March Networks Announces Addition of ME8 Series IP Cameras to Growing Line of AI-Enabled Products

New cameras feature built-in video intelligence for accurate and rapid detection of security incidents and 4K resolution for crystal-clear images

OTTAWA, ON, June 14, 2022 –– March Networks®, a global video surveillance and video-based business intelligence leader, is pleased to announce the addition of the ME8 Series IP Cameras to its line of products powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Incorporating advanced system-on-chip (SoC) technology from California-based company Ambarella®, the ME8 Series IP Cameras use Deep Neural Network processing power to accurately detect both people and vehicles. This built-in intelligence is combined with next-generation security analytics and 4K ultra high-definition (HD) resolution for the most detailed video and accurate, real-time detection of events. 4K ultra HD (8MP) produces extremely sharp images, with four times the resolution of a standard 2MP camera.

Read more here
 

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The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

Grocery Stores in the Crosshairs of America's Gun Violence Epidemic
How collaboration can help grocers combat the threat of store violence

Food retailers can strengthen knowledge-sharing with community groups, local law enforcement and other industries to bolster safety efforts, sources say.

In the wake of recent mass shootings, including a racist attack at a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York, that left 10 Black people dead, finding ways to deal with the ever-present threat of violence in the U.S. is taking on added urgency for the grocery industry.

Similar to when the mass shooting that killed 10 people at a King Soopers in Colorado last spring prompted increased safety discussions within the industry, the Tops shooting has resurfaced a painful and yet paramount discussion for grocers: how to keep workers and customers safe at their locations.

The grocery industry already has numerous resources to explore to help prevent and mitigate violence, including active assailant training, security guards, emergency preparedness guides from trade groups and various technology, such as cameras and alert tools. But grocers still have more areas to explore to increase their security measures, the Food Industry Association (FMI) stressed in a recent online webinar held with security expert William Flynn.

During the event and in subsequent phone interviews with Grocery Dive, Flynn and Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations for the trade group, urged grocers to collaborate inside and outside their companies and outlined additional safety efforts worth consideration. They emphasized that the industry can accelerate knowledge-sharing with other industries, local organizations and internally with employees to become better prepared for potential violence.

The call by Flynn and Baker for grocers to keep seeking new and improved safety opportunities comes at a time when the grocery industry continues to see violent incidents happen across the country — from a deadly robbery in California to a supermarket employee allegedly stabbing a co-worker in New Jersey to repeated attacks on a grocery store worker in Maryland.

While the physical and verbal assaults inside grocery stores and in their parking lots don’t often garner the same national attention as mass shootings, FMI’s recent “Asset Protection in Food Retail” report found that in-store violence may be more common than grocers realize. In a November survey of 18 companies representing more than 12,000 stores, 61% said they have experienced an active shooter incident, with 17% saying it’s happened more than once. Meanwhile, 96% said they have encountered civil unrest, with 94% dealing with it more than once.

What collaboration can look like | Scouting more safety measures: grocerydive.com

Shoplifter Violence & Conflicts on the Rise
San Jose Safeway shooting spurs fears of more conflicts with shoplifters
A week ago Sunday, at 3:35 a.m., after a confrontation with a thief in the liquor aisle, Huizar was shot dead – a tragedy that comes amid a fraught time and fierce debate over crime in America’s cities.

Frustration over highly-publicized, brazen thefts at supermarkets, pharmacies and retail stores is filling social media. There’s a growing sense that the thieves are becoming more emboldened — and that nobody is taking responsibility.

“People are getting so sick and tired of this behavior happening over and over and over again,” said Rachel Michelin, CEO and president of the California Retailers Association that has lobbied for stiffer consequences. “Everyday citizens are going to start taking the law into their own hands. My fear is that we’re going to see many more of these types of situations happening across the state.”

Over recent months, accounts of shoplifting at Walgreens and CVS and other retail outlets have placed a spotlight on California’s Prop 47, a voter-approved measure that in 2015 began lowering the penalty for thefts of less than $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor. Critics say look no further than Google for “shoplifting in California” — one of the most frequent related searches that pops up is “How much can you steal in California without getting in trouble?”

The year after Prop 47 became law, crime statistics showed a 9% jump in larceny – including a notable increase in shoplifting and vehicle break-ins – but that returned to previous levels the following year. Michelin from the Retailers Association says the true scope of the problem doesn’t show up in crime data.

