Left to Right: Tyrone Johnson - Corporate AP Investigator, Davina Stevens - Director of AP, Art Lazo-VP AP, Todd Gipson - Corporate AP Investigator, Tim Hall – Director of AP, Joe Tabaniag – Corporate AP Investigator, Byron Smith – Corporate AP Manager and Rankin Gasaway - SVP General Counsel

Johnson Controls Chairman & CEO to Speak at SIA's Exec. Conf. NYC Oct. 29-30
Keynote & Featured Speakers Announced for Securing New Ground Conf.
The Security Industry Association (SIA) has announced the 2019 keynote and featured speakers for Securing New Ground (SNG), the security industry’s annual executive conference taking place at the Grand Hyatt New York in Manhattan Oct. 29-30. SNG 2019 will feature keynote remarks from Dr. Steven T. Hunt, chief expert for work and technology at SAP; George Oliver, chairman and CEO of Johnson Controls; and Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Additionally, the 2019 conference will include featured presentations from Steve Jones, CEO of Allied Universal, and Brian Tuskan, senior director and chief security officer (CSO) at Microsoft Global Security; and a panel of CSOs and senior security executives from major industries and public safety highlighting significant security risks and threats and how executives mitigate them.

Attendees will enjoy a keynote-style executive interview featuring George Oliver, Chairman and CEO, Johnson Controls, and hosted by SIA Chairman Scott Schafer. This conversation will highlight major industry trends and market drivers and share insights into how one of the world’s largest security solutions firms — delivering both security technology products and security integration services — is navigating evolutions in technology, business models and customer needs.

SNG 2019 will be held at the Grand Hyatt New York. Learn more about SNG and register to attend here.

ISC East and ASIS NYC Announce Partnership for 2020 and Beyond
The ASIS NYC chapter will be endorsing the ISC East 2020 event, and working closely with the ISC Security Events and Security Industry Association (SIA) teams on educational programs, networking events and market engagement activities.

Rather than producing the standalone ASIS NYC event in May 2020 (previously an annual spring event), the ASIS NYC chapter will be partnering with Reed Exhibitions’ ISC East in collaboration with ISC’s premier sponsor, SIA.

This year’s 2019 ISC East event is on Nov. 20-21 at the Javits Center in New York City, and is co-located with the Infosecurity ISACA North America event. Over 7,500 attendees and 300+ exhibitors and brands are expected to convene in New York to explore new security products and solutions covering access control, biometrics, AI and machine learning, video surveillance, IoT enabled devices, IT and cyber security, public safety products, drones and robotics/counter drone solutions and more. sdm.com

Terrorism at Arndale Mall Store
Manchester, England: Arndale Shopping Mall
Man arrested for suspicion of terrorism after stabbing four people
Police have arrested a man on suspicion of terrorism offenses following a series of stabbings at a shopping center in Manchester, northwest England, police said.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that four people were injured in the incident at the Arndale shopping mall in the center of the city. A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of an act of terrorism, police said. Authorities don’t believe anyone else was involved.

At 11:15 a.m. Friday, a man entered a business in the shopping center and began attacking people, said Russ Jackson, assistant chief constable for Greater Manchester Police. Two unarmed officers tried to stop him, and the man chased them with a large knife. The officers called for help, and the man proceeded to attack others around him. Within five minutes other officers arrived and brought him into custody. wsj.com

Chicago, IL: With Rise In Shoplifting, Some Retailers Criticize State’s Attorney’s Approach; Prosecutors Defend Policy
The CBS 2 Morning Insiders have discovered thefts from stores have been on the rise in Chicago for years – up 34 percent since the start of 2015. Police investigated more than 1,800 retail theft cases in downtown alone just last year. City wide: more than 10,700 cases–the highest total since 2009. So what’s causing the spike? We asked Tanya Triche Dawood of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.“Low risk, high reward for retail theft,” Dawood said. She says one driver is a decision from Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. In December 2016, she announced her office would only prosecute theft cases as felonies if the thief steals $1,000 worth a merchandise or more, despite a statewide threshold of $300. chicago.cbslocal.com

Chicago, IL: Retail Theft Thresholds Are Rising
In Texas shoplifters can snag nearly 20 pairs of Jordans off the shelves and walk away with a misdemeanor. Yet only two pairs warrant a felony in Virginia. Retail theft laws vary from state to state, but in the past two decades, a national trend to raise minimums for felony charges has emerged. Oklahoma went from $50 to $500 in 2001.

