National Guard Deploying to Chicago?
4 Chicago Aldermen Call for Special Meeting to Ask Illinois Governor
to Declare State of Emergency Over Looting, Violence
Four Chicago aldermen on Wednesday called for a special meeting of the City Council on Friday to consider a resolution asking Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a state of emergency and deploy the Illinois National Guard to Chicago to assist the Chicago Police Department for no less than four months.

In the resolution, the group of aldermen say Chicago "has never seen more violence, unrest and organized looting," alleging residents and visitors are "afraid to travel" throughout the city.

"Businesses across our City have been subject to unyielding criminals, many on the brink of failure contemplating their future in Chicago," the resolution reads, going on to say, "The continued attacks against Chicago's collective safety will impact our residential real estate, current and future investments in our communities, and our City's future economic development." nbcchicago.com

Chicago Mayor Lightfoot defends response to recent looting
In an interview with ABC7, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended the city's response to looting and stood up for Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.

Lightfoot admitted the police response to the first round of looting had some glitches, but expressed confidence in her plan. The mayor was asked how she responds to businesses and residents in the city who wondered where her looting prevention plan was after the first round, and if there had been one that would have prevented it a second time.

The mayor stood by the city's response, saying her five point plan announced last Friday is showing results. abc7chicago.com

Chicago protests, looting may be contributing to police retiring at rapid rate, officers say

Suspected Chicago looter busted trying to sell $2,700 sweater to undercover cops


Portland Protests: Night 84 - Another Riot Declared
Protesters broke ICE building windows. Police responded with tear gas.
Several hundred protesters rallied around a federal building that houses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Portland on Wednesday night and were met by local and federal police. After some demonstrators broke windows at the facility, police eventually deployed tear gas to end the 84th consecutive night of protests in the city.

Wednesday’s protest followed another tense night on Tuesday, when protesters set small fires inside the Multnomah Building and were dispersed by baton-wielding police. washingtonpost.com

Portland beatdown victim posted anti-George Floyd meme hours before assault

Minneapolis lawyer wants cop client cleared, claims George Floyd ‘overdosed’ on fentanyl
 

Police Defunding & Reform

Texas Governor Proposes Freezing Taxes in Cities That ‘Defund’ Police
Reacting to a vote in Austin to cut millions from its police budget, Gov. Greg Abbott is backing legislation to deprive cities of control over a major revenue source if they follow suit.

Slamming the Austin City Council for cutting millions of dollars from its police budget, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas proposed legislation on Tuesday that would punish any Texas city that does the same by denying it the power to increase property taxes.

“Any city that defunds police departments will have its property tax revenue frozen at the current level,” Governor Abbott told reporters on Tuesday. “Cities that endanger residents by reducing law enforcement should not then be able to turn around and go back and get more property-tax dollars from those same residents whose lives the city just endangered.”

The Austin City Council recently approved $21.5 million in immediate budget cuts to its police department, and a redistribution of current police functions that, if fully implemented, would shift away an additional $130 million. nytimes.com

Activists Call On Chicago Leaders To Defund Police In The City’s Next Budget
Community and labor groups are taking aim at Chicago’s municipal budget, demanding that the city defund the police by 75% and invest in neighborhoods instead. Activists rallied outside City Hall Tuesday demanding that Chicago shift more than $1 billion away from the Police Department and steer it towards education, health care and social services. wbez.org

NYC Lawmaker Would Consider Amending Chokehold Bill
If NYPD 'Would Get Back To Work'
Local lawmakers claim New York City cops are engaging in an "active slowdown" in response to NYPD budget cuts and the passage of controversial police-reform bills last month, and, as a result, the head of the City Council's public safety committee said he would be willing to amend the legislation if it meant the NYPD would "get back to work." forbes.com

California police reform push could shift the national conversation
 

COVID Update

US: Over 5.7M Cases - 176K Dead - 3M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 22.7M Cases - 794K Dead - 15.4M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 183   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 82
*Red indicates change in total deaths

COVID-19 - Risks & Internal Controls Audits
U.S. Audit Watchdog Overhauls Inspection Plan to Assess Virus Impact
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is extending its window for inspections to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on audit quality.

2020’s inspections will focus on how auditors are planning for and responding to Covid-19-related risks, PCAOB Chairman William Duhnke said. Those risks could evolve around judgments that auditors have to make, a process that might be complicated by limited access to financial information.

