How Is AI Changing The Course Of The Security Marketplace?

According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to transform all sectors of society, including national security. The physical security marketplace is certainly feeling the impact of the new technology, which has quickly gained prominence as one of the industry’s most popular buzzwords. To assess the more practical aspects of the situation, we asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How is artificial intelligence (AI) changing the course of the security marketplace?

Fredrik Nilsson - Vice President of the Americas, Axis Communications

People may not realize it, but AI has been used extensively in the security industry for years. That said, we have seen an explosion of mainstream interest following the emergence of generative AI. Expectations are high for the impact AI may have, but in the security marketplace, it’s important to remain both realistic and pragmatic. What we might see with generative AI is increased accuracy of reporting and analysis. For example, metadata generated from today’s surveillance cameras might be uploaded into a program capable of writing a report detailing what the camera saw during a specific incident. That’s just one application, but it is indicative of generative AI’s potential. Still, it’s important to avoid getting carried away — generative AI has significant potential, but it isn’t magic. As leaders in the space, we have a responsibility to invest in innovation, but also to ensure the technology is being used and discussed appropriately.

Read more responses here
 

Retailer foils skimmer scam using AI

Retail deters skimmer crew, builds strong case in less than six hours

Here’s how it started: A store manager saw through a skimmer crew’s distractions at the checkout stand. As the manager approached, the three individuals abandoned the installation of the skimmer hardware and bolted.

With the immediate threat deterred, the client’s AP team used FaceFirst’s powerful visitor search feature. With this “look back,” they quickly identified the subjects’ criminal pattern by date, time, and store locations. In just hours, they built a strong case against a ring of 10 well-organized thieves.

You’ve seen some variation of this before. In this case, three individuals entered the grocery checkout together. They blocked view of the card swipe terminal with a bulk package of paper towels. One person distracted the cashier by asking for cigarettes from a locked case. Another said, “Oh, I’ll bag” and stepped into position. The goal, of course, is to overlay an illegal skimmer device on the card swipe, intercept credit/debit card data, and steal money from the card accounts.

The sharp-eyed manager addressed the trio. They fled, leaving the partially installed skimmer behind. The manager called in his AP team right away. Their FaceFirst search of the three individuals’ images revealed similar incidents in the client’s other stores and more accomplices. Less than six hours after the manager’s report, the AP team had identified 10 individuals casing 28 stores and installing six skimmers successfully. Overnight, the chain audited all checkout devices and added security measures.

Consider the benefit of taking an individual’s image, running a search, and identifying that individual’s past visits to any of your stores—all within minutes. FaceFirst’s investigative features turn a nearly impossible manual task for humans into instant, actionable intelligence. FaceFirst helps AP investigators build strong, detailed cases faster for coordination with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.

FaceFirst’s face matching technology alerts retailers instantly when known threats enter their stores, providing both life safety and loss prevention advantages. Calculate the risks of being caught unaware when a known offender enters your store. If you knew there was a proven solution to keep your valued customers and associates safer from violent offenders and prevent loss, would you implement it? The real risk is answering no. FaceFirst’s solution is fast, accurate, and scalable—take action today at facefirst.com.
 

Crime-Fighting INFORM Consumers Act Takes Effect Next Week
FTC Puts Online Marketplaces on Notice About Their Responsibilities Under the New INFORM Consumers Act

Act will go into effect nationwide on June 27, 2023; Commission warns businesses to be in compliance on day one

The Federal Trade Commission has sent letters to 50 online marketplaces nationwide notifying them about their obligation to comply with the new Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act – or the INFORM Consumers Act – as soon as it takes effect on June 27.

“The INFORM Consumers Act requires online marketplaces to protect consumers from counterfeit, unsafe, and stolen goods by verifying their high-volume third-party sellers’ identities, and making it easier for consumers to report suspicious marketplace activity,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The Commission will enforce the Act to the fullest extent possible and will collaborate with our state partners to hold online marketplaces accountable.”

The letters announced today enclose a copy of the act, highlight the responsibilities the act places on online marketplaces, and urge that businesses carefully review the statute and take all steps necessary to fully comply by June 27. In the letters, FTC staff also urge online marketplaces to communicate with their third-party sellers about the information the act requires to be collected, verified, and disclosed.

Finally, the letters emphasize that a violation of the act may be treated as a violation of an FTC rule, and thus noncompliant online marketplaces may face enforcement that could result in civil penalties of $50,120 per violation. The letters are informational and the FTC is not publicly releasing the names of the recipients.

Understanding Compliance Obligations

As part of the FTC’s effort to fully inform the public about the provisions of the INFORM Consumers Act and to put businesses on notice of their obligations as of June 27, it has developed business education materials that are available on the agency’s website. “Informing Businesses About the INFORM Consumers Act,” summarizes how online marketplaces can comply with the act when it goes into effect at the end of the month with links to the act itself. ftc.gov


Could a 'Most Wanted' Thieves List Help Curb Theft?
UK: Industry calls for ‘Most Wanted’ lists to tackle repeat shop theft offenders

The Association of C-Stores has put forward a five-point plan for police forces and the government to do more to take retail crime seriously and support local businesses

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called for police forces to introduce a ‘Most Wanted’ list for prolific shop thieves to help tackle repeat offending.

ACS has put forward a five-point plan for police forces and the government to do more to take retail crime seriously and support local businesses.

1. Introduce a ‘Most Wanted’ list of shop thieves in each police force area, where prolific offenders can be banned from retail areas or referred to rehabilitation programmes.

2. Review the impact of new legislation that makes attacking a public facing worker (including shop staff) an aggravated offence.

3. Invest in rehabilitation programmes for offenders to break the cycle of offending and ineffective punishment.

4. Encourage local forces to use the tools available to them to deal with anti-social behaviour, such as the Community Trigger and Community Remedy powers.

5. Incentivise investment in crime prevention measures.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “The levels of theft that retailers are experiencing on a daily basis are unprecedented. ... The Government, Police and Crime Commissioners, and local forces need to take urgent action to stop this national crimewave in its tracks and send a clear message that repeat offenders will be dealt with properly.”

The ACS annual Crime Report estimates that there were over 1.1m incidents of theft reported last year, with meat, alcohol and confectionery the most commonly stolen items. It also found that 63% of shop theft is committed by repeat offenders and that £228m was invested by convenience retailers in crime prevention measures over the last year. conveniencestore.co.uk


Retailers Have to Prove ORC Problem in Oregon or ORC Bill Sunsets Dec. 31, 2024
Progressive State Tip-Toes with ORC Bill

Update on Oregon House Ways and Means Committee Recommends "Do Pass" on 'Establishes Organized Retail Theft Grant Program'
Oregon's Senate passed the bill on June 20th and the House Ways and Means Committee took fast action and recommended passage to full House vote.

Establishes Task Force on Organized Retail Theft. Directs task force to review existing issues of organized retail theft to determine changes to laws or policies to address issues or reduce organized retail theft. Sunsets on December 31, 2024.] Takes effect on 91st day following adjournment sine die.] Establishes Organized Retail Theft Grant Program. Directs Oregon Criminal Justice Commission to administer program. Appropriates moneys to commission for purposes of program. oregonlegislature.gov

Editor's Note: Similar to New York's current Bill, this bill is really about studying the issue and determining what needs to be done. As opposed to definitively establishing an ORC criminal law that suspects can be charged with.

Certainly, funding $5M in grants to assist 'Cities and counties with the costs incurred by local law enforcement agencies in addressing organized retail theft,' helps retailers. However with a December 31, 2024 sunset it will require retailers to effectively communicate and share information with the task force. -Gus Downing


Smarter Stores Can Help Curb Crime & Shrink
AI-Powered Store Intelligence Shines a Light on Shrink
For as long as shrink has been an issue in retail, it’s primarily been tied to human mistakes or crime. Theft, store associates mislabeling items and products getting damaged in a warehouse or store are three human examples that unfortunately impede profits. These reasons are why retailers consistently turn to technology for help.

Some ways retailers have turned to technology for shrink reduction include RFID tags on products to cut down on theft, robots in aisles to check labels and automated pickers in the warehouse to lower the risk of damaging products. Retailers are also testing autonomous delivery vehicles on the roads and drones in the air to avoid wrongly delivered items.

All these technology examples play a part in reducing shrink. Now add to that list store intelligence that provides analytics and store-level strategies.

