What New Features Of Video Systems Help To Ensure Privacy?

Faces captured by video cameras could be perceived as an invasion of privacy, as could images captured through residential windows or that involve private or proprietary information. Fortunately, modern video systems incorporate technological features that help avoid an inadvertent invasion of privacy, while preserving any data that may be needed by authorized persons. For the latest commentary, we turn to our Expert Panel Roundtable with this week’s question: What new features of video systems are helping to ensure privacy?

Wayne Dorris - Program Manager - Cybersecurity, Axis Communications

Modern video systems include a bevy of intelligent technologies to help ensure privacy. These include masking fixed areas in the camera view, anonymizing people through dynamic masking or thermal imaging, and using radar technology. Additionally, when there is a need to safeguard the privacy of bystanders in exported video, video redaction support in video management software is also available. Such solutions enable robust video surveillance systems while also addressing privacy regulations that place restrictions on the collection of personally identifiable data. Furthermore, when it comes to protecting the video and data that are generated via video systems, many solutions today include built-in encryption and cybersecurity features to help counter different types of attacks, effectively mitigate vulnerabilities, and prevent unauthorized access to the system. From detecting firmware tampering to preventing software replacement, these cybersecurity features safeguard systems from the inside out and help reduce the risk of costly, disruptive digital attacks.

Florian Matusek - Director - Video Analytics / Managing Director Vienna Office, Genetec, Inc.

When it comes to physical security technology, systems can offer robust privacy features by design. Built-in privacy protection tools that automatically obscure the identity of individuals captured in surveillance video allow operators to see what is happening in the footage without violating anyone’s privacy. When an investigation requires collaboration, security systems with privacy protection allow operators to give access to evidence via secure links with fully encrypted data. End users can set permissions for sensitive data and footage without slowing down investigations and incident response. Only those with the proper authorization can view the data. For others, it remains encrypted. User privileges and audit trails ensure that the integrity of data stays intact.

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The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

Shoplifting Crisis Is Fueling More Violence in NYC
Op-Ed: Ignoring shoplifting turns convenience stores into minefields
The numbers show that supposedly minor shoplifting has become a crisis, one stemming from changes to New York criminal law and in how New York prosecutes that law. In 2019, the New York Legislature and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo reformed state laws to ensure that virtually no repeat shoplifters go to jail awaiting trial. In 2022, new Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said that no matter what the law said, he wouldn’t prosecute shoplifting anyway. A person who “shoplifts and makes a minimal threat to a store employee while leaving . . . pose[s] no genuine risk,” he directed staffers.

Since then, petty theft has exploded in New York’s Midtown North Precinct, where both the Duane Reade and the CVS are located. In 2019, for the first half of the year, Midtown North recorded 979 petit larcenies (generally, shoplifting of minor items). By last year, they had reached 1,161, and this year, they are at 1,331.

That’s a 36% increase over four years, which is alarming enough — but it also far understates the case. Conservatively speaking, a petit larceny happens at each of these locations at least once a day; more realistically, the rate is likely closer to hourly.

Moreover, the numbers can’t show how this shoplifting amnesty has contributed to Midtown North’s decline in public safety, public order, and just plain livability over the past few years.

Urban decay

By early 2022, a Rite Aid store had shuttered. It remains a half-block empty hulk, a vast space outside of which vagrants can panhandle and sleep unmolested by commercial activity. One of its glass doors is now covered by a formidable metal security gate.

After the Rite Aid closed, the Duane Reade at 50th and Broadway became the drugstore closest to my house. But this store, too, has become a no-go zone. It’s not uncommon to see two shoplifters simultaneously going about their business, casually stealing energy drinks or ice cream to resell.

It’s even gotten iffy just to walk by the Duane Reade: a disorderly environment creates danger, and vice versa. The criminals now attracted to the area can become violent.

Progressive architects of New York’s post-2019 criminal-justice regime, from state lawmakers to DA Bragg, claim that they want to keep minority men out of prison. Now, one is dead and another sits in a failing jail, hoping that a grand jury refuses to indict him for murder. This is progress?  nypost.com


Albuquerque's War on Retail Crime
Includes Tougher Penalties & More Armed Guards at Stores

Armed guards at Albuquerque retailers to ensure safety

"You will be met with resistance or deadly force, if you create a situation that causes that to be justified," IPS Global CEO Aaron Jones said

Shoplifters could be faced with tougher penalties. New legislation passed at the 2023 legislation session will crack down on shoplifters. The value of stolen merchandise will be consolidated. As a result, repeated shoplifters will be charged with felonies instead of misdemeanors.

With retail crime on the rise in Albuquerque, shoppers are often met with armed guards at retailers to ensure the safety of the community. While it has become an unusual sight for some, International Protection Services (IPS) said it's needed.

IPS Global CEO & Chairman weighs in: "It's been out of control for a long time."

"Criminals have become so brazen, because of the lack of policing, the lack of laws in place to basically prosecute them. It seems like things are possibly getting better with some new legislation that's come into place, but that will take a while before that goes into place," IPS CEO & Chairman of the Board Aaron Jones said.

"We're also there to prevent active shooter type situations, violent armed robberies, anything that may cause any kind of concern to the shop or to the associates and anybody that's in any of those places," Jones added. "There is nothing more important than for families to be able to put food on their tables and clothes on their kids' backs to do that. They need to be able to come into these stores and to be able to shop safely and not have to be worried about being gunned down."

"The private sector is stepping in and filling the void that law enforcement is, unfortunately, unable to handle at the moment."

According to Jones, times have changed. "Historically, over the last 10 to 20 years, no way in heck would they have an armed guard in any kind of place, because they were too worried about liability. Now, they're too worried about the liability of not having it there," Jones said. "The vicarious liability of not being able to protect somebody and having a wrong death or a wrongful great bodily injury type situation. So, I appreciate that they're realizing they're allowing professional organizations like IPOs to come in and provide that."  koat.com


More Police Departments Boost Funding to Fight ORC
Calexico requests close to a million dollars against retail crime
Cases like this have been occurring almost on a daily basis in the border town — causing concerns amongst the business community, especially in the downtown area, according to various posts by the Calexico Police Officer Association.

This might come to an end in the upcoming future as the Calexico City Council recently authorized Interim Police Chief Víctor Legaspi Jr. to request close to a million dollars in order to address retail crime in local businesses.

The interim police chief recalled last year the state enacted a Senate bill in order to establish the grant program for the prevention of organized robbery of businesses. The program includes $242.2 million in funds available to law enforcement to prevent various crimes such as shoplifting and vehicle theft.

Calexico Police have planned to request $988,500 in funds.

The interim police chief said the agency plans to use these funds to pay an investigator’s salary for the next three years, in addition to covering officer training expenses and the purchase of three vehicles and equipment to carry out surveillance operations. ivpressonline.com


ILL. SAFE-T Act Upheld - No Bail For Nonviolent Crimes
No Bail for Shoplifters

Illinois Supreme Court upholds no-cash bail law to take effect in 60 days
In 60 days, cash bail in Illinois will be no more after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the Pretrial Fairness Act portion of the Safety, Accountability, Equity, Transparency-Today Act.

The sweeping criminal justice measure narrowly passed in early 2020 and had been amended multiple times, including in December 2022 with a law Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed to clarify that criminal defendants charged with violent crimes can be held pretrial while those charged with nonviolent crimes can be let go without bail.

The no-cash bail provision was supposed to go into effect statewide Jan. 1, 2023, but was put on hold by the Illinois Supreme Court after a Kankakee County judge declared the law unconstitutional.

Various other provisions off the SAFE-T Act that already went into effect deal with regulations on police like requiring body cameras over time and restricting certain types of restraints police can deploy as well as allow for anonymous complaints against law enforcement. thecentersquare.com


House ORC Bill Picking Up Cosponsors With Bipartisan Support
U.S. Congress Update: H.R.895 Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023

10 House Representatives signed as Cosponsors yesterday. Now having 54 in total. 29 Republicans and 25 Democrats congress.gov


Deadliest Six Months of Mass Killings in 17 Years
With violence breaking out in both rural & urban areas, no part of America has been spared

US sees deadliest six months of mass killings on record since at least 2006

From the first day of the year to the end of June, the US endured 28 mass killings, and the death toll rose just about every week

Slain at the hands of strangers or gunned down by loved ones. Massacred in small towns, in big cities, inside their own homes or outside in broad daylight. This year’s unrelenting bloodshed across the US has led to the grimmest of milestones – the deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006.

From 1 January to 30 June, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief.

Six months, 181 days, 28 mass killings, 140 victims, one country.

A mass killing is defined as an occurrence when four or more people are slain, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period. A database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University tracks this large-scale violence dating back to 2006.

The 2023 milestone exceeded the previous record of 27 mass killings, which was only set in the second half of 2022. James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University, never imagined records like this when he began overseeing the database about five years ago.

“We used to say there were two to three dozen a year,” Fox said. “The fact that there’s 28 in half a year is a staggering statistic.” theguardian.com

   RELATED: USA TODAY's Updated Mass Killing Database


San Francisco Business Owner Patrols the Streets With a Fake Gun to Fight Crime

As U.S. mass shootings surge, who's keeping score?

America's Doom Loop Crisis - Coming to a City Near You?
San Francisco’s ‘doom loop’ is a warning for every American city

We have to figure out how to fix San Francisco's problems now, because they're going to be every city's problems later

Ever since the pandemic, San Francisco has become the scary poster child for the Death of American Downtowns. Liberal newspapers and conservative pundits alike love to point to San Francisco as a cautionary tale of how not to run a city, a post-COVID apocalypse.

A parade of national retailers have abandoned San Francisco for want of foot traffic. A quarter of all storefronts in the main shopping district are empty. Commercial real estate is a garbage fire; owners of several major hotels have given the keys back to the bank and split. Nobody's really sure how bad crime is, but it feels worse, and the police may have quiet-quit.

