How Interface Security Systems Maximizes ROI for Clients

Leadership for commercial monitored and managed service provider Interface talk leveraging AI to deliver smarter security, network & operational solutions.

Founded more than a quarter-century ago and headquartered within the St. Louis metro area, Interface Security Systems is a leading, complete nationwide provider of recurring revenue-based managed security, network connectivity, unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and business intelligence solutions to distributed enterprises.

SSI spoke with Senior Vice President of Marketing Sunita Mani, CEO Brent Duncan and Senior Vice President of Enterprise Security Sean Foley to find out how the company improves security, streamlines connectivity and optimizes operations to maximize ROI for the nation’s top brands. Also discussed are pandemic impacts and outcomes, in-demand technologies and services, and emerging market opportunities.

Read more in the Vendor Spotlight column below
 

In Case You Missed It

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

 

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The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

New York's Hottest Topic: Cracking Down on Retail Fencing
City aims to hold Facebook, Amazon accountable for hawking stolen goods
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Organized street gangs entering luxury Manhattan retailers, stealing thousands of dollars worth of goods and driving away have been finding profitable resale outlets through online marketplaces at Amazon, Facebook and Instagram.

With grand larceny soaring in Manhattan, state Sen. Brad Hoylman and borough District Attorney Alvin Bragg have crafted legislation to discourage the third-party sale of stolen goods. The bill, introduced last week in Albany, targets a sophisticated “fencing operation,” Bragg said, whereby an intermediary purchases stolen goods from thieves and resells them online.

“We need some upstream accountability,” Bragg told Crain’s. “We’ve got a real urgent matter facing our retailers. In particular, we’re seeing sophisticated groups victimizing people who are shoplifting or stealing out of poverty and being used by these fencing operations.”

Bragg described the masterminds as sophisticated criminals who use impoverished youths to do the actual stealing. He described it as “a classic scheme” that has been adopted by criminals in other arenas.

Hoylman said he hopes that by creating a new Class A misdemeanor offense, online marketplaces such as Amazon and Facebook will better safeguard themselves from being platforms for the advertisement and sale of stolen goods.

“Our legislation would impart greater responsibilities on the part of these third parties,” Hoylman said. “It’s time that these platforms take responsibility for who is selling what on their websites.”

There have been 1,143 incidents this year of grand larceny—stealing any property valued at more than $1,000—in Manhattan’s 18th and 19th precincts, which cover much of Midtown and the Upper East Side. Grand larceny is up 90% in the 18th Precinct and 50% in the 19th Precinct.

“Shoplifting has skyrocketed in parts of my district,” Hoylman said. “These are educated operations that are seeking a marketplace for stolen goods.”

Bragg and Hoylman began crafting the legislation following three meetings Bragg’s office had with the Manhattan Small Business Alliance, a group of Business Improvement District leaders, small-business owners, law enforcement officials and social service providers. crainsnewyork.com

The Other Side of the San Francisco Crime Debate
San Francisco’s Economic Elite Is Gunning for Chesa Boudin

Wealthy San Francisco residents are pouring money into the recall campaign against progressive DA Chesa Boudin, who’s being blamed for out-of-control crime.

This perception of San Francisco as crime-ridden has fueled significant policy decisions in recent months. It is also one of the main reasons why San Francisco’s progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin is in danger of being recalled in June. The campaign to recall Boudin has alternatingly portrayed the district attorney as dismissive of crime victims and uninterested in the criminals responsible for wreaking havoc on the city’s streets.

“Criminals know they will be let off the hook without consequences,” campaign literature from the pro-recall group Safer SF Without Boudin reads.

The panic over crime is remarkable for a simple reason: San Francisco is empirically one of the safest major cities in the country. According to FBI data, violent crime in San Francisco is at its lowest rate since 1985, the year the bureau started tracking violent crime numbers. The city’s murder rate is among the lowest in the country for major cities, even after rising during the pandemic as it did elsewhere. Motor vehicle thefts also rose during the pandemic, but then stabilized. Between 2019 to 2021, the rates of rape, robbery, assault, and crime overall in the city actually decreased.