“It’s this merry-go-round where retailers say, ‘Well, we’re not going to report them because when we have called, the police don’t show up,’” she said. “The police don’t show up because they say the district attorneys won’t prosecute. The district attorneys say they don’t prosecute because the police aren’t bringing in the cases. The police say we’re not bringing the cases because the retailers aren’t reporting them.”

The retail association isn’t advocating the repeal of Prop 47, she said, just fixing it. For instance, she said, the misdemeanor could be raised to a felony after multiple thefts by the same person total more than $950. It’s time, she said, “for our elected leaders to take this seriously.” mercurynews.com

Big Cities Bolster Security & Active-Shooter Training
Mass Shootings, Weekend Violence Prompt U.S. Cities to Step Up Safety Measures

In Phoenix, Milwaukee and other cities, police review active-shooter training, use curfews and social-media monitoring to fight increase in crime

Police chiefs and mayors are working to bolster public safety amid rising gun violence and a spate of other crimes across much of the U.S.

Following last month’s fatal shooting of 10 Black people in a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket and the killing of 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. cities on recent weekends experienced more than 20 shootings in which at least four people were shot, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group that tracks mass shootings.

Police departments across the country, stretched thin by retirements and difficulties recruiting, are being asked to do more with fewer officers. Some police and city leaders are refreshing training, enforcing curfews and lending their voices to debates over gun laws and bail policies.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said her department has contacted schools in the city to tighten coordination in the event of an attack and plans over the summer to offer active-shooter training for churches, businesses and other institutions. She recirculated an e-training course on active shooters to all of her officers shortly after the shooting in Uvalde.

Other officials redoubled efforts to monitor disputes that could spill into violence on social media and continued to work with community and anti-violence groups to foster better ways to resolve disputes, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said.

Gun homicides in 2020 surged to their highest levels in 26 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase continued in 2021, based on preliminary data, CDC officials have said. wsj.com

Cop Shortage Comes at the Worst Possible Time
Philadelphia may rehire officers & civilian employees to fill vacancies
Philadelphia officials are considering adopting a proposal that would allow the city and its police department to rehire retired police officers and civilian employees in an effort to fill staff vacancies.

Council Majority Leader Cherelle Parker proposed the legislation as a way to address police staffing shortages amid rising gun violence in the city. The bill would not only impact the police department but other city departments as well. Retired employees would be eligible for rehiring and would receive their retirement pension in addition to a full-time salary.

Speaking to the city council, Parker referred to the police department’s struggle to recruit and retain officers, as well as the shortages in adjacent departments like the Department of Prisons and the Department of Licenses and Inspections, both of which are experiencing a dwindling of manpower.

If adopted, the legislation would require the mayor to declare that extraordinary circumstances exist that threaten the “public health, safety and welfare of the city” (referring to crime and building safety risks) and to thus allow departments to rehire retired employees without suspending their pension benefits.

Indeed, the bill states that rehired employees can receive a full salary in addition to their pension benefits for up to a period of three years. Parker, who could run for mayor in 2023, described the move as a “short-term solution” to fill the police ranks as crime spikes in the city.

Currently, the department lacks over 500 officers due to vacancies and injury claims. It is authorized to maintain 6,380 officers. privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com

Mental Health is Not the #1 Driver of Shootings
Does Psychosis Play a Role in Most Mass Shootings?

New research rules out mental illness as a major factor in mass shootings.

A recent study published in the journal Psychology, Public Policy, and Law examined the mental health histories of 176 mass shooters since 1966. A team of researchers led by Jillian Petersen of Hamline University's Department of Criminal Justice used data taken from the Violence Project Database of Mass Shootings in the United States.

The results showed that the actual role of psychosis in mass shootings has been relatively stable over time, even as the number of mass shootings has risen sharply in the past few years. All told, psychosis does not appear to have played a role in 69 percent of all shootings since 1966. When examined more closely, psychosis was deemed to have played a major role in 11 percent of shootings, a moderate role in 9 percent of cases, and only a minor role in 11 percent of cases.

