added there was no excuse as to why anyone should face this kind of behaviour. Staff wearing the body cameras will advise customers if and when the device is turned on. wsfm.com.au

Chicago's All Out Effort to Reduce Crime
Private security hired to patrol Chicago neighborhoods amid increase in crime
Private security in Chicago neighborhoods is becoming the norm, all in an effort to cut down on crime. Private patrols can already be found monitoring neighborhoods like Bucktown, Lincoln Park and Lake View.

Now, they may soon be seen in the West Loop. It's the latest neighborhood coming together in hopes to hire private security. While an official contract is still in the works, patrols could begin in the neighborhood within the next few weeks.

The private company being hired by neighborhood associations throughout the city to tackle the job is P4 Security Solutions. The company makes it clear that their officers are not working as first responders, and cannot make arrests — rather, they are extra sets of eyes for the communities they patrol.

"Our job is really to observe, report, and deter – and doing it in real time and communicating that with the police department," said P4 Security Solutions Executive Vice President Steve Vitale. "We feel like we’re an extra set of eyes and ears and it’s a real big force multiplier."

In Bucktown, business owners like Jim Higgins, who opened Club Lucky in 1990, feel that private patrols will only help prevent crimes from happening – before they start. fox32chicago.com

Rudy Giuliani says Eric Adams ‘hasn’t done a damn thing’ to solve crime

 

COVID Update

579.2M Vaccinations Given

US: 83.6M Cases - 1M Dead - 81M Recovered
Worldwide: 517.8M Cases - 6.2M Dead - 472.7M Recovered

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

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 356  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 766
*Red indicates change in total deaths

The Return of Mandates?
With COVID surging, cities, agencies mulling a return of health mandates
As the Bay Area braces for yet another COVID-19 surge, a few cities and agencies are reinstating indoor mask mandates as the region continues debating the worth of a patchwork of coronavirus-related health orders.

Since late March, California’s case rate has nearly tripled and the Bay Area — which historically experienced a lower case rate than the rest of the state — has emerged as a COVID hotspot. Though cases are still one-tenth of what they were during January’s omicron surge, the region has more than three times as many positive cases than it did six weeks after the winter surge. That trend started in San Francisco around mid-March, followed by Santa Clara, San Mateo and a little later the other counties.

The uptick, driven by the emergence of two omicron subvariants that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now account for most of the cases nationally, have prompted some cities such as San Jose to revisit lifted mandates. Others continue to wait and see, reluctant to change the rules again for a public tiring of mixed messages. mercurynews.com

Here's what the White House's grim coronavirus warning means for you

As COVID cases rise, White House urges boosters and new congressional funding


The COVID Era Debate Over Remote Work

Remote Work - Good for Productivity?
No, working from home doesn't harm productivity, says study

Worker productivity and company resilience can be improved by remote working, particularly during a disaster.

A study comparing productivity before, during and after an extended stint of remote work suggests information worker productivity isn't negatively impacted by remote working. The research – which looked at data about employee technology use before, during and after the disaster – found that employee and company resiliency "may be enhanced" through remote work during natural disasters and other events that cause workplace displacement.

"Almost all of the study's employees were right back up to the same level of output as they were doing before Hurricane Harvey. This is a huge message right now for employers because we're having national debates about whether or not employees should be able to work remotely or in a hybrid schedule."

Indeed, American tech giants, other firms and the federal government are carving out return-to-office policies largely around the idea of hybrid work, mostly where staff work three days in the office and two days from home. zdnet.com

Employers are Leaving it Up to Workers
Workers are returning to the office — and finding it has its charms
Forget all the chatter about employees never wanting to go back to the office again. According to Jim Clifton, CEO of pollster Gallup, the majority of workers want to return at least some of the time. The reason? To collaborate, socialize and make important decisions alongside co-workers.

That’s also the conclusion of the CEOs of the companies we reached out to when we asked them about their return-to-office plans. The big differentiator? Most are leaving the choice about how and when they want to come to work up to their employees.

When chief people officer Loreal Torres surveyed the staffers at Vested about returning to the workplace, she got an answer not commonly heard in the news. “Seventy to 80% said they’d prefer to come in,” she said, adding that they wanted the freedom to come and go as they please. For this financial marketing and communications agency, it meant rethinking their setup. nypost.com

Prominent Apple staffers write letters to management, resign over office return

How leaders can make the most of remote work for employees

 

Retail Pharmacy Chains Will Pay Over Role in Opioid Crisis
Judge to Decide How Much Pharmacies Owe Over Opioid Crisis

A hearing will begin Tuesday in federal court in Cleveland that will result in a judge determining how much CVSHealth, Walgreens Co. and Walmart Corp. should pay two northeast Ohio counties to help them ease the continuing opioid crisis.

How much money should CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies pay two Ohio counties in damages to help them ease the effects of the opioid crisis?

That's the question in front of a federal judge in Cleveland, who will begin hearing testimony on Tuesday after a jury found the three giant pharmacy chains responsible last fall for recklessly distributing massive amounts of pain pills in Lake and Trumbull counties. It was the first time pharmacies in the U.S. have been held responsible for the opioid crisis.

Plaintiff's attorneys said before trial that each county needs about $1 billion to repair the damage caused by the flood of pills, which caused hundreds of overdose deaths.

Around 80 million prescription painkillers were dispensed in Trumbull County between 2012 and 2016 — 400 for every county resident — while 61 million pills were dispensed in Lake County during that five-year period — 265 pills for every resident.

