Sensormatic Solutions by Johnson Controls Announces New Shrink Visibility Offering to Combat an Increase in Theft Across Retail Enterprises

Source-to-store data combined with Sensormatic IQ empowers retailers to effectively address shrink

NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland (Aug. 31, 2021) --Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, today announced that Sensormatic Solutions, its leading global retail solutions portfolio, is streamlining its store shrink visibility offering globally to combat recent increases in shoplifting, internal theft and organized crime across retail enterprises.

This new offering combines RFID-enabled detection systems and Electronic Product Code (EPC) item-level data with Sensormatic IQ. Together these systems unify diverse data and insights through a new intelligent operating platform to drive improved shopper experiences and retail outcomes.

In-store shopping is recovering with increased consumer confidence, but according to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are 965,000 open retail jobs, creating a challenging environment for retailers that makes theft and fraud easier. Read more here


CONTROLTEK Launches CT360 an Agnostic Solutions Offering for Retailers

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (Aug. 31, 2021) – CONTROLTEK, a leading provider of cutting-edge retail loss prevention solutions, is expanding its product offering with the new CT360, a line of superior, scalable, and technology-agnostic solutions to accommodate all retailers.

“Collaborating with many different retail clients has given us a lot of insight into what solutions they truly need to combat their evolving challenges and what they are looking for in their solutions provider.” said Rubin Press, vice president of global sales at CONTROLTEK. “While it is our priority to solve today’s challenges, we want to prepare retailers for their future, and with CT360 they can be confident they are investing in solutions that will continue to evolve with them.” Read more in the Vendor Spotlight column below
 

LPRC IMPACT 2021 Transitions to Fully Virtual Event

Oct. 5-6. 2021

Statement provided to the D&D Daily from LPRC:

Leading retailers are telling us they’re excited for 2021 LPRC IMPACT! But, some of these leaders are also telling us their senior corporate leaders are limiting or halting 2021 business travel. Therefore, based on our concern for everyone’s safety, and listening to our retailer members, LPRC is planning for a virtual IMPACT experience during the 5th and 6th of October.

The LPRC has delivered multiple successful and engaging virtual events during 2020 and 2021. Based on this success, we believe we’re poised to provide an unprecedented AP/LP experience for our 150 corporate members and their global teams. Further, the virtual format allows our members across their enterprise to take part in this special science-based AP/LP experience.

We’re currently experiencing record registration, and we strongly encourage all AP/LP and SP (solution partner) members, and their extended team members, enroll today for 2021 IMPACT at lpresearch.org/impact, and let’s all work together to boost retail safety and sales using science and collaboration at 2021 LPRC IMPACT!

Special note: Our amazing LPRC IMPACT sponsors now have several options to create significant marketing value for their 2021 LPRC IMPACT sponsorship investment during the event, and via our six 2022 pre-IMPACT events in the following ways to further boost retailer engagement and branding during 2022.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to see you at Impact.

IMPACT is an opportunity for industry professionals to collaborate on emerging ideas & research to fight theft, fraud, and violence.  Register & learn more here
 

The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

DOJ Continues to Build PSN Program Nationwide to Combat Violent Crime Surge
DOJ: EDVA Announces New Project Safe Neighborhood Initiatives
U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) announced today new district-wide Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) initiatives, to include federal prosecutors specifically assigned to coordinate PSN efforts in each of the district’s four geographic Divisions, as part of the district’s ongoing violent crime reduction efforts. The coordinators will work with local, state, and federal partners to help devise and execute enforcement strategies; prioritize community outreach and engagement; support community violence intervention strategies; and measure the effectiveness of these collective efforts. justice.gov

Violence Spreading Like COVID
Gun violence: America's other epidemic
The racial disparity is staggering. According to Centers for Disease Control data, Black men are 14 times more likely to be killed by a firearm than White men. That's nationwide.

Harrison said, "While there may be many who are affiliated with gangs, many of the murders are retaliations from previous bad acts, and many of them are just individual arguments that turn violent, where young men are using guns to settle their disputes because they don't know how to solve their conflicts any other way."

Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy, told Koppel, "There is almost a contagion phenomenon that one shooting will lead to another, it leads to another."

Commissioner Harrison knows he's battling a culture of gun violence, and it's a national problem: "There are no gun stores in Baltimore, so they're coming from outside of the city. About 50% are coming from outside of the state.