Connecticut doubled the amount needed to earn a felony – rising from $1000 to $2000 in 2009. Texas, which has one of the highest thresholds, increased its minimum from $1,500 to $2,500 in 2015. Nearly 40 states have increased felony theft thresholds since 2000, but a few states still have more conservative numbers, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Virginia and New Jersey have the most severe penalties, with just $200 of stolen merchandise landing thieves felonies. And in Massachusetts it only takes $50 more. Felony offenders generally spend a year in state prison whereas misdemeanors garner probation or less than a year in local jail. chicago.cbslocal.com

Seattle, WA: 'System Failure' report: Closer look at Seattle's broken justice system
"System Failure: Part Two” is a report put out last week by the Downtown Seattle Association. It details a criminal justice system in Seattle that is seemingly reluctant to dispense with criminal justice. The case of Seattle’s Uwajimaya on 5th Avenue South is a representative example of what is, and isn’t happening within a broken system. In 2018 the supermarket stopped reporting any theft cases, that's in spite of the fact that they continue to be decimated by theft. komonews.com

The ‘System Failure Part 2’ is a follow up to another report that came out eight months ago. In February, the report detailed 100 repeat offenders repeatedly cycling through the criminal justice system.

Making the rounds in the media outlets
Is Self-Checkout Catnip For Criminals?
Perhaps one of the biggest vulnerabilities of self-checkout is the potential for theft. In the abovementioned reports of French supermarkets exploring automation, the need for increased security was emphasized.

According to a study, theft accounts for 4 percent of inventory among retailers with self-checkout, more than double the rate for traditional checkout (1.5 percent).

In a separate study about shoplifting, 72 percent of offenders said self-checkout made theft easy to very easy, while only 8 percent said it made shoplifting more difficult.

The new Automated Retail Tracker explored security concerns with leveraging automation to make the click-and-collect experience faster and cheaper. Fraudsters could use stolen credit cards to place orders, then collect the items to keep or sell.

Retailers can also be hit with painful chargebacks, and card issuers are liable for in-store purchases. However, buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) involves card-not-present (CNP) transactions, putting retailers on the hook for any fraud.

Retailers are increasingly using sophisticated tools to fight shoplifting, according to a recent survey. A majority (55.6 percent) have implemented POS analytics, though emerging tech like fingerprint ID at POS (11.5 percent) and facial recognition (6.4 percent) had far lower levels of adoption. In fact, roughly 90 percent said they had no plans to implement either technology. pymnts.com

Business Insider Story
Lowe's workers say morale is reaching an all-time low
Re-Org's - Renaming Jobs - Cutting SPIFFS & Allowances
Eight years later, this former employee says that Lowe's has changed for the worse. They cited the eliminations of positions like loss prevention, maintenance, and assembly associates, the watering down of the role of human resources employees within the store, and a chaotic new scheduling system as factors in their decision to resign in March.

"It's the way corporate America works and we expect it, but no one likes it when it happens to them," the former employee said. Lowe's, for its part, describes the changes as part of an ongoing strategy to boost customer service.

Business Insider spoke with six Lowe's employees from different parts of the US about morale within stores. All but one requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. They all spoke to dwindling morale within the stores, citing the same or similar factors as those mentioned by the worker who left in March. Others spoke of a swell of part-time positions filling in gaps left by the departure of full-time workers.

The Lowe's employees who spoke with Business Insider universally characterized recent role eliminations as thinly disguised layoffs foisted upon store management.

One other role that got the ax in 2019 was that of loss prevention, which was rebranded as asset protection.



From the Marketing Group
Biometrics is Inevitable
How Do Consumers Feel About Biometrics?
More retailers are investing in biometrics, including behavioral tracking and facial and voice recognition to not only improve store security—and potentially catch shoplifters—but to also target consumers with promotional content.

Luckily for them, more consumers are beginning to use biometrics in large part because many personal electronic devices ship with built-in biometric authentication.

An analysis by research firm TrendForce expected that 60% of the world’s 1.53 billion smartphones to ship worldwide would come with fingerprint sensors in 2018, up from 19% in 2014.