There is similarly little data to support the notion that Boudin’s office systematically refuses to charge criminals. A recent review by Mission Local found that last year Boudin actually filed charges at a higher rate than any San Francisco district attorney since 2011.

To blame or credit Boudin personally for the crime rate in San Francisco is questionable to begin with. Just two months after Boudin was sworn in, the city was plunged into interlocking crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which correlated with a spike in violent crime across the country. In Sacramento, where the district attorney’s office is led by tough-on-crime Republican-turned-Independent Anne Marie Schubert, the murder rate increased by more than it did in San Francisco.

“There’s no causal relationship between the crime rate and who the DA is,” Lara Bazelon, law professor at San Francisco University and chair of the district attorney office’s Innocence Commission, said.  jacobinmag.com

Violence Interruption Programs Spread Across the U.S.
Cities put hopes in violence interrupters, but few understand their challenges

“They need everything that a police department would need, because they’re also fighting crime," one expert said.

As calls for alternatives to policing intensify, several cities have set their sights on violence interruption to solve the problems of gun violence and over-policing in communities of color — but many say they need more social and professional support to succeed in the job long term.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed Tuesday that reports of firearm homicides surged to a historic high in 2020, at almost 20,000 deaths, and it pointed to violence interruption as a possible solution.

Over the last two years, lawmakers in Indianapolis; Savannah, Georgia; and Knoxville, Tennessee, have either started or expanded violence interruption programs — which aim to reduce gun violence through community-based mediation — and even the Justice Department said last year it would give $444 million in grants to support a wide variety of violence reduction efforts, including community-based violence intervention and prevention strategies.

But while hopes are high for the model as one avenue to help stem violence, those who work with such organizations say there is still a lack infrastructure for workers to succeed — including inconsistent or disparate funding and high rates of burnout — causing most to leave the profession after about five years. nbcnews.com

Demand for Mace Surges Amid New York's Crime Surge
Crime-plagued and fearful, New Yorkers need easy access to mace
A ludicrous law stands in the way of New Yorkers getting access to this most basic form of self-defense. While anyone can order mace online via Amazon, a state law prohibits the product from being shipped to New York addresses.

There are only a handful of in-person locations that sell pepper spray in the city, many of which have shuttered since the pandemic. Online message boards are flooded with desperate New Yorkers trading notes on where to find it (like this Reddit thread, which points out you can buy an ax at Target but not pepper spray).

And yet, despite a mounting need for self-defense, the law stands. Overall crime is up 60 percent since last year, and the city has been rocked by a slew of hate crimes, subway shovings, and heinous murders in recent months.

The bottom line: The ban on shipping pepper spray is ludicrous. Vulnerable New Yorkers shouldn’t be waiting on lines, contacting out-of-state friends, or scouring Reddit threads to find it. And, with more than 1.5 million single women and 1 million elderly residents in the city, there’s no place where easy access to basic, non-lethal self-defense is more necessary. nypost.com

Bipartisan Support for More Police Funding
Pascrell, Rutherford Lead 160 Members of Congress in Support of Police Funding

Law enforcement chairs seek bigger Byrne JAG, COPS grants in FY2023 appropriations

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and John Rutherford (R-FL-04), the co-chairmen of the House Law Enforcement Caucus, are leading a bipartisan group of 160 Democrats and Republicans requesting increased funding in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriation bill for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) and the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) programs. The diverse ideological cross-section of members demonstrates strong support for these grants across the spectrum in Congress.