"There is the culture of carrying guns. The same number who are arrested for illegally carrying guns is the same demographic of people who become the victims of shootings, and perpetrators of shootings."

In Baltimore, as in so many other cities, gun violence is an epidemic. Corey Winfield and his young Safe Streets recruits were once carriers of the disease. Now, with additional support of the city, they're trying to control the spread.

"I have a vision; that's what keeps me working. My vision is that one day we gonna have no murders for a whole year. Not just Baltimore; I'm talking about gun violence not just Baltimore, but the United States, my country. I vision that. I vision that." cbsnews.com

Cash for Criminals?
A local solution for gun violence? Pay people $300 a month

‘We are trying to address the root causes of what’s happened’

San Francisco thinks it may have an answer for its rising gun violence problem: Paying people to not pull the trigger.

The idea is to provide the small number of San Franciscans who authorities believe are most at risk of shooting someone — or being shot — with an incentive to get help and stay out of trouble. It’s a solution that proponents say already has shown promise preventing gun crimes in other parts of California.

At worst, the program could be called “cash for criminals,” like its predecessors in cities around the Bay Area. At best, it could save lives and tax dollars otherwise spent on incarceration.

The program, which will launch as a pilot in October, is called the Dream Keeper Fellowship. It’s San Francisco’s latest iteration of a guaranteed-income program that will provide high-risk individuals with $300 a month as a start.

Participants will be able to earn up to $200 more a month by hitting milestones in the program, such as landing a job interview, complying with probation or consistently meeting with a mentor. The initiative will pair participants with newly hired life coaches from the Street Violence Intervention Program, known as SVIP, who will help the them make the right choices and access services.

The theory is that the up to $500 stipend will serve as an incentive to participate — and stay engaged.

“We know that $500 in San Francisco is not a significant amount of money,” said Sheryl Davis, a proponent of the program and executive director of the Human Rights Commission. “But if it’s enough to get you in to talk to folks, and be able to make a plan for your life, then that’s huge.” sfexaminer.com

Grim Violence Trends Continue
Deadly unintentional shootings by kids rose 31% during pandemic, data shows
New data released Monday by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety finds that deadly unintentional shootings by children rose 31% between March and December of 2020 from the same period the previous year. The data, which were shared in advance with CBS News, also shows that the grim trend continued into the first half of 2021, with a child involved in an unintentional shooting nearly once a day.

Researchers at the organization believe a surge in nationwide gun sales and more kids at home because of COVID lockdowns contributed to the increase. The group's data shows most unintentional shootings by kids occur at a home.

The data provides a broader picture of the tragic incidents since 2015, when the group began tracking the shootings based on media reports. The group's #NotAnAccident index shows that from 2015 through 2020, there were at least 2,070 unintentional shootings by children under 18, resulting in 765 deaths and 1,366 injuries. news.yahoo.com

Mpls Police vs. Public Safety Vote Drawing National & Historic $$$$$
Battle over policing opens money spigot in Minneapolis races

Fundraising amounts can be difficult to pin down in race that focuses on police.

Money is pouring into Minneapolis elections at a blistering pace as residents of the city brace to vote on the future of its Police Department and as the issue takes on growing significance in national politics.

With two months left until the first municipal election since George Floyd's death, political committees on both sides of the issue already have surpassed fundraising totals set in the last election cycle.

Several political operatives and former city officials said they believe the fundraising is on record pace, though they agree it is difficult to verify.

"I've never seen anything quite like this," said Jackie Cherryhomes, who sat on the Minneapolis City Council for 12 years and served as its president. "We who live here will live with the consequences of whatever the outcome is, and it should be our decision as residents of our city."

The injection of national money into local races has become a divisive issue. Some groups say it's badly needed to correct a power imbalance that has left historically marginalized groups without a voice in city politics. Others worry the money is drowning out concerns from residents who fear their city is becoming a laboratory for untested policing proposals.

The future of the Minneapolis Police Department already is emerging as an issue in state and federal races next year. Republicans hoping to reclaim majorities have sought to paint Democrats as candidates who want to "defund" the police. Democrats, meanwhile, face increasing pressure to clarify where they stand on an issue that has divided their party. startribune.com

Reported in the Daily on Aug. 23
Replacing PD With 'Department of Public Safety' Goes to Voters
One year later this is the end result & the only one in the nation.