Another forecast from Counterpoint Technology Market Research predicted that 64% of smartphones worldwide would ship with facial recognition technology by 2020, up from just 23% in 2018.

“By building biometric authentication into some of their most popular products like smartphones and laptops, big tech companies are helping consumers become more comfortable with the technology," said Victoria Petrock, eMarketer principal analyst and author of our latest report, "Biometric Marketing 2019: Revolutionary Personalization Tool or Targeting Gone Awry?"

"Though there are major concerns about privacy and data security, it’s only going to be a matter of time before people use their fingerprints, faces, eyes and other body scans to verify who they are and pay for more things.” emarketer.com

California to Ban Facial Recognition on Police Body Cameras
AB 1215 by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) and signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom prohibits law enforcement from installing, activating, or using a facial recognition system in connection with a law enforcement agency’s body-worn camera.

New Hampshire and Oregon also ban facial tracking software in body cameras, while San Francisco, Oakland, California, and Somerville, Mass., block use of facial recognition technology by police and other city agencies. securitymagazine.com

Conference Security - A Global Concern
Exhibition, Convention & Meeting Industry - Statistics & Facts
Conference Centers: In 2017, there were 250 convention centers in the United States. The largest convention center in the U.S. was McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois at 2.6 million square feet. Globally, the largest exhibition center can be found outside of the United States in Hannover, Germany - the Hannover Messegelände has a gross hall capacity of 463,165 square meters, 4,985,467 square feet.

The U.S. leads the world in conferences at 941 in 2017. With Germany in second place at 682, and the UK third with 592.

Conference security remains a priority for planners and attendees, and new technologies are being introduced to meet their needs. Here’s a look at three tools worth checking out.

Weapons screening technology. The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is set to test radar-imaging technology, which is coupled with artificial intelligence software, that finds security threats before they reach a meeting facility’s entrance.

Risk-management app. An app called Event-Aware which would give APhA staff access to its emergency procedures 24/7 on their smartphones. The app, which also works offline, takes users to customized information from buttons on the home screen, such as

RFID wristbands. Attendees can earn continuing-education credits, others are starting to use the bracelets to boost safety and security. associationsnow.com

7 in 10 Store Associates Using Mobile Device - Up 60% Over LY
Omnichannel Leadership Report: Study also reveals significant omnichannel momentum. Data reveals 51% of store associates now have access to organization-wide inventory levels from a mobile device, up from 39% in 2018. And 58% of store associates can see omnichannel purchase history, up from 32% in 2018.

Almost half (47%) of associates can perform an endless aisle purchase for customers in-store, up from 33% in 2018. Three-quarters (74%) of brands allow the use of digital payments in-store, up from 57% in 2018.

The study also ranked the top five “omni leaders,” the retailers with the most advanced omnichannel capabilities for 2019-2020. They are:

1. Nike
2. Athleta
3. Moncler
4. Louis Vuitton
5. Banana Republic

“The key to omnichannel is having a single system for real-time omni data - inventory, customers and orders. And more importantly, putting this in the hands of store associates.” chainstoreage.com

The running list of 2019 bankruptcy victims

2019 Week 41: U.S. Retailers close 8,633 stores and open 3,589 YTD
This compares to 5,844 closures and 3,258 openings for the full year 2018. coresight.com

Flu Season: Ready Your Workplace
Carpooling, crowded workspaces and using public transportation are conducive to the spread of the influenza virus, new research says. People with influenza can spread it to others up to about 6 feet away, and they're most contagious in the first three to four days after becoming ill.

Workers with school-age children or who have children in day care are more than twice as likely to become infected with the flu, Ball State University (BSU) researchers say in their report, The Effects of Employment on Influenza Rates.

Click here for a complete list of resources from SHRM.org to help you prepare for flu season.

Victoria's Secret - 50 HQ Op's Employees Cut - Less than 15% of Workforce

Self-Checkout Market Projected to Double by 2024 - $2B to $4B

ICSC Predicts Holiday Sales to Hit 4.9% Increase

Allbirds to open 20 stores
 

NICCS
National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies
National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM)
Held every October, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is a collaborative effort between government and industry to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to ensure that all Americans have the resources they need to be safer and more secure online.

This year’s overarching message – Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT. – will focus on key areas including citizen privacy, consumer devices, and ