500+ Shootings, 233 Killed Over Violent Holiday Weekend
More than 230 people fatally shot in shootings over the Fourth of July weekend
At least 233 people were killed and 618 people were injured by gun violence in more than 500 shootings across the country during the Fourth of July weekend, a 26% drop from last year's holiday weekend, according to the latest data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive.

According to data released Tuesday morning, which looks at shootings from 5 p.m. Friday through Monday, there were 314 fatal shootings with 751 injuries during the same period last year, the GVA said.

The significant drop in shootings and shooting victims comes as major cities nationwide confront a surge in violent crime.

In New York, where gun violence has been rising to levels not seen in years, there were 26 victims from 21 shootings from Friday to Sunday, a decrease from the same period last year when 30 people were shot in 25 shootings, the New York Police Department said.

So far this year, gun violence incidents in New York have spiked almost 40% over the same period in 2020, with 767 shootings and 885 victims.

In Chicago, after Police Superintendent David Brown raised concerns before the "most challenging weekend of the year" for police, 100 people were shot and 18 people were killed from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to the Chicago Police Department. There were 69 shooting incidents during that period, police said.

There were the same amount of murders last year, but the number of shooting incidents and victims increased, according to data from Kellie Bartoli with the Chicago Police Department. There were 83 shooting victims and 18 murders in 47 shooting incidents from July 2-5, 2020, she told CNN in an email. cnn.com

California's ORC Explosion Continues
Target, Walgreens close early due to thefts in California stores

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento report most ORC in the country

Target and Walgreens are heightening security efforts in major cities across California amid increased theft and crime, new reports suggest.

Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento are among the cities with the most organized retail crime in the country, according to the California Retailer's Association. As a result, stores have been closing early or permanently shuttering.

Target stores in San Francisco are now closing early, moving from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a Financial District store closing as early as 5p.m. on Saturday, according to hours listed on its website. Most stores open between 7 and 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Target told KPIX5 the decision to adjust its store hours in San Francisco was related to theft with a spokesperson confirming: "For more than a month, we’ve been experiencing a significant and alarming rise in theft and security incidents at our San Francisco stores, similar to reports from other retailers in the area.

"Target is engaging local law enforcement, elected officials and community partners to address our concerns. With the safety of our guests, team members and communities as our top priority, we've temporarily reduced our operating hours in six San Francisco stores."

"This has been a problem going on for years. We have been diligently trying to find solutions to this, including pending legislation to continue funding for the Organized Retail Task Force. We are trying to attack it from all different ways. Our priority is the safety of our employees and consumers. We can’t have our security guards going after this – they are not law enforcement," CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin said in a statement.

Walgreens, as a result, has also closed several stores with some security guards reportedly told not to engage with shoplifters.  foxbusiness.com

Minneapolis Protesters Warn 'Stage Two' is coming this summer to 'their lawns'
Dismayed over lack of police reforms, activists vow to protest outside lawmakers' homes

Dismayed over state's lack of reforms, activists vow "front lawn" protests.

Activists and relatives of those killed by law enforcement spent hours last week huddled inside the State Capitol rotunda, their voices reverberating as they shouted their insistence on new major police accountability reforms.

But when a late-night public safety bill vote yielded a far more modest slate of policing legislation than they sought, the group that had spent the session testifying to lawmakers and marching throughout the Twin Cities made plans to further ramp up their activism this summer. It will be, as they put it, "stage two."

"Many of these legislators are going home after this week," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota. "What they don't realize is that they will not be going home ... peacefully because we will be coming to their homes, we will be demanding justice on their front lawns. We will be making sure they understand the pain that exists in our communities."

Protesters from across the political spectrum have made residential protests a more common but controversial tactic in the past year — ranging from demonstrations after George Floyd's death to conservative protests against Gov. Tim Walz's pandemic emergency powers. startribune.com

"Reimagining Policing" Program in Boston
Boston Suspends 1,200 "Special Police" in SP Program July 1st
Special police officers augment the Boston City Police and respond to quality-of-life issues and prevent and deter crime. Since 1898 These are sworn law enforcement officers who work for both private entities and city departments such as park rangers, the Boston Public Health Commission Police, Boston Housing Authority Police, Boston Public Schools Police, Boston Municipal Protective Services (formerly Boston Municipal Police), Boston Park Rangers, Boston Code Enforcement, and Boston Transportation Department parking enforcement.

Some of the officers patrol high crime areas, housing complexes, and problem areas in the city while providing all law enforcement duties, most armed and all with arrest authority. For the most part, they have all worked well with local police, and have been credited with police call volumes and reducing crime.

But that will all end on July 1st, 2021, as part of the “Reimagining Policing.” Approx. 1,200 officers lose their police powers. But not all Special Police Officers will be affected by this ruling. Many other officers have complied with the training requirements done at the Massachusetts State Police academy and will not have their police powers canceled.

Some public city departments and hospitals might be eligible to start their own police agency and hire regular officers who have completed the 800 basic laws enforcement academy. privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Nabs Arms Supplier/Buyer
Man Gets 3 Yrs 4 Months for procuring 33 pistols used in Atlanta-area crimes
Ben’Andre Javon Goolsby has been sentenced to prison for unlawfully acquiring dozens of firearms, several of which were later recovered by police at various crime scenes, a number of which were retail store crimes and robberies, in the metro-Atlanta area and beyond. “Goolsby’s illegal purchases of firearms helped fuel the violence in our community."

From October 2017 through the date of his arrest in May 2020, Ben’Andre Javon Goolsby purchased 33 pistols from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Jonesboro, Georgia.

In fact, Goolsby knew at the time of each of his many purchases that he had been indicted in Rockdale County, Georgia, for a smash-and-grab burglary and other crimes. Those charges related to a 2014 break-in at a pawn shop from which Goolsby and others stole numerous firearms.

Several of the guns that Goolsby purchased found their way into the hands of people who sought to—and did—use them unlawfully. in Decatur, police confiscated a Goolsby-purchased .40 caliber pistol from a 19-year-old suspected of robbing a jewelry store and burglarizing a dollar store and gas station. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). justice.gov

159 YTD Line of Duty Deaths of Police Officer's, Down 2% from 2020
June 2021 12 Line of Duty Death's
Down 1% Over 2020. Gun: 28, Auto: 37, Heart: 7, COVID-19: 75


Rioters/Protesters Charged By DOJ

Philadelphia Man Charged with Federal Firearms Offense After Retail Pharmacy Burglary Incident During 2020 Civil Unrest

Minneapolis Man Sentenced To Prison For Arson Of St. Paul Enterprise Rent-A-Car Agency During Protests

East Longmeadow Man Convicted of Placing Firebomb at Entrance of Jewish Nursing Home During Protests April 2020

Montgomery County Defendant Charged with Possession of Molotov Cocktail December 31, 2020, vandalized the Federal Detention Center, the Robert C. Nix Federal Building, and other property in Center City Philadelphia
 

COVID Update

330.6M Vaccinations Given

Texas Highest Return to Work - With 49% Back
NY & San Fran the Lowest with 21% & 19%

Yes, the office is back. It just might never be the same

Workers are suddenly feeling happiness and angst; frustration and relief. Sometimes all at once.

Handshakes are back from the dead, against all odds. Hugging too. (Hope Not - my addition)

Across the country, the leaders of corporate America have begun opening their doors again at companies like Facebook, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft, bringing the country’s white collar workforce back into the skyscrapers, office parks and campuses that were long assumed to be the only way to corral them.

Companies that have begun bringing back people into their offices, even as data shows that most big commercial buildings are still well below full capacity across the country.

Most workers spoke about a strange office environment that bears little resemblance to the one they left behind — a world of complicated social interactions, lingering anxieties about masks and vaccinations, and simmering frustrations about inflexible work policies. Companies spoke about the challenge of getting a workforce that has grown accustomed to working from home fired up again about office culture.

Mask on/mask off - Requiring Vaccines - The political divide - Physical changes - New trend - Having fun yet

Editor's Note: Great article on what they're running into and what you might expect yourself.

Continue Reading

Return to Work Plans Could Lead to Widespread Resignations
This is going to be tricky

Leaked Apple memo tells employees that they'll be coming into the office at least 3 days a week from September
Earlier this month, the company said it would adopt a hybrid working pattern from September, provoking some employees to quit as a result.

Now, in a clip obtained by The Verge, Deirdre O'Brien, senior veep of retail and people, reiterated the same platitudes about collaboration we saw in CEO Tim Cook's all-hands memo.

From September, Apple will require all employees to be physically present at the office at least three days a week: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Other employees would be required to work from the office full time, depending on their role.

To sweeten the blow, Apple said it would allow employees to work fully remotely for two weeks each year, allowing them to temporarily relocate to be closer to family, or just to get a reprieve from the tedium and expense of commuting.

The tech world is divided about the future role of the office, with Twitter and Pinterest allowing employees to work remotely indefinitely. Others, including Google, are urging the adoption of a mixed remote/in-person approach, while Workday is calling for a return to the corporate altar. theregister.com

The Case for Remote Work & The Risks
Do Chance Meetings at the Office Boost Innovation? There’s No Evidence of It.
For some, the office even stifles creativity. As the pandemic eases in the U.S., a few companies seek to reimagine what work might look like.

“Innovation isn’t always a planned activity,” said Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, about post-pandemic work. “It’s bumping into each other over the course of the day and advancing an idea you just had.” Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said working from home “doesn’t work for spontaneous idea generation, it doesn’t work for culture.”

Yet people who study the issue say there is no evidence that working in person is essential for creativity and collaboration. It may even hurt innovation, they say, because the demand for doing office work at a prescribed time and place is a big reason the American workplace has been inhospitable for many people.

“The idea you can only be collaborative face-to-face is a bias,” he said. “And I’d ask, how much creativity and innovation have been driven out of the office because you weren’t in the insider group, you weren’t listened to, you didn’t go to the same places as the people in positions of power were gathering?”

He and others suggested reimagining the office entirely — as somewhere people go to every so often, to meet or socialize, while daily work is done remotely.

Harvard Business School Professor Opinion - The Case for Remote & The Risks: Continue Reading
 

Oxy Bandits Leader Faces Life in Federal Prison
Leader of ‘Oxy Bandits’ Crew of 21 Found Guilty of Federal Charges For 15 Armed Robberies of Southern California Pharmacies
LOS ANGELES – A Lynwood man was found guilty today of federal robbery charges for organizing and leading a crew that committed 15 armed robberies of independent, “mom-and-pop” pharmacies across Southern California, with the intent of illegally selling the stolen prescription medication.

Tyrome Lewis, 26, a.k.a. “Boobie,” was found guilty of all eight felony charges he faced after a two-day bench trial in April. Lewis has been in federal custody since his arrest in July 2019.

From May 2018 to July 2019, Lewis conspired with others to commit 15 armed robberies. Lewis selected the pharmacies to be robbed, targeting smaller pharmacies to steal oxycodone and other similar prescription medication. He also assigned the roles from the crew members, and then he served as a lookout while co-conspirators committed the robberies. Following the pharmacy robberies, Lewis and others would sell the stolen prescription medication on the black market.

The court found the Lewis-led armed crew – dubbed the “Oxy Bandits” by law enforcement – robbed pharmacies in Glendale, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, Hawthorne, South Los Angeles, Pico Rivera, Huntington Park, Claremont, Westminster, Fullerton, Anaheim, and Riverside.

Each of the robberies shared a common modus operandi, including targeting smaller pharmacies, placing the stolen prescription drugs into the pharmacy’s trash bags or trash cans, using a black semi-automatic handgun to threaten and intimidate store employees, and forcing employees to open the medication vault.

Through this partnership, the United States Attorney’s Office has charged 21 individuals for their roles in various pharmacy robberies. Since the investigation began in 2019, 19 individuals, including Lewis, have been convicted for their participation in pharmacy robberies, while two defendants await trial.

September 23 sentencing hearing, at which time Lewis will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. justice.gov

Senior Citizens - Oceans ??? - How'd they make it over the walls physically?
Contractor - Employee & Associate Pull off Two Big Heist Las Vegas Style
Jury Convicts Three Defendants Of Stealing Over $6M in Jewelry & Cash From Vault Business & Money Laundering
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Yesterday, a federal jury convicted three defendants who worked for a Las Vegas private vault business of stealing cash, jewelry, and watches from safe deposit boxes and private vaults, as well as laundering those illegal proceeds.

“Yesterday’s verdict reflects that the defendants used their inside knowledge of the business’ security measures to take advantage of victims — including victims who were reluctant to come forward even after they were stolen from,” (Editor's Note: Wonder why the victims were reluctant to come forward? Hiding something?)