The PCAOB’s inspection report could provide insight into how auditors are testing companies’ internal controls for the office environment as well as for remote work, Ms. Munter said. They could also guide audit firms looking to improve their own processes in a remote work environment. wsj.com

PPE Helping Fight COVID-19
L.A. County finally seeing declines in Latino, Black coronavirus mortality rates
Los Angeles County health officials Wednesday reported some promising metrics in the fight against the novel coronavirus, including an overall decline in death rates across all demographics and a “narrowing of the gap” among victims of varying racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The expansion of countywide testing and protective equipment now being mandated in workplaces has helped remedy both problems, contributing to a drop in the number of overall deaths in the county, officials said. “Not only are we seeing decreases, but we’re seeing a narrowing of the gap,” Ferrer said of the number of deaths in the county.

Officials also reported that 1,378 people are hospitalized in the county, continuing a downward trend over the last 2 1/2 weeks.

California has recorded a 17% decrease in hospitalizations over a 14-day period, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. But the decline has not been steep and recent numbers are somewhat troubling. latimes.com

COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota back in single digits; 7 new deaths, 698 new cases


Yes You Can Catch it Flying
Study reveals odds of catching coronavirus on an airplane
A new study says the odds of catching novel coronavirus on an airplane with infected passengers appear to be relatively small, though still possible.

In a report recently published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the German researchers reported on the health status of 102 passengers who boarded a Boeing 737 flight in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 9, according to the study. With two passengers testing positive after sitting within two rows of an infected passenger and likely due to the transmission of COVID-19. Now this was , before strict COVID-19 protocols were in place.

“The risk of transmission of droplet mediated infections on an aircraft depends on proximity to an index case and on other factors, such as [the] movement of passengers and crew, fomites, and contact among passengers in the departure gate," the researchers explained.

The team of researchers also noted how the plane’s airflow system may have limited the number of potential COVID-19 cases. securitymagazine.com

Legal Team Advice
5 steps for dealing with anti-mask customers

Attorneys offers advice for businesses to keep the situation from escalating

But in the era of social media and political division, mask rules can quickly spiral into a federal case — literally.

“Especially in the restaurant industry, so many of our employees are young,” Ryan said in an interview. “We need to teach them this is not the time to argue with a customer over an issue. Treat this just like a customer who is complaining that their food didn’t come out right.”

To address the challenges and how to de-escalate a mask situation, Ryan recently co-authored with colleagues Myra Creighton, Aymara Ledezma, Todd Logsdon, Richard Meneghello and Catharine Morisset a five-step action plan on how a business can handle anti-mask guests.

Chief among those steps, Ryan (left) said, is to “figure out what you want your front-line people to say. Literally, give them a script. And if they can’t coax the customer into compliance, find a designated manager or two to handle the cases.” supermarketnews.com

New FLIR Survey Finds a Majority of Americans Support Thermal Imaging Temperature Screening to Prevent Spread of COVID-19
Americans overwhelmingly support thermal imaging screening to enter semi-public and private venues, according to a new survey from FLIR released August 19. Commissioned by FLIR and completed July 28-30, of the more than 2,000 adults polled, the vast majority, 82% of respondents, say thermal temperature screening is “worth it for the sake of public health.” flir.com

HireRight Launches COVID-19 Screening for Employers
 

Self-Checkout Global Installations to Triple by 2025 to Surpass 1.1M
A fresh wave of innovation in self-checkout — and payments in general — appears ready to hit the food retail world, where younger, tech-savvy consumers are making their desires known, and where new technology is becoming more affordable and convenient for smaller and midsize retailers.

Self-Checkout Pros and Cons

Customers aren’t left on their own, however. Walmart’s self-checkout comes with a certain level of built-in hand-holding: Employees greet shoppers at the entry to the new checkout area and offered help proactively.

Early results from a shopping survey gave reason for optimism. Users liked the number of associates ready to help, and the overall speed of the self-checkout process at Walmart.

As for faults with the system, some shoppers were turned off by such issues as “the crowd of shoppers [and] associates,” self-checkout stations “situated too close to one another” and the “impersonal” feel of the process.

Self-Checkout Growth

According to RBR, global shipments of self-checkout terminals increased 52% year over year in 2019, with that growth driven by the U.S. market, including food retailers.

Wegmans, Costco and other large food retailers are helping to lead the charge, with convenience store chains also getting involved.