Minneapolis City Council Sends Replacing PD Ballot to Voters in Nov.
While the Mayor vetoed the ballot wording twice City Council was able to over-ride his veto on third attempt late Friday.

The proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new public safety agency has become a central issue in the November election, and the precise wording that appears on the ballot could have implications for its chances of passing or failing. National and local groups are donating to political committees seeking to sway voters. The vote will play a large role in determining how Minneapolis seeks to transform public safety in the wake of George Floyd's murder by a police officer.

The proposal would remove the requirement for Minneapolis to keep a department with a minimum number of officers based on population. The city would then be required to create a new agency responsible for "integrating" public safety functions "into a comprehensive public health approach to safety."

The proposal also would strike language from the charter that gives the mayor "complete power" over police operations, a move that likely would grant council members more sway over officers. Frey, the mayor, and the council would decide how to design the new department and whether - and how - to employ police.

What the ballot says now

Shall the Minneapolis City Charter be amended to strike and replace the Police Department with a Department of Public Safety which could include licensed peace officers (police officers) if necessary, with administrative authority to be consistent with other city departments to fulfill its responsibilities for public safety? startribune.com

Store Owners Sue Baltimore Over Riot Response
A jury should decide if Baltimore’s actions failed to protect businesses during the Freddie Gray unrest, judge rules
A federal judge ruled that there’s enough evidence in a lawsuit brought by small business owners affected by the 2015 unrest following the death of Freddie Gray to allow a jury to determine whether the city’s response fell short of its obligations under the Maryland Riot Act.

The lawsuit, brought by nearly 70 plaintiffs, has been winding its way through the courts for four years. But the Thursday ruling by U.S. District Judge Stephane Gallagher sets the stage for a trial — or a settlement.

Lawyers for the city had argued that its leaders did a reasonably good job curbing the unrest, especially when compared with more recent such events in other cities, and that the plaintiffs were “Monday morning quarterbacking” the events.

Gallagher said the requirements of the Riot Act, however, are “not one of overall reasonableness or of good policy,” but whether the city took action to prevent “theft, damage or destruction.”

The plaintiffs are mostly small-business owners who said their stores were burned or vandalized, and who were attacked and suffered injuries. Among those suing are the owners of the Fireside North Liquors on West North Avenue. One of the store’s owners was beaten and robbed, and another was hurt jumping to escape the blaze. baltimoresun.com

67 Security Officers Murdered in 2021
Memphis Security Officer Becomes 67th Murdered in 2021
Memphis Police say a security guard who was shot in the head earlier this month has died of his injuries and the suspect is now facing murder charges. Police say 56-year-old Darryle Tate shot a security guard at a gas station on Millbranch Road near East Brooks Road Saturday, August 21. The victim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Memphis Police say the victim died of his injuries Saturday, August 28.

Police say Tate’s charges, which had previously included attempted second-degree murder, will now be upgraded to second-degree murder. Tate also faces a charge of employment of a firearm during a dangerous felony. The name of the security officer has not been released. 67 security officers have been murdered while on duty in 2021. privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com

U.S. Hate Crimes Rose in 2020 With Jumps in Racially Motivated Incidents
Bias-driven attacks against Asian, Black and white people fueled overall increase, FBI data show, as episodes targeting Jews and Muslims fell

Hate crimes in the U.S. rose about 6% last year, fueled by an increase in anti-Asian, anti-Black and antiwhite incidents, according to FBI statistics released Monday, reaching levels not seen in more than a decade.

State and local police reported 7,759 criminal incidents in 2020 motivated by bias, amid a global pandemic and a racial reckoning prompted by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. The number of such episodes last year matched levels last seen in 2008, and a rash of high-profile incidents have continued this year.

Congress passed new hate-crimes legislation in response to the wave of anti-Asian violence earlier this year. wsj.com

Jackson, MI: City unveils $1.5 million program to deter gun violence

A closer look at rapidly climbing gun violence statistics in North Carolina

Dallas Finds Another 15 Terabytes of Police Evidence Missing & Fires IT Employee Responsible
 

COVID Update

369.5M Vaccinations Given