Protos Security Promotes Kris Vece, LPQ to Vice President, Strategic Account Management

Sensormatic Solutions Surveys Find Consumers Turn to Buy Online, Pickup in-Store (BOPIS) for Back-to-School Shopping

This week, Sensormatic Solutions released the results of its second annual 2020 Back-to-School survey and third monthly COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment survey. The surveys explored consumer shopping behaviors (with month over month data) and the 2020 back-to-school season (with year over year data). The data revealed an increased adoption of buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) options due to in-store shopping concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are some key findings:

● Back-to-school spending is scaling back. 70% of consumers said the current state of the economy would cause them to spend significantly or slightly less on back-to-school shopping in 2020, compared to only 37% in 2019.

● Consumers continue to demand a clean and contactless in-store shopping experience. 44% of respondents said that they would be somewhat unlikely or very unlikely to make a purchase if a retailer doesn’t offer contactless checkout or a physical barrier at the point of sale. In order of importance, 40% of customers ranked cleanliness as top priority, outpacing price (23%) and product availability (23%). Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight below.

Sensormatic E-Book:
Future-Forwarding Supermarkets and Grocery Stores
Discover how smart retailers are using loss prevention technology to enhance customer experience, reduce shrink in grocery stores and create a safer environment for customers and employees. Download Here

Introducing the new Tyco Illustra Flex Multi-Sensor Camera from Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart and sustainable buildings has further expanded its Tyco Illustra range with the launch of a new Flex multi-directional camera. Read More Here
 

Looting

California DA’s new policy to consider looters’ ‘needs’ before charging them
A California district attorney is requiring her prosecutors to consider looters’ “needs” when weighing criminal charges against them. The new mandate, set forth by Contra Costa County District Attorney Diane Becton, makes it tougher to prosecute looting cases in the county, which sits just outside San Francisco.

Investigators must now consider “was this theft offense substantially motivated by the state of emergency, or simply a theft offense which occurred contemporaneously to the declared state of emergency?,” according to the policy reported by local outlet East County Today. In making that determination, they must also consider five other factors, including “was the theft committed for financial gain or personal need?”

The new policy comes amid the swell of protests, looting and riots in the wake of police-involved shootings of black people across the country.

Becton, a 22-year judge in Contra Costa County who was elected DA in 2017, is the county’s first female and African American to serve as the county’s chief law enforcement officer. Her new policy drew strong rebukes from Antioch Mayor Sean Wright and the president of the Antioch police union.

“When I read the policy, it was disturbing,” Wright told East County Today. “I understand the difference between protesting and looting. Peaceful protesting is okay, looting is not. For the District Attorney to put out that kind of plan is irresponsible and where do you exactly draw the line on need because these are people’s businesses that are being impacted and livelihoods that are being destroyed.”

DA spokesman Scott Alonso said the new policy was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic and noted that the office has no recent evidence of prosecuting looters during a state of emergency. Looting carries a sentence of one year in county jail.

Becton recently penned an opinion piece for Politico magazine, along with four other DAs who are black women — Satana Deberry in Durham County, North Carolina, Kim Gardner in St. Louis, Missouri, Kim Foxx in Cook County, Illinois, and Rachael Rollins in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

The article consists of 11 pieces of criminal justice reform that they say are designed to fix a “flawed system” that wrongly targets black people and people of color. nypost.com

Minneapolis: Help Isn’t Coming For Many Small Businesses Hit By Riots & Looting
New numbers paint a bigger picture of just how damaging last week’s riots were in Minneapolis. The fires and looting started Wednesday night after false rumors spread about an officer-involved shooting that was actually the suicide of a murder suspect on Nicollet Mall. The city says at least 133 buildings were damaged during the chaos, with some housing several businesses.

The state’s request for FEMA funding was denied, so was the appeal. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development says it doesn’t have direct assistance for business owners who were hit by the unrest. This is because the Minnesota legislature didn’t approve any additional resources for that specifically. The state’s commerce department can help with some insurance snag, and the SBA has low-interest disaster loans.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is doing things like waiving permit fees, but admits his requests for rapid federal and state aid have not come through. cbslocal.com

Chicago police release surveillance video of suspects seen looting store in May

Chicago: Shaken by summer looting in affluent neighborhoods, some residents are moving away

Louisville, KY: 3 face federal charges connected to June looting of pharmacy, gun store


More Media Coverage on Looting:

NPR: One Author's Controversial View: 'In Defense Of Looting'

The Atlantic: There Is No Defense of Looting

WSJ: The Looting Lobby: Where’s the cancel culture when we really need it?
 