New Wave of Self-Checkout

In late July Chandler, Ariz.-based Bashas’ went live with NCR Emerald, described as the next-generation, cloud-enabled point-of-sale (POS) platform offered on a subscription basis for grocers

Atlanta-based NCR experienced a doubling of shelf-checkout shipments in 2019 and ongoing acceleration in 2020. progressivegrocer.com

It’s been an apocalyptic few days, even by California standards
Fueled by extraordinary weather conditions (officially 10,849 lightning strikes in a 72-hour period, record-breaking heat), fires have exploded across the state. Tens of thousands of Californians have had to evacuate, fleeing their homes while also navigating the added complications wrought by the pandemic.

“We are experiencing fires, the likes of which we haven’t seen in many, many years,” Gov. Gavin Newsom told Californians during a press conference Wednesday. He said that — as of the noon briefing — there were 367 known fires across the state, at least 23 of which were considered major. The briefing came a day after Newsom had declared an official statewide emergency. latimes.com

Target forms REACH committee to steer racial justice efforts

Six-member executive body to offer diverse perspectives and expertise

Target Corp. has established the Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) committee to help guide its efforts to fight racism and advance social justice.

Announced Monday, REACH is aimed at marshaling Target’s size, scale, resources to promote change and foster racial equity in the communities it serves. The Minneapolis-based retailer said it has appointed six executives from across the company to the committee to provide diverse perspectives and expertise. supermarketnews.com

Wow, NY Times Agrees With Administration
A TikTok Ban Is Overdue
The threatened bans on TikTok and WeChat, whatever their motivations, can also be seen as an overdue response, a tit for tat, in a long battle for the soul of the internet.

In China, the foreign equivalents of TikTok and WeChat — video and messaging apps such as YouTube and WhatsApp — have been banned for years. The country’s extensive blocking, censorship and surveillance violate just about every principle of internet openness and decency. China keeps a closed and censorial internet economy at home while its products enjoy full access to open markets abroad.

The asymmetry is unfair and ought no longer be tolerated. The privilege of full internet access — the open internet — should be extended only to companies from countries that respect that openness themselves.

There is also such a thing as being a sucker. If China refuses to follow the rules of the open internet, why continue to give it access to internet markets around the world? nytimes.com

Judge: "Postures & Egos Will Be Put Aside"
J.C. Penney Judge Orders Lawyers to Appear Wed @4 Due to
Lack of Progress of Sale
“Thousands of jobs and the very essence of the country’s infrastructure are at risk. The parties have reached the end of the court’s patience,” he said.

“The parties should be prepared to have a frank discussion about the status of the case and whether relief should be granted from orders previously entered by the court,” he said. dallasnews.com

Updated Retail Bankruptcies List
How many retail chains have filed in 2020?
No retail bankruptcy is the same these days. The complex cases are progressing with a variety of outcomes, and analysts say more retailers are preparing to file.

S&P Global Market Intelligence said Monday that with last week’s bankruptcies, the 2020 total so far is 44. That eclipses last year’s 32 filings and is nearing the 48 in the record year of 2010 after the Great Recession. S&P counts among retail bankruptcies the industry’s distributors, suppliers, smaller direct marketers and manufacturers, such as Fairn & Swanson, Donghia, Occasion Brands and Libbey Glass.

See the detailed list
 

COMING MONDAY: The D&D Daily Exclusive Mid-Year & Q2 2020 Robbery Report Click here to see our previous crime reports

Gap to close flagship store in San Francisco & a few others in area

Estee Lauder to cut 2,000 close 10-15% of stores


Quarterly Results
BJ's Wholesale Club Q2 comp's up 24.2% - excluding fuel, digital sales up 300%, net sales up 18.2%

L Brands Q2 sales down 20%

 Bath & Body Works comp's for open stores up 87%, digital up 191%, sales up 13%

 Victoria's Secret comp's for open stores down 10%, digital up 65%, sales down 39%
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director, Global Security Technology job posted for Disney in Glendale, CA
Reporting directly to the Vice President of Global Security Operations, the Director, Enterprise Security Systems Strategy and Technology serves as the principle expert, advisor and strategist for the development, standardization, deployment, and management of Disney’s enterprise wide physical security system infrastructure. This position will analyze current physical security system policies, strategy and services overlaying these with business and facility needs, and identify opportunities for efficiency and enhanced security. disneycareers.com

Director, Corporate Security job posted for Keurig Dr Pepper in Plano, TX
This position reports directly to the VP, Assistant General Counsel, and is accountable for the development and execution of the organization’s security risk management strategy and related programs. Specifically, this position is responsible for all aspects of security risk management with respect to the viability and survivability of the enterprise: Operational, Financial and Strategic. uscareers-keurigdrpepper.icims.com