2012 Robbery. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Phillip D. Hurbace (74, of Calpine, California) was a former contractor for the private vault business and Sylviane Della Whitmore (aka “Sylviane Cordova,” 69, of Las Vegas) was an employee of the business. They met and conspired to rob the business using information they knew. On April 14, 2012, conspirators entered the business through an adjoining vacant suite, restrained an employee using handcuffs and duct tape, and used the crawl space above the ceiling to pass over walls.

Once inside, conspirators drilled into safe deposit boxes and private vaults. They stole cash and personal property, including coins, jewelry, and watches. Whitmore subsequently deposited more than $250,000 of stolen money into her bank account, and Hurbace attempted to sell a stolen watch worth several hundred thousand dollars.

2014 Break In. In 2014, after the private vault business went into bankruptcy, Whitmore and Larry Anthony McDaniel (61, of Las Vegas) planned another heist. They broke into safe deposit boxes and private vaults, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Afterwards, McDaniel opened new bank accounts using nearly $700,000 in cash, and Whitmore deposited $190,000 into a trust account in her mother’s name.

Sentencing for September 28, 2021. The statutory maximum penalties faced by each defendant are: Hurbace — 50 years of imprisonment and a $750,000 fine; McDaniel — 135 years of imprisonment and a $3.5 million fine; and Whitmore — 115 years of imprisonment and a $2.75 million fine. justice.gov

Editor's Note: The old crawl space above the ceiling routine. Remember always check that in the malls and strip centers. Contractors are always shortcutting that to save money.

Colorado man racked up more than $352k in fraudulent credit card purchases

At least 275 transactions were made on 19 different credit cards, according police.

Lorenzo Castaneda, 32, was arrested May 25 and faces the following charges: Theft, Three counts of criminal impersonation, Three counts of ID theft.

He's accused of targeting two northern Colorado restaurants and a California company that makes order and payment systems for the restaurant industry, LPD said.

Investigators determined that someone in northern Colorado had victimized the payment system company by processing fraudulent credit card sales through the company’s point-of-sale system.

By mid-March 2021, 275 transactions totaling just under $352,000 were processed using 19 different credit cards, according to police.

Some of the credit card thefts derived from purchases at a mobile food truck that Castaneda operated in the northern Colorado area under the name Serendipity Food Truck, according to police. 9news.com

Here's a New One
Refund Gang Skips the Store & Rings Up Their Own Refunds
Fed Judge Threw the Book at Two of Them

Tehama County Woman Pleads Guilty in Refund Fraud Scheme
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sabrina Raylene Toilolo, 26, of Corning, pleaded guilty last Thursday in federal court.

According to court documents, between July 2017 and September 2019, Sabrina Toilolo, Johnathon Ward, Monica Nunes, and Talalima Toilolo conspired to defraud financial institutions using a scheme that exploited the merchant refund process used by businesses and retail establishments to refund customers for returns, reimbursements, and erroneous charges.

The defendants committed this scheme by stealing or purchasing point-of-sale (POS) terminals used by businesses to process bankcard transactions. The defendants programmed each terminal to make it appear as if it was authorized by a particular retail merchant, connected the terminals to payment processing intermediaries, and executed refund transactions even though no purchases had been made. The payment processors, falsely believing the terminals were authorized, approved the refunds and caused the merchants’ payment processors to transfer funds to the defendants’ fraudulent accounts. The defendants then drained the stolen funds from the accounts and distributed them among members of the conspiracy.

Sabrina Toilolo is scheduled to be sentenced on September 23, 2021. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

On April 2, Nunes was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison. On February 11, Talalima Toilolo was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Charges against Ward are pending. justice.gov

Entire Fraud Gang of 7 Get Fed Prison Sentences
$1.3 Million Fraud Ringleader Gets 7 Yrs Federal Prison
PROVIDENCE, RI – The leader of a multi-state conspiracy that executed multiple schemes to defraud banks, finance companies, car dealerships, and retailers of more than $1.3 million was sentenced today to more than seven years in federal prison.

According to court documents, soon after arriving in the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2016, Octavio Andres Difo-Castro, 30, of Brooklyn, NY, began purchasing blocks of stolen identifying information of unsuspecting victims from the dark web. The identities were used to create high-quality drivers’ licenses and other documents he provided to individuals who worked at his direction to execute schemes that defrauded financial institutions and retailers.

Difo-Castro’s schemes included using the stolen identities and fraudulent documents to open bank accounts that were used to deposit and withdraw fraudulently obtained funds; to pose as both the seller and the buyer of vehicles in order to fraudulently secure bank and/or credit union financing from financial institutions in several states; and to obtain retail store credit and to make purchases at clothing and cellphone retailers in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

According to court documents, banks and credit unions were defrauded of $899,866; cell phone retailers of $117,341; and clothing retailers of $14,067.

Six others have been convicted in these matters and rec'd sentences of anywhere from 39 months to 24 months. justice.gov

High-profile drugstore thefts expose deep-seated issues in S.F.
You can see it playing out every day at Seventh and Market streets. Goods stolen from retail stores and cars are openly traded for cash, or turned in for dope. It’s a one-stop shop. This sketchy, mid-Market corner represents a cycle of crime that’s been going on for years. But some people may not realize how it’s all connected, contributing to some of the biggest problems facing San Francisco today. “The thefts feed the drug use, feeds the mental illness, feeds the homelessness,” said San Francisco police Sgt. Jennifer Marino, who investigates organized retail thefts. “We are in a cycle that I see happening in San Francisco, around California and around the country that is going nowhere fast.”

While the crime is hardly new, a recent viral video showing a man brazenly stealing goods from a local Walgreens has renewed attention to the chronic problem of organized retail theft in San Francisco, raising questions about what can be done to stop it. Whether the problem is getting worse is up for debate. While some retailers say their losses from theft are rising and driving a slew of drugstore closures in San Francisco, police data shows that reported shoplifting has trended down since 2018. High-profile drugstore thefts expose deep-seated issues in S.F.; ‘The systemic inequality in our society is what’s fueling Organized Retail Theft’ sfexaminer.com

New York, NY: NYPD Looking For Group Suspected In $900,000 Manhattan Jewelry Heist
The NYPD is looking for three people suspected of stealing nearly a million dollars worth of jewelry. Police are trying to identify two men and a woman in connection to the alleged theft on June 19. According to police, a 60-year-old woman who had merchandise on display at the Metropolitan Pavilion was loading her car after the event. A man allegedly took a duffle bag of jewelry worth approximately $900,000 from her backseat. He left with another man and a woman in a gold and silver 2011 Subaru Forester. The other two had been watching the victim during the event, police said. newyork.cbslocal.com

San Francisco, CA: Group dashes out of Neiman Marcus store after handbag robbery
San Francisco police are investigating a handbag robbery at a Neiman Marcus store Monday evening. Authorities said the robbery happened around 5:49 p.m. at the high-end department store located in Union Square. But by the time officers arrived the suspects were already gone. Witnesses said the ordeal happened just before the store was about to close. They said the suspects smashed display cases and snatched items from racks before fleeing. Cell phone video shows the suspects bolting out of the store right behind each other with purses in their arms. It appears the suspects fled in awaiting getaway cars. Neiman Marcus has not yet responded for comment yet about what happened.

But other retailers are reacting to similar crimes of their own. Over a span of five years, Walgreens has closed about 17 stores, specifically as a result of shoplifting. Late last week, Target announced six San Francisco stores will be limiting store hours as a result of too many shoplifters: Stores will now close at 6 p.m instead of 10 p.m.  ktvu.com

Fencing Operation Suspect Arrested in San Jose, $100K in Stolen Bikes, Equipment Seized
A San Jose man suspected of being responsible for a major underground fencing operation was arrested and police seized stolen bicycles, construction tools and other nearly $ 100,000 items. José Guadalupe Barba, 56, was arrested on May 27 after a search warrant was issued at home, police said Monday. During the investigation, police found expensive bicycles, boxes of construction tools, retail goods that still had security sensors, and more than $ 20,000 in cash. Detectives are trying to identify the owner of the seized property. It is estimated to be worth nearly $ 100,000. californianewstimes.com

Spring Hill, TN: Police investigating $25,000 worth of merchandise stolen from AT&T store
Police are investigating after thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was stolen from an AT&T store early Friday morning. According to police, around 2:15 a.m. officers responded to an alarm call at the retail store, located on Main Street. When officers arrived, they found the front door glass shattered. wkrn.com

Comstock Park, MI: $10k worth of fireworks stolen from locally-owned fireworks tent

Lyndhurst, NJ: $1,600 Supermarket Shoplifting Spree Stopped By Arrest Of Newark Offender

Altoona, PA: Duo facing felony charges for $600 theft at Boscov’s