Homelessness is a devastating problem, and it's not uncommon to see unhoused folks having mental breakdowns amid the outside-dining parklets of ritzy restaurants. It's bleaker than I've ever seen.

Now, you probably think two things about all this. The first one is, this is what happens when super woke pinko commies are allowed to run a government on drugs and pronouns. That's wrong. San Francisco is actually run by 1,000 pro-business centrists wearing a leftist trench coat. This is a place where the politics of identity have always been more progressive than actual policy and governance. So while it's tempting to blame Pride marchers and Burning Man pryotechnicians for the current state of affairs, it's actually the rich oligarchs and technolibertarian geniuses of Silicon Valley who can't seem to figure out how to finish a new rail line or convert some skyscrapers to condos, much less solve the homelessness crisis. Their only answers for the city's demise are lower taxes for themselves, and more cops for skid row.

The second thing you're probably thinking is, phew, at least I don't live there! But treating San Francisco as some sort of outlier, a sui generis example of urban decay, is wrong, too. California has always been the bleeding-future edge of the continent, a cyberpunk scrying pool. The lives and deaths of American cities are communicable, transmitting along interstate highways and across financial networks. We have to figure out how to fix San Francisco's problems now, because they're going to be every city's problems later. businessinsider.com


OSHA's War on Dollar General Making More Headlines
Dollar General has been dubbed a 'severe violator' for constant safety violations

Dollar General has paid a fraction of the $21 million it owes in fines for hazardous working conditions

Dollar General has paid less than one-fifth of the $21 million in fines it owes OSHA.

Dollar General has racked up $21 million in fines over hazardous working environments in its stores. But so far, the company has paid just $4 million of what it owes.

US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has hit the retailer with fines since 2017, Retail Dive reported last week. Most of the fines stem from violations of safety regulations, including merchandise stacked in aisles, which creates hazards if a fire or other emergency breaks out and could injure people in the stores.

At some stores, the clutter has gotten so bad that local fire marshals have ordered them to close until they can fix the issue.

The company's shareholders voted to investigate worker safety issues in May, shortly after OSHA labeled Dollar General a "severe violator" of safety requirements, a designation that the government uses for employers that are "committing willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations."

OSHA has the power to file criminal charges against companies that refuse to pay fines, Lee Marchessault, president of consulting firm Workplace Safety Solution, told Retail Dive. Dollar General's net income for the 2022 fiscal year was about $2.3 billion.

One reason for the clutter, employees told Insider earlier this year, is that the chain has cut worker hours over the last few years. That's left a single employee on shift for hours at a time at many stores. In those cases, workers often default to working the checkout and helping customers, leaving inventory unpacked and sitting it the aisles. businessinsider.com


The Retail Impact of Plummeting Office Attendance
'Retailers need to rethink their model' as floorspace demand declines

Hybrid work is the new normal, as companies rethink work habits and office and retail space

Demand for office space is expected to drop to far below where it was in 2019 as changes in office culture are influencing where people live and shop.

With some employees pushing back against return-to-office plans and the hybrid work model of three days a week in person seeming to be the sweet spot, the idea of bringing workers back to the office for a five-day workweek appears to have hit a wall.

Office attendance has stabilized at 30% below where it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute.

That flexibility is helping drive down demand for office space. By 2030, McKinsey predicts, demand for office space will be as much as 20% lower than it was in 2019, depending on the city. While remote and hybrid work is the big reason, the trend toward more desks in less space and shifts to automation were also factored into its analysis.

Retail demand is changing

Shopping patterns were also changed by the pandemic, with remote and hybrid workers less likely to spend near the office.

“Retailers need to rethink their model,” said Jan Mischke, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, as foot traffic and and spending continues to be lower — especially in office-dense neighborhoods — and online shopping continues to take market share from stores. “The demand for retail floorspace in 2030 will be lower than it than it [was] in 2019,” he said.

“We feel we have a sufficient clarity now that it’s relatively clear what needs to happen,” said Mischke. At the city level, that means creating more mixed-use environments, which proved more resilient during the pandemic. cnbc.com


Retail Sales Grew Again in June Despite Slower Job Gains
“June retail sales confirm that while the economy may be cooling, consumers remain on solid footing and are spending on household priorities,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Back-to-class spending is one of the most important shopping occasions of the year, and NRF’s consumer research shows that back-to-school and college spending is expected to set new records. Consumers are looking for the best value and deals, and retailers are well stocked with essential items for families and students.” nrf.com


Former OSHA Chief: Agency Should Prepare for Next Pandemic
In a June 16 viewpoint article in JAMA, David Michaels, former assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, wrote the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should take steps to better protect workers in future pandemics, including issuing a federal pandemic preparedness standard. blr.com


Buy Buy Baby forced to close all New York state locations

David’s Bridal reportedly will keep nearly 200 stores open under new ownership

China's economy falters as latest growth, retail sales data disappoints

Fashion retailer H&M to launch in Brazil