Back in November, a jury in U.S. District Judge Dan Polster’s courtroom sided with the counties and agreed that the way the pharmacies dispensed pain medication played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance. So far, drug makers, distributors and pharmacies have agreed to settlements totaling well over $40 billion, according to an Associated Press tally.

Pharmacy chain Rite-Aid settled with the counties in early October before the start of trial. Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle reached a settlement with the counties in late October after the trial started. usnews.com

Banned from Selling Facial Recognition Database
Clearview AI agrees to not sell facial recognition database to private companies
Controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI has agreed to a ban that will prohibit it from selling its facial recognition database of more than 20 billion individuals to private companies.

The ACLU brought the lawsuit against Clearview AI in 2020 on behalf of a number of groups representing vulnerable communities, including undocumented immigrants and survivors of domestic violence. The lawsuit accused Clearview AI of repeatedly violating a 2008 Illinois law, which prevents organizations from using residents’ biometric identifiers without their knowledge and permission.

The settlement between Clearview AI and the ACLU prevents the company from selling access to its database to any entity in Illinois, including state and local police, for five years. Private companies will still be able to purchase Clearview’s facial recognition algorithm without the database.

The ACLU urged more states to pass protections similar to the ones in Illinois.

Clearview AI also agreed to end its practice of offering free trial accounts to individual police officers — including federal law enforcement — without the knowledge or approval of their employers. The use of such trials has made it difficult for agencies to track which employees are using the product, according to a government watchdog report last year.

Federal government agencies and other states will be able to purchase facial recognition technology. Despite growing concerns from civil rights experts and lawmakers, federal law enforcement agencies have only ramped up purchasing of Clearview AI and other facial recognition technologies in recent months.

Privacy and civil liberties advocates are hailing the settlement as a major victory and say now is the time for Congress to act to pass a national privacy law. Congressional efforts to pass federal privacy legislation, including legislation that would secure Americans’ biometric data, have floundered in recent years. Even with the encouragement of the White House and numerous proposals, legislation has yet to reach a vote. cyberscoop.com

Will the Retail Apocalypse Return?
New Wave of Retail Bankruptcies Could Be Coming
As a result of mounting consumer debt and the expiration of government stimulus credits, consumers may be forced to cut back on discretionary spending in order to meet their debt obligations. In addition, as inflation continues to erode pay, consumers may pivot to discount options, forcing retailers to make difficult decisions in this new environment, including reverting to various forms of discounting measures in order to fight for market share.

Moreover, despite the creation of a record number of jobs in 2021, retailers have struggled to find employees for their stores or warehouses. While these staffing shortages have caused distribution, inventory, and operational problems for retailers of all sizes, smaller retailers have struggled disproportionately with their ability to combat labor issues, supply chain disruptions, manufacturer preferences, and inflation when compared to larger retailers.

Despite the low number of retail bankruptcy filings in the second half of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, a number of struggling drug stores, apparel retailers, and department stores have announced efforts to right-size and close stores. In fact, last month, Rite Aid announced the results of its fiscal fourth quarter earnings and reported that it plans to generate $170 million in cost savings during the next fiscal year through, among other things, the closing of 145 unprofitable stores.Rite Aid also received a FRISK Score of 1 from CreditRiskMonitor, the lowest score available indicating the highest risk for bankruptcy. At the end of 2021, CVS also announced its plans to close 300 stores per year between 2022 and 2024 as part of a shift to e-commerce. In the apparel space, American Eagle announced its plans to close 225 stores.

While bankruptcy filings continue to remain low, the combination of continuing inflation, rising interest rates, supply-chain disruptions, labor issues, consumer debt and spending, and the expiration of government assistance, may create another wave of distress and bankruptcy. Retailers, landlords, manufacturers, vendors, and lenders should remain nimble and consider alternatives to be prepared for the changing economic climate and its impact on consumer spending habits and retail operations across the sector. natlawreview.com

Retailers Rationing Baby Formula
‘Please Help’: A Nationwide Baby Formula Shortage Worsens

After Abbott Nutrition issued voluntary recalls of its popular baby formulas, retailers have limited purchases, leaving desperate parents searching for solutions.

Parents across the country are struggling to keep up with a nationwide shortage of baby formula — a problem worsened by a recent recall by Abbott Nutrition, a manufacturer of baby food. The recall came after at least four babies were hospitalized with bacterial infections and two died after consuming its products, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

Now, several major retailers eager to preserve inventory are limiting how much baby formula their customers can buy.

The drugstore chain CVS said in a statement that “following supplier challenges and increased customer demand,” buyers will be limited to three baby formula products per purchase in stores and online. Walgreens echoed that in a statement, saying it had also imposed a three-item limit in an attempt “to help improve inventory.” Target said it had a four-item limit online but no in-store limits. Costco had various caps on formulas listed on its website. nytimes.com

Register Now!
IAFCI Annual Spotlight on Fraud Conference
The International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) Connecticut Chapter annual Spotlight on Fraud Conference is set for June 9-10, 2022 at Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, CT. This is a great opportunity to hear about some recent financial crime trends and how to address and prevent them.

Not only retail crime but also cryptocurrency, social media investigations and many more presentations. This is also a great opportunity to network with various branches of federal, state and local law enforcement and the financial investigators industry. Come and hear some awesome presentations.

Conference Agenda | Registration Information

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