“The Byrne JAG and COPS programs are the cornerstone of our federal justice assistance programs. Together, these grants are critical to ensuring state and local law enforcement have the training, tools, and personnel necessary to serve their communities. Since their inception, Byrne JAG and COPS grants have enabled law enforcement agencies to better protect their communities and promote community policing initiatives that form vital bonds between officers and those they serve,” the members write the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies House Appropriations Subcommittee. insidernj.com

Top cop addresses violence, shootings in Chicago

 

COVID Update

580M Vaccinations Given

US: 83.9M Cases - 1M Dead - 81.1M Recovered
Worldwide: 519.2M Cases - 6.2M Dead - 474M 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: 767
*Red indicates change in total deaths

COVID Cases Have Doubled in a Month - But Concern Is Low
Poll: Coronavirus Cases Increasing in U.S. While Concern Levels Drop

The survey also found that many Americans have dropped mitigation measures like social distancing and masking.

Concerns over catching COVID-19 are the lowest they’ve been since July 2020 despite increasing coronavirus infections, according to a new poll. Fewer than 1 in 3 Americans report being “somewhat” or “very” worried about contracting COVID-19, according to the survey from Gallup published Wednesday.

The survey also found that many Americans have dropped mitigation measures. Social distancing efforts have fallen to their lowest levels since the pandemic began, and about half of Americans report wearing masks when they leave their homes.

The U.S. is averaging nearly 75,000 new coronavirus cases each day, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just a month ago, that number stood at 30,000. While infections are on the rise, it’s still just a fraction of what was reported during the peak of the omicron wave when average daily cases topped 800,000. usnews.com

Another Headache Coming for Pharmacy Chains
Biden is expanding Paxlovid availability. For independent pharmacies, stocking the COVID pill can be a hassle
The White House is ramping up a national expansion of Paxlovid — Pfizer’s life-saving COVID-19 pill — as omicron subvariants continue to spread. The Biden administration has touted the drug’s efficacy in helping to reduce hospitalizations for people with underlying health conditions.

But business owners at local independent pharmacies say that the federal government hasn’t necessarily taken steps to make the drug more accessible.

“This is not just a normal medication; this is a life-saving medication, and there’s extra work involved from our end and everything that goes with what we need to do in order to fill the script,” Ost said.

According to local pharmacists, many community pharmacies are deterred from filling Paxlovid prescriptions due to low reimbursements. Some cite that it hinders accessibility significantly, creating a limited supply for patients to get the medication. whyy.org

COVID Workplace Guidance
Regulatory Update: Cal/OSHA Issues Latest COVID-19 ETS
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) recently announced extension of its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) for workplaces and at the same time made several notable changes.

“It may feel as though the pandemic is behind us, but the Cal/OSHA Standards Board is not yet ready to lift all COVID-19-related safety measures for workplaces in California,” commented attorneys Ben Gipson and Samantha Saltzman of the DLA Piper law firm.

The standards have been revised to follow the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) update issued in April to its isolation and quarantine guidance. CDPH no longer requires close contacts to quarantine after exposure, though those not fully vaccinated or recently infected in the prior 90 days are advised to still be excluded from work for at least five days with testing. ehstoday.com

Are 100 million new COVID-19 cases coming?
The Biden administration issues dire COVID prediction for this fall
The Biden administration’s warning that the United States could be hit by 100 million COVID-19 infections this fall is getting some backing by the Utah Department of Health.

Keeping in mind that new variants of the virus are expected to emerge and the nation’s immunity is waning, Sam LeFevre, director of the state health department’s office of communicable diseases, told the Deseret News, “we think it is quite possible the nation could see up to 100 million cases in a fall surge.”

The surge predicted for the nation that The Washington Post said could also bring “a potentially significant wave of deaths” through the winter, is being blamed on the latest versions of the highly transmissible omicron variant that appear able to evade immunity from vaccinations and even previous omicron infections. deseret.com

Growing share of Covid-19 deaths are among vaccinated people, but booster shots substantially lower the risk

 

Ikea's LP Revolution
Embracing the LP revolution at Ikea
What can loss prevention professionals expect in the future? “Change, change and more change,” says Vic Jacinto, U.S. safety and security manager for Ikea. Jacinto, who has been with Ikea for 21 years and oversees all things safety- or security-related, is speaking at NRF’s premier retail security event, NRF PROTECT 2022 in Cleveland, taking place June 21-23. His session? “Change is here. Is your LP team ready?”

