Johnson Controls adds cost-effective, AI-driven face mask detection
to exacqVision VMS
Johnson Controls is announcing exacqVision 20.09, which offers an integrated, cost-effective face mask detection solution that can quickly put information into the hands of facility decision makers to help maintain safe environments for employees and visitors.

Based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) analytics versus pixel-based analytics, exacqVision 20.09 with Face Mask Detection offers improved accuracy and a scalable, efficient solution for organizations where public health and safety is a priority - such as retail stores, educational and healthcare campuses and corporate offices.

With exacqVision’s automated event notification features, it’s easy to monitor, link and search No Mask events, providing businesses with enhanced situational awareness to respond quickly when a person without a required face mask is detected. This ultimately allows businesses to be more proactive about reducing risks and ensuring compliance to new norms. Read More Here


Slurpees for Good Behavior
7-Eleven Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Operation Chill

For a quarter-century, Operation Chill®, 7-Eleven, Inc.'s longest-running community service program, gives local law enforcement an opportunity to make a positive connection with kids through free Slurpee® drink coupons.

Each year, the world's largest convenience retailer donates thousands of free Slurpee drink coupons to local law enforcement departments to reward children for observing safety rules, participating in positive activities, performing good deeds or acts of kindness.

This year, 7-Eleven will issue approximately 1.5 million Slurpee drink coupons to more than 1,100 law enforcement agencies that will, in turn, be distributed to the community's kids. Each coupon can be redeemed for one Slurpee drink at participating 7-Eleven® stores. Although the reasons for being rewarded vary - wearing a helmet while riding a bike, picking up litter or holding the door open - the end result is the same for every youngster: a free Slurpee drink and encouragement for being a good kid. prnewswire.com
 

Protests & Riots

$1 billion-plus riot damage is most expensive in insurance history

COVID Update

US: Over 6.8M Cases - 202K Dead - 4.1M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 30.4M Cases - 951K Dead - 22M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 189   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 110
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Doctors and Hospitals Are Better Prepared to Treat Covid-19 This Fall
Many are confident they can handle a second wave of cases this fall, pointing to advances in treatment and lessons learned

U.S. hospitals expect to be better prepared if a second wave of Covid-19 cases hits in coming months, doctors and administrators say, after gaining a better understanding how to triage patients, which drugs to use and what supplies are needed.

Hospitals say they are stockpiling masks, other protective equipment and Covid-19 drugs to meet any surge in demand should cases pick up.

Now “we understand the illness; we have a variety of treatments.” “Obviously this can get out of control - we don’t have a magic bullet for it yet - but your prospects are actually very good,” Dr. Landry added. wsj.com

Wildfire Air Pollution Amplifying COVID Threat
Why wildfire smoke may increase the risk of COVID-19
As wildfires continue to burn in California, researchers say they may be adding fuel to another emergency: the pandemic. Parts of the Golden State have been buried in a blanket of smoke for weeks. Wildfire smoke is a mixture of many pollutants, but the majority consists of tiny particulate matter called PM2.5, which can also be produced by cars and power plants. In April, researchers at Harvard found that just a small increase in this kind of air pollution led to an 8% jump in the death rate from COVID-19.

Studies have shown that air pollution from these tiny particles can increase the risk of death in older adults from other causes, but the Harvard researchers found the increase from COVID-19 was 20 times larger. Why? The most widely accepted theory is that smoke particles, which can burrow deep inside the lungs and enter the bloodstream, can add a layer of health complications for people already fighting the virus. 10news.com

WHO Warns Of ‘Alarming’ Coronavirus Growth Rate In Europe
The World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Europe Thursday warned of “alarming rates” of coronavirus transmission across the region with the greatest proportion of new cases coming among young and middle-aged adults. Kluge said that more comprehensive testing has contributed to the increase. Biggest proportion of new cases is among 25- to 49-year-olds.

More than half of European nations have reported an increase of more than 10% in new cases in the past two weeks, according to CNN and “of those, seven countries have seen newly reported cases increase more than two-fold in the same period," Kluge added. forbes.com

Nearly 60 percent of COVID-19 business closures are permanent: report
Nearly 60 percent of businesses that closed nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic are never reopening again, according to a report.

The vast majority of those businesses are restaurants and gift stores, according to Yelp’s Local Economic Impact Report, a monthly survey of business listings.

As of Aug. 31, 163,735 businesses were listed as closed, with 97,966 of them permanent closures — a 23 percent increase from July 10, the report said.

Within the retail sector, permanent closures of bars and nightclubs grew by 10 percent since July, while closures of beauty related shops grew by 23 percent over the same period. Fitness club closures grew by an alarming 23 percent.

The five top cities for permanent closures were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore had among the fewest closures, according to the report. nypost.com

Cal/OSHA will create emergency COVID workplace safety rules
After months of discussion, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health will move forward with emergency statewide standards to address what worker advocates have been calling “an occupational health emergency.”

A seven-member board appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom voted unanimously Thursday to begin creating standards that would require employers to take stricter precautions against COVID-19.

The board oversees standards enforced by the agency, better known as Cal/OSHA. latimes.com

NRF: Imports spike as economy continues recovery and retailers stock up for holidays
Imports surged to unexpected high levels this summer and may have hit a new record as the U.S. economy continues to reopen and retailers stock up for the holiday season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. nrf.com

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: Retail stores, restaurants, office buildings, gyms can reopen at 75% capacity as early as Sept. 21

CVS Health to double COVID-19 drive-thru test sites - hitting 4,000 by October

Minn. Gov. Tim Walz lays out benchmarks for ending COVID-19 emergency in Minnesota

Home Depot adapts holiday shopping season to pandemic era with 2 months of Black Friday deals
 

NY Post Says: The Big Apple is Blood Red
The Mayor's Report Says: Key Improvements include: SAFER CITY
NYC murders and gang violence surged over past year, data reveals
New York City saw a spike in murders over the last year — and a more than 50 percent surge in gang violence, according to data released by City Hall on Thursday evening.

More than 350 New Yorkers lost their lives to murder in 2020 — an increase of 27 percent from last year, NYPD data included in the Mayor’s Management Report shows.

Overall, the city recorded a slight 1 percent increase in major felonies compared to 2019 — but that uptick included the jump in murders and a 20 percent rise in burglaries, or 2,176 more than last year, the report states. Robbery's up 7%.

Other major felonies were down, including forcible rape, which decreased by 17 percent, and grand larceny which declined by 8 percent, according to the report.

The report doesn’t provide data on shootings specifically, though the city has been gripped by a gun-violence epidemic, with at least 1,000 cases of gunplay tallied so far since Jan. 1, according to numbers previously released by the NYPD. nypost.com

To view this year’s report, visit: http://www.nyc.gov/mmr.

UK: Retailers Facing Same Lack of Criminal Justice Support as U.S.
UK: MPs call for further protection from retail crime
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Retail Crime is to keep the ‘pressure on’ to ensure that members of the retail industry are protected from crime.

The group, which met on 15 September, discussed the Call for Evidence on Violence against Shopworkers, the Sentencing Council Consultation, and Alex Norris’s Assault on Retail Workers Private Members Bill.

APPG chairman, Steve McCabe, said: “Up until now, there is a clear loss of trust from members of the retail industry because of the lack of justice dished out to perpetrators. However, the APPG is successfully putting the case forward for changes to be made, and we will continue to make this case until retailers feel safe in their shops.”

He added: “We are pleased that the Minister of Policing has now written to PCCs and chief constables setting out that the theft of goods valued up to £200 from a shop should be prosecuted as a criminal offence and that the government are going to look at the effectiveness of s176, which encapsulates this threshold, of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing 2014 Act as part of the post-legislative scrutiny of the act.”

Finally, as Norris’s Assault on Shopworkers Private Members Bill has been given a date for a second reading – on 25 September – he came to the APPG to engage with the group and ensure that all interested parties work together to get retailers the protection they need.  talkingretail.com

Central England Co-op trials staff body cameras in two stores
Central England Co-op is trialling staff bodycams in two of its stores in a bid to tackle retail crime. Following in the footsteps of the Co-op and Waitrose, the society has begun the trial in its Erdington and Great Barr stores and expects it to last between six and eight weeks. If successful, the cameras could be rolled out across its other stores to deter threats and acts of violence towards colleagues and security guards.

The retailer said assaults towards staff had jumped by 100% since the start of the year, with threats and intimidation up 25% and verbal abuse up 175%. The society is among convenience retailers lobbying the government for changes to legislation to better protect shopworkers from crime. thegrocer.co.uk

Deputy Attorney General Discusses
Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)
& Use Within FBI & Privacy

Associate Deputy Attorney General Sujit Raman Delivers Remarks at Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS)/Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) Facial Recognition Technology Virtual Forum. justice.gov


DOJ Fines Conn's for Charging Servicemembers Excess Interest
Conn’s, a furniture, mattress, electronics, and appliance store chain headquartered in the Woodlands, Texas, has retail stores in over 130 locations in at least 14 states. This is the Justice Department’s first SCRA case against a consumer retail store.

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Conn Credit I, LP, Conn Appliances, Inc. and Conn’s, Inc. (Conn’s), to resolve allegations that they violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by charging at least 184 servicemembers excess interest on their purchases. 

The SCRA provides financial and housing protections and benefits to military members as they enter active duty. One of the SCRA’s benefits requires creditors to reduce the interest rate on financial obligations, including retail installment contracts, to six percent if certain conditions are met. Under the agreement, Conn’s must hire an independent consultant, who will determine if any previously unidentified servicemembers were overcharged interest. Conn’s must refund all overcharged interest that it has not already refunded and pay an additional $500 to each affected servicemember. Conn’s must also make a $50,000 payment to the United States. justice.com

Cargo safely secured? Check
An international push continues for the adoption of safe cargo-packing practices to avoid the loss of billions of dollars worth of goods and equipment annually in preventable accidents.

Five international freight transport and cargo-handling organizations collaborated on the newly released CTU Code: A Quick Guide, which condenses their advice on the packing of all types of cargo into 13 pages, and the Container Packing Checklist, which itemizes requirements for the packing of multimodal freight containers in a yes-or-no format.

They said many cases of ship fires and container stack failures, vehicle rollovers and train derailments can be traced to poor packing practices. Peregrine Storrs-Fox, the TT Club’s risk management director, said in April that the organization has estimated the international maritime industry alone incurs losses of about $6 billion each year because of incorrectly packed or documented cargo. freightwaves.com

Walmart Gives Raises to 165,000
Walmart ushers in team-based operating model for Supercenters
Leadership and other role changes include pay hikes for 165,000 U.S. hourly associates

Walmart is revamping the management structure within its U.S. Supercenters, shifting to a team-focused operational model aimed at driving its omnichannel strategy and career advancement for store employees.

The retail giant is introducing “future-focused” leadership roles in Supercenters at salaried and hourly levels. The co-manager position will transition to a new role called “store lead,” while the assistant manager post will take on the new title of “coach.” Similarly, department managers will become “team leads.”

With the new roles, associates will take on broader responsibilities, exercise a wider range of skills and hone their leadership capabilities, giving them more of a stake in helping Walmart deliver on its strategic priorities, according to Smith. She said the new model earmarked for Supercenters reflects changes made at Sam’s Club over the past year and at Neighborhood Market stores earlier this year.

“These associates will lead and develop people, rather than focusing on completing tasks," Walmart U.S. COO Dacona Smith noted. supermarketnews.com

IAI Announces the 2020 Fred Wilson Memorial CFI Scholarship Recipients
The International Association of Interviewers (IAI) has announced the 2020 Fred Wilson Memorial Scholarship recipients. There is no question, this is been a very challenging year on many fronts. Even though this is the first year in our history we had to cancel the Elite Training Days event, we are still excited to move forward with offering the annual CFI Scholarships to a select few individuals. These recipients were meticulously reviewed, discussed and hand selected by the IAI Advisory Board.

Private: Arianne Trujillo and Jayna Hill
Public: Sgt. David Stein, Sgt. James Gillen, Todd Venne
International: Herisoa Randriantseheno and Lori Bonacci
certifiedinterviewer.com

California Fleet Safety Awards:
NFI Recognized as a Leader in Transportation Safety
NFI, a leading supply chain solutions provider, was recently recognized for its 2019 safety efforts within its dedicated and drayage fleet by the California Trucking Association (CTA). The Fleet Safety Awards recognizes the safest fleets in California, honoring companies developing and implementing superior safety and loss prevention programs through management commitment, employee involvement, and program innovation. prweb.com

Coresight Research
Retail Store Databank - Week 35
7,990 2020 YTD Closures
3,354 2020 YTD Openings

Sam’s Club expands Scan & Go to fuel stations

Home Office Furniture Retailer Sales up 300%

Ascena sells Catherine's to Full Beauty Brands

Hurricane Sally: 320,000 still without power


Read More in Today's ORC Column Below
Georgia Retailers Organized Crime Alliance Annual Conference Goes Virtual: Celebrates 10 Years With International Attendance