Smart Stores Can Save Billions

Machine learning and AI can work to reduce shrink by:

• Identifying mislabeled products: In less than a second, through AI-powered analysis of the shelf captured through computer vision, any mislabeled products or wrongly placed items are identified.

• Monitoring out-of-stock inventory: Again, with computer vision and AI, cameras mounted on ceilings, shelves or a store associate’s mobile device can monitor shelves for out-of-stock situations. The analytics can help stores rapidly restock when possible, and if not, strategize around why a product is missing and track back to whether anything is tied to shrink or theft.

• Correcting phantom inventory: When the tech reads that a product is out of stock, the AI modeling can also project how many dollars are lost annually from the out-of-stock products and suggest ways to recoup the lost dollars. In this way, AI offers immediate action. retailtouchpoints.com


22 Big-Name Retailers Have Left San Francisco Since 2022
Retailers blame crime and the “deteriorating situation” in San Francisco.

Old Navy to Nordstrom: Half of retailers fleeing downtown San Francisco
Beset by rising crime and fewer shoppers on once-busy city streets, major retailers are leaving their broken hearts in downtown San Francisco.

At least 22 big-name businesses have closed or announced plans to flee the area around San Francisco’s Union Square since January 2022, including trendy retailers like Anthropologie, Banana Republic and Crate & Barrel, as well as the investment firm that owns two of the city’s biggest hotels.

Since 2019, 47% of businesses in the area have closed, according to the San Francisco Standard.

Some 203 retailers were operating in and around Union Square pre-Covid; as of May, only 107 were left.

The commercial chaos will continue in coming weeks, with brands like AT&T, Nordstrom, Coco Republic and Old Navy shuttering more shops as soon as July 1.

The most significant casualty — the Westfield San Francisco Centre — came last week as the mall’s operator cited “challenging” conditions downtown, including sagging sales and occupancy rates, for its looming exodus.

Nordstrom officials made the announcements last month, blaming the “deteriorating situation” in San Francisco.

Overall crime near the San Francisco Centre mall has slightly increased thus far in 2023 compared to last year, police data shows. The reported number of major felonies in the Tenderloin swelled by 1.4%, while larceny theft surged 5.6%. nypost.com


Could 2023 Be the Deadliest Year Ever?
More Than 300 U.S. Mass Shootings Recorded Halfway Into 2023—This Year Is On Pace To Be Deadliest Ever
More than 300 mass shootings have occurred across the country this year, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, as 2023 remains on pace to become the deadliest year for mass shootings in recent history.

The U.S. has reported 311 mass shootings in 2023 as of early Monday morning, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The total number of mass shootings crossed the 300 mark on Sunday—the earliest in any year this gruesome milestone has been reached since the GVA began tracking them in 2014.

In comparison, in 2021 and 2022—the two deadliest years for mass shootings in the U.S.—the 300 mark was reached on June 25 and July 3, respectively.

The difference is even starker when comparing mass murders—incidents where four or more died from gunshots aside from the shooter—as 23 such incidents have been reported so far this year, compared to 16 and 14 during the same period in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

That works out to nearly one mass murder per week in the first half of 2023. forbes.com


Large Groups of Minneapolis Youths 'Takeover' Parks - Turning Violent
Recent park violence has Brooklyn Park police searching for answers to a 'complex situation'

Fights have taken place at Central Park, River Park and the Noble Sports Park.

Recent fights between large groups of young people in Brooklyn Park city parks have created a challenge for police who are seeking to balance the right for people to gather with keeping parks safe.

That is what happened Monday night, when law enforcement chased 300 to 400 people out of a Maple Grove park, only to have the crowd reassemble in Brooklyn Park's Central Park. Events started peacefully, Faust said, but then there was loud music and chanting and fights broke out.

Monday's incident was the second in Brooklyn Park this month. On June 9, a similar incident played out at River Park and continued at Noble Sports Park. Police shut down both parks for the night.

Groups using social media to coordinate takeovers of park pavilions, which is not inherently illegal, has created a new and "complex situation," and awkwardness around how police can and should respond. startribune.com


Philly Police Budget Gets $55M Increase
Members approved a $55 million increase in funding to the Police Department, largely to cover contractually obligated pay raises and upgrades to the forensics lab. The department’s budget allocation will be about $855 million. inquirer.com


Memphis PD asks for millions to upgrade crime-fighting technology

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office unveils website to enlist public in crime fighting