Protests & Violence

A Violent August in NYC: Shootings Double, and Murder Is Up by 50%

NYC Surpasses 1,000 Shootings Before Labor Day

The steep rise in gun violence that has rattled New York City and intensified the debate over policing continued at an alarming rate in August, as shootings more than doubled over the same period last year and murders rose by nearly 50 percent, the police said.

The data released on Wednesday reflected a trend many cities across the country are experiencing in a year already marked by a pandemic and civil unrest: a new surge in shootings, murders and other crimes that has public officials grasping for explanations and scrambling to respond.

Violent crime always rises in the summer, but this year has been extreme in New York. Since May, the city has recorded 791 shootings, a more than 140 percent increase over the same period in 2019. The 180 murders seen between May and August is more than 51 percent increase compared to 2019.

In August alone, there were 242 shootings in the city, compared with 91 last year, and the number of murders rose from 36 to 53. As a result, the city surpassed 1,000 shootings before Labor Day, making it the worst year for gun violence since 2015, with four months left to go.

Still, this year’s numbers are far lower than the peak levels of crime seen in the 1980s and 1990s, and the recent rise in shootings and murders come after years in which the city saw violent crime drop to low levels not seen since the 1950s. nytimes.com

Rochester, NY: Bodycam Footage of Daniel Prude's Death Sparks New Protests
Protests were held in Rochester, N.Y., Wednesday after the release of video footage showing officers restraining and placing a hood over a Black man who later died of asphyxiation. Daniel Prude died in a hospital several days after the March 23 incident, in which Rochester Police Department officers took him into custody after responding to reports of an individual acting erratically, officials and his family said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Wednesday that her office is investigating Mr. Prude’s death. She said she supported demonstrators’ right to protest. wsj.com

Seattle: Private security guards hired to monitor downtown park
chased away by protestors, homeless on first night
After city crews cleared a camp of protesters and homeless people from Cal Anderson Park Tuesday, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation hired the private security firm Jaguar Security to “have a presence in the park overnight and to continue to remind people that the park remains closed,” a department spokesperson confirmed in an email Wednesday.

For the second time in a month, police and parks staff cleared the camp Tuesday. Later Tuesday night, however, a group of protesters had returned to the park. When three security guards arrived, the group shouted at them to leave and followed them through part of the park, video shows. The guards, concerned for their safety, eventually left the park and do not plan to return, said a man identifying himself as the owner of the security firm.

Spokesperson Rachel Schulkin said the city planned to pay $85 per hour per guard each night, with four guards working from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for a total of $3,400 per night. seattletimes.com

Video: How the Fatal Shooting at a Portland Protest Unfolded

Portland: Man under investigation in fatal shooting of Patriot Prayer supporter wounded in July after trying to grab gun from stranger

As protesters arrive at their doorsteps, mayors in Portland, St. Louis abandon their homes
 

COVID Update

US: Over 6.3M Cases - 190K Dead - 3.5M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 26.2M Cases - 869K Dead - 18.5M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 186   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 101
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Fulfillment center workers face COVID-19 and grueling shifts

Overworked and exhausted, warehouse workers brace for a frenzied holiday rush

Warehouse workers across the country say they’ve been under enormous pressure for months, working extended hours to fulfill a crush of pandemic orders. Working conditions, they say, have steadily deteriorated during the crisis, leaving many distribution centers understaffed and ill-equipped to accommodate frequent hand-washing and other safety protocols. Now the nation’s 1 million warehouse workers are preparing for an unprecedented surge in demand, as retailers kick off online holiday sales earlier than ever.

“We see it every year: When demand increases, so does the pressure on warehouse workers,” said Beth Gutelius, associate director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “This year, many workers are already operating at elevated levels because of the pandemic. Then you layer the holiday peak season on top of that, along with a surge of new hires, and there are real questions about worker safety.”

She said it is nearly impossible to quantify how many warehouse workers have become infected or died of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, because companies generally are not required to publicly disclose cases. Reports from local health departments, though spotty, provide a snapshot of how quickly the virus can spread in enclosed workplaces: 152 Amazon employees — or about 1 in 7 workers — at a warehouse in Shakopee, Minn., tested positive for the coronavirus between April and August, according to the state’s health department. washingtonpost.com

CEO: Retail needs COVID-19 under control to begin rebuilding business
“Where there hasn’t been as much fiscal support, let’s say in Europe and in Asia, the fact that the pandemic is under much better control there [means] our business is that much more strong there,” said Manny Chirico, CEO of PVH, the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Arrow and other clothing brands.

“I think it’s really controlling the pandemic that’s going to be the bigger issue for us going forward in the States, versus just throwing more stimulus at it,” when it comes to the economic recovery, he told CNBC. cnbc.com

Return Dates to the Office Keep Getting Pushed Back
Survey: 35% of US Companies Do Not Know When They'll Reopen Workplace
Many businesses hoped to reopen their workplaces after Labor Day, but a new survey of managers and executives suggests a long, uncertain road ahead. 35 percent say the timing of when their companies will reopen the workplace is unknown.

The Conference Board survey also found that only about 60 percent of companies have consulted their workers about their levels of readiness and comfort in returning to the workplace. In addition, despite talk of a looming vaccine and its benefits, just 5 percent say its wide availability would be a significant factor in the timing of a return to the workplace.

The findings also reveal that, while most companies have mandated certain protocols for employees arriving at work, only 67 percent are requiring screening, testing, or temperature checks. prnewswire.com

Red Wing Boots turns business into resource center for unemployed Americans on Labor Day

Jobless Claims Ease, Showing Slowly Improving Labor Market

Join Mission 500’s Virtual Security 5k/2k Fundraiser to Help Children in Need During the Pandemic

Covid-19 has killed more police officers this year than all other causes combined, data shows
 

ASIS E-Book on Workplace Violence Prevention
ASIS International recently released the revised Workplace Violence and Active Assailant - Prevention, Intervention, and Response Standard. This Standard provides an overview of policies, processes, and protocols that organizations can adopt to help prevent threatening behavior and violence affecting the workplace and better respond to and resolve security incidents.

The Standard describes the implementation of a workplace violence prevention and intervention program, and protocols for effective incident management and resolution; and also includes an annex on active assailants which provides actionable information and guidance relative to prevention, intervention, and response to incidents involving an active assailant/active shooter. asisonline.org

52 former franchisees sue McDonald’s for racial discrimination
More than 50 former McDonald’s franchisees are suing the fast-food giant for racial discrimination, alleging it denied them the same opportunities as White operators and pushed them out of the system.

The 52 Black plaintiffs claim that McDonald’s violated federal anti-discrimination law and breached their contracts. They operated over 200 restaurants and exited the franchise between 2010 and 2020. The suit was filed Tuesday in a federal court in Illinois, where the company is headquartered.

According to the complaint, McDonald’s steered Black franchisees toward restaurants in low-income neighborhoods, which typically have higher security and insurance costs and lower volume sales. The lawsuit said the plaintiffs’ average annual revenue was $2 million, at least $700,000 less than McDonald’s national average for its franchisees between 2011 and 2016. Last year, the national average sales for its franchisees climbed to $2.9 million.

After subtracting restaurants’ costs from missed revenue over the years active, the plaintiffs say their losses are $4 million to $5 million per location on average. cnbc.com

CVS Wage Settlement for Distribution Workers Gets Initial Nod
CVS Health Corp‘s proposed $1.85 million class settlement to resolve allegations it failed to fully compensate California distribution center workers got early approval after additional scrutiny by a federal magistrate judge. The deal in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California comprises all CVS employees not exempt from governing wage provisions who worked in California distribution centers between Jan. 16, 2015, and Aug. 15, 2020. bloomberglaw.com

An Un-Bear-Able Shopping Experience
Kings Beach, CA: Wild Videos Show Bears Confronting People Inside Local Stores
Incredible videos show some scary confrontations between bears and people inside a Kings Beach grocery store and convenience store in recent weeks. A surveillance video recorded on Aug. 30 shows a bear lying on the Kings Beach Chevron convenience store floor eating candy and crackers. The hungry visitor spent 20 minutes inside the store before it finally had its fill. A couple of weeks before, on Aug. 12, a bear was inside the store, followed by a customer swatting at the bear’s backside. And a surveillance video from Aug. 29 shows an employee trying to prevent a bear from entering the store, until the bear makes a quick move forward, lunging at the employee who quickly backs away. A separate video shows a bear inside a Kings Beach Safeway supermarket on Aug. 30. It’s one of the same bears that has become a frequent customer inside Kings Beach businesses. cbslocal.com

J.C. Penney Lenders Consider Teaming Up With Outside Bidders

The Paper Store emerges from bankruptcy

Macy's will 'reimagine' Thanksgiving Day Parade

Tory Burch joins Old Navy in offering paid time off to employees volunteering as 2020 poll workers


Quarterly Results
Michael's Q2 comp's up 12%, net sales up 11.1%
Dollarama Q2 comp's up 5.4%, sales up 7.1%
Five Below Q2 comp's down 12.2%, net sales up 2.1%
Conn's Q2 comp's down 13.2%, revenue down 8.6%
Signet Jewelers Q2 comp's down 31.3%, revenue down 35%
DSW Q2 comp's down 42.7%, net sales down 42.8%
J.Jill Q2 net sales down 49%
 

RH-ISAC Event Calendar

Sept. 24
Cyber Thursday: How Vulnerabilities Power the Underground
In this session we will show how many of the value chains present in the underground rely on vulnerabilities to work - and how cyber threat intelligence can help organizations make smarter choices on which patches to prioritize, allowing them to get ahead of the exploitation curve. Register now

Sept. 24
Cyber Thursday: Maturing Third Party Risk Programs Through Continuous Monitoring
As organizations adapt to the current times, the use of third parties continues to become increasingly crucial. Companies are battling economic pressures and being forced to operate more efficiently, which can sometimes lead to a reduced focus on their control environments. Register now

Sept. 24
Cyber Thursday: An Industry Veteran's Approach to Combating Phishing & Fraudulent Sites
This session will explore traditional practices used to mitigate the effectiveness of online phishing and fraud attacks, and offer insight into which practices are deemed most effective. Register now

Oct. 6-8
2020 Virtual RH-ISAC Cyber Intelligence Summit
Join us for a private, three-day event that brings together top cybersecurity leaders and teams representing the most prominent organizations in retail, gaming, hospitality, restaurants, grocers, consumer products and other consumer-facing service companies. Register now

Coronavirus, Counterfeits & Cannabis: Protecting CBD Brands During a Pandemic
With snowballing fraud now jeopardizing the growth of the industry, it has become absolutely critical for manufacturers and distributors of CBD products to quickly stem the tide of abuse and guard against any further erosion of the relationship between consumer expectations and the CBD industry. Luckily, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and many online retail outlets now have tools available to help protect CBD brands and their customers from online scams.

Fortunately for owners of CBD brands, the USPTO now allows registration for brands associated with CBD and hemp products. As recently as 2018, the USPTO prohibited the registration of any marks associated with goods derived from cannabis. However, with the loosening of state and federal laws, it is now permissible to register such marks, as long as the products reflect USDA-compliant CBD with a concentration of less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

As a result, any CBD company looking to maximize the strength of its rights and build brand preference has more tools at its disposal than ever before. The first step is to seek registration with the USPTO. hempgrower.com
 

Athens, GA: Police arrest 2 in theft of clothing worth thousands from Belk
Two men were arrested in August on charges of shoplifting thousands of dollars worth of clothing from Belk at Georgia Square mall. And while Athens-Clarke police detectives said they could find no direct link between the men — who were arrested on separate days — “it is believed that the subjects were sent to steal specific, high-end items.” The person who might have collaborated in the thefts was not identified. Police said close cooperation with store employees resulted in the arrests.

“Property crimes detectives work closely with our business stakeholders to minimize their losses through thefts, and this arrest and suspect identification was an example of our close working relationship,” Detective Nathaniel Franco said Tuesday. One suspect, Anthony Eugene Stafford, 53, of Athens, was arrested Aug. 21 after store security called Franco to alert him of a man leaving the store with clothing valued at $1,639. After Stafford’s arrest, police said he was linked to a shoplifting Aug. 20 in which police said $5,200 worth of clothing was stolen during two occasions, according to the report. Stafford indicated to detectives that he sold these clothes on the same day he stole them, according to Franco. Stafford had targeted clothing produced by Polo and Ralph Lauren, according to the report.

In the other case Aug. 23, the suspect resisted arrest when confronted by a police officer dispatched to the store after a store employee observed him “shoving merchandise into a plastic bag.” Gerald Dunn, 55, of Greene County, was arrested. When an officer approached Dunn as he tried to exit the mall, he resisted being detained, police said. Police resorted to using a Taser, but it proved ineffective, police said. Police found a wire cutter in his pocket and discovered that the security tags were removed from the approximately $629 worth of Polo clothing in his possession, according to the report. Police examined Dunn’s 72-page criminal history and determined he had more than three shoplifting convictions. Dunn was charged with felony shoplifting, possession of tools for a crime and obstruction.  onlineathens.com

Spokane Valley, WA Authorities are seeking to identify a Home Depot Robbery suspect
According to Spokane County Sheriff's Office , detectives are looking for information related to a 7 p.m. Aug. 20 commercial robbery at The Home Depot. "Suddenly, the male bolted toward the parking lot with the merchandise," Sheriff’s spokesman Gregory said. "She reached out and grabbed the handle of the basket, but the male kept his grasp and pulled hard, swinging the employee in a circle." After letting go of the basket, the suspect ran past a uniformed security employee, out the door and to an awaiting four-door Kia, Gregory said. The silver-colored car was on the other side of the parking lot and the man got into the back seat on the driver's side. cheneyfreepress.com

Pueblo, CO: Police need help identifying armed robbery suspects in Pueblo

Miami, FL Burglars smash through wall to steal nearly $15,000 of cellphones

DeLand, FL: Phone Repair store Sign spinner steals $9,000 worth of customers' phones and electronics from repair store

Slinger, WI: Repeat Offender wanted for $2,000 theft from Piggly Wiggly