These figures compare closely with most other research looking at violent crimes and the mentally ill. About the only real difference found appears to be that psychotic shooters tend to be more educated than non-psychotic mass shooters. Also, while approximately 60 percent of all mass shooters do have some mental health history, psychiatric medication usage was on par with what can be found in the general population. psychologytoday.com

'Enough is enough': Thousands demand new gun safety laws
Thousands of people rallied on the National Mall this weekend and across the rest of America in a renewed push for gun control measures after recent deadly mass shootings

What research says about identifying people who might commit mass shootings

Gun sales, training spike following high-profile mass shootings

Champaign, IL deploys unarmed security officers to patrol downtown areas

 

COVID Update

591.1M Vaccinations Given

US: 87.4M Cases - 1M Dead - 83.2M Recovered
Worldwide: 541.1M Cases - 6.3M Dead - 516.4M Recovered

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

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 359  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 781
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Cases & Deaths on the Rise
US COVID-19 cases tick up after week of decline
The nation's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases increased this week after falling slightly last week for the first time since late March, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published June 10.

As of June 8, the nation's seven-day case average was 109,032, an 8 percent increase from the previous week's average. The jump comes after the CDC reported an 8.5 percent drop in cases in its weekly COVID-19 report published June 3.

The seven-day hospitalization average for June 1-7 was 4,127, an 8 percent increase from the previous week's average. The current seven-day death average is 306, up 18.6 percent from the previous week's average. Some historical deaths have been excluded from these counts, the CDC said. beckershospitalreview.com

COVID Caused 15,000 Skipped Inspections of Formula Manufacturers
The baby formula manufacturers of Similac, Enfamil, and Gerber had zero health inspections in 2020, federal records show: AP

The FDA told the AP it skipped 15,000 inspections due to COVID-19 and is working through a backlog.

US food safety regulators did not inspect any of the three largest baby-formula manufacturers in 2020, an Associated Press review of federal records found.

Two of the three firms — Abbott, the maker of Similac, and Reckitt, which makes Enfamil — accounted for nearly 80% of the $4 billion baby-formula market in 2021. However, apparently neither they nor Gerber were on the Food and Drug Administration's list of "mission critical" inspections during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, per the AP.

"The FDA would have had more chances to catch these issues if they'd been inspecting during the pandemic," food safety specialist Sarah Sorscher told the AP.

Current law only requires inspections of baby formula facilities every three to five years, but the FDA had been conducting at least once-a-year visits until 2019. New legislation would require twice-yearly inspections.

The ongoing national shortage of baby formula began after one Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan was shut down after four children got sick after consuming the company's powdered Similac. businessinsider.com

The COVID Era's Great Debate Over Remote Work
Elon Musk's 'antiquated' views on working from home threatens to rob Tesla of top talent, experts say
Experts say the world's richest man is wrong to say that logging on from home during the pandemic "tricked" people into thinking they don't need to work hard. Nick Gallimore, director of innovation at Advanced People Management, told Insider that Musk would need "something of a miracle if he expects people to even stick with him ... let alone be more productive."

"Musk's comments – that remote work simply can't be as effective or as productive as working from a physical location – put him in a small minority of business owners who are betting the future of their organizations on the organization design principles of the past," he said.

Gallimore, who consults on HR issues, added: "The odds are stacked against him: with many different pieces of research suggesting that as few as 10% of people actually want to work from the office full-time." businessinsider.com

COVID Funds Running Out as America Sees Another Surge
How America continues to embarrass itself in its attempts to handle Covid
Congressional Republicans have effectively obstructed President Joe Biden’s $22.5 billion request for more Covid relief funds by demanding a full accounting of how previous Covid appropriations have been spent. In doing so, they’re implying the appropriations haven’t been spent appropriately.

A White House official said in a statement last week that the administration will have to “cut corners” and make “unacceptable trade-offs” that include diverting $10 billion budgeted for personal protective equipment and at-home Covid tests to the purchase of new vaccines and treatments. Meanwhile, the number of Covid cases and the number of Covid deaths in the United States rise. The U.S. continues to average hundreds of Covid deaths every day. msnbc.com

Where we stand on COVID-19 heading into summer

Far from being ‘post pandemic,’ UK Covid cases are on the rise again

Covid is making flu and other common viruses act in unfamiliar ways

 

Retailers Among 12 Most Dangerous Companies
The 12 Most Dangerous Companies of 2022: Amazon, Dollar General & Starbucks Make List of Most Dangerous Companies of 2022

National COSH is back with an all-new list of companies for its annual compilation of the Dirty Dozen.

After shelving its annual compilation of the country's "Dirty Dozen" employers last year during the pandemic, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) is back with an all-new list of companies who, according to National COSH, "put workers, families and communities at risk." Actually, the list isn't quite all-new, as Amazon has now appeared on it three times.

"The Dirty Dozen are companies that needlessly expose workers to preventable hazards, leading to preventable illnesses, injuries and fatalities," explains Jessica Martinez, co-executive director of National COSH.

Amazon

Retail giant Amazon frequently appears on the "Dirty Dozen" list, having previously been so designated in 2019 and 2020. Two Amazon warehouse workers died on the job in November 2021 at a Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, and six workers have died there overall since the warehouse opened in 2020.

Dollar General

Dollar General, said to be one of the nation's fastest-growing retailers (and a frequent target for unionization efforts), made the list largely due to the $3.6 million in OSHA fines and citations the company has received over the past five years for safety violations.

Starbucks

Union organizing efforts are intensely focusing on Starbucks. The NLRB has been filing worker complaints that the coffee retailer has been mistreating and firing workers involved in the organizing campaigns. ehstoday.com

Dollar General Hit with $4M+ OSHA Penalities Since 2016
Two Dollar General stores cited by OSHA for padlocking emergency exits shut

The agency proposed $580,000 in fines across the two stores, located in Ohio and Wisconsin.

Two Dollar General stores have been cited by a US federal agency for padlocking their emergency exits. Inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also reported other violations, including obstructed access to a fire extinguisher. OSHA has previously cited other Dollar General stores for similar violations.

OSHA inspected a store in Baldwin, Wisconsin in December 2021 in response to a referral from local fire officials and found the emergency exit doors were closed and padlocked on the inside "with a bike lock and a board," meaning people would have required a key to leave. The exit was also blocked by boxes of merchandise, OSHA said.

These conditions would have prevented workers and customers from using the exits in the case of an emergency, according to OSHA, a division of the Department of Labor. In addition, the store's portable fire extinguisher had been blocked with containers of items, OSHA said. OSHA issued four willful citations against the store and proposed combined penalties of $435,081.

Another Dollar General store in Seville, Ohio had placed barrel locks on a double-door emergency exit, OSHA found in an inspection in January. The store was cited for one willful violation and OSHA proposed $145,027 in penalties.

Since 2016, OSHA has proposed more than $4 million in penalties at Dollar General stores nationwide, with many of the citations related to obstructed access to emergency exits. One store in Missouri was cited in 2016 after inspectors found a "five-foot high, 15-foot long pile of trash" blocking an emergency exit. businessinsider.com

Will the Retail Union Push Fizzle Out?
U.S. workers gained power during Covid. Volatile economy will put that to the test
The pandemic shone a spotlight on the vast disparities in benefits and rights among America's workforce and helped fuel a movement to unionize more workers. And with today's tight labor market, workers continue to have the upper hand — there are almost two job openings for every unemployed person — creating an environment that's even more favorable to labor union activity.

In the last year, unions have been formed at big corporations such as Starbucks, Amazon, and Alphabet; union election petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board from October 2021 through March 2022 were up 57% from the same period a year before; and a September Gallup poll found that 68% of Americans surveyed were in favor of labor unions -- the highest level of approval since 1965.

But as the war in Ukraine, record gas prices and spiraling inflation continue to put pressure on the US economy, what remains to be seen is whether the newly robust labor movement could weather higher unemployment and an eventual economic downturn.

The extraordinary conditions that created this more pro-worker market won't last forever, said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist for the US Department of Labor under President Barack Obama. cnn.com

FYI For LP & AP Executives
DHS News Release: New Digital Indoor Mapping Capability Now Available for First Responders
Release Date: June 14, 2022: WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) funded the development of a cloud-based capability that enables first responders to review and analyze indoor floor plans in real-time when responding to incidents. Mappedin Response was developed in collaboration with Mappedin Inc. of Waterloo, Ontario, and is available to first responders and local governments as a licensed cloud-based service.

For more information about S&T’s innovation programs and tools, visit https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/business-opportunities. dhs.gov

Biggest retail lease since 2015 boosts Mag Mile
Aritzia is opening a big store in the former Gap building on Michigan Avenue, a major vote of confidence in a shopping district that desperately needs one.

Chico's to Close 40 Stores
This Iconic Clothing Chain Is Closing 40 Locations This Year

Levi’s also plans to open 400 new stores globally by 2027

BJ’s Expanding Footprint Across 4 States

Revlon reportedly preparing for bankruptcy

Former McDonald's stores in Russia welcome their first visitors after a rebrand