Read on for more of Jacinto’s perspective on the adapting LP landscape and building teams that can thrive.

So much of the retail environment has changed over the last two years. What were some of your key loss prevention goals two years ago and what are the goals today?

Two years seems like a lifetime ago, but at that time we were very focused internally on streamlining how we support our units. That was completely upended and today we are focused on providing adequate training to get our loss prevention managers and teams the training they need. We have experienced quite a bit of internal movement and turnover in our teams and our training programs weren’t robust enough to handle such immense change at once.

What are some of the threats and challenges facing retail LP professionals today and what can companies do to adapt to the LP world of tomorrow?

Social and political changes and unrest that affect the retail business, including how loss prevention operates, are things that can’t be underestimated. Today’s retailers must focus on being adaptable and flexible, and emergency/crisis management teams must be ready to think and react on their feet for whatever crisis comes next.

What can executive leadership do to help improve their company’s safety culture or business continuity efforts?

As far as business continuity, make sure the plans are updated and tested periodically during tabletop exercises. Following an event, perform an after-action review and make necessary changes to all plans, including business continuity plans. When it comes to safety culture, it must be embedded within the culture — just as it is implied with the term “safety culture.” It sounds simple enough, but it’s not. It must start day one with a new employee, and it must repeat and continue throughout the organization — with every employee and at every level — every single day.

What are the three most important things when building an LP program? - What’s next for the loss prevention industry?  nrf.com

Supermarket Closure Wave
Is inflation the true cause of recent supermarket closures?

Some big name grocers have been closing store locations against the backdrop of record-breaking inflation.

Walmart closed three under-performing locations in April, in Louisville, Cincinnati and Bellevue, Washington, with plans to close two more soon, according to Eat This, Not That! Whole Foods announced the impending closure of six stores, including ones in Chicago, Alabama, California and Massachusetts.

Kroger has closed two underperforming store locations so far in 2022, in Kentucky and Mississippi, and is relocating a third. Piggly Wiggly has announced the closure of several stores in the 17 states in which it operates.

The inflationary economy may be forcing grocers to take a closer look at the profitability of individual locations. Inflation brings increased costs from suppliers, which makes it more difficult for retailers to protect margins, leading them to pursue their own cost-cutting measures.

The news of major enterprises closing stores comes a few months after reports that inflation was already putting small, local grocers out of business. retailwire.com

Retail's Latest Crisis
Baby formula maker: It will take more than a month to resupply infant formula
The owner of a key baby formula manufacturing plant said Wednesday it is looking to restart its plant in as little as two weeks — but said it would take between six to eight weeks to get formula products back on store shelves once production gets going again.

In a new statement Wednesday, Abbott said that, subject to Food and Drug Administration approval, it could restart the Sturgis site “within two weeks.” But from the time it brings the facility back online, it would take six to eight weeks before product makes it to store shelves, Abbott said.

As much as 43 percent of normal supplies of formula were out of stock in U.S. grocery stores in the first week of May, according to data from retail research group Datasembly. The shortage has led to calls for Washington to act. In a statement Tuesday, the FDA said it was expediting import documentation from product overseas to get formula in more swiftly, and was also granting case-by-case waivers to allow the sale of “life-sustaining supplies” of specialty and metabolic formulas. cnbc.com

Shell to sell its gas stations in Russia
Shell is looking for a local buyer to acquire its 411 gas stations operating in Russia.

Best Buy to open 4 new outlet stores, add new product categories

Meijer to open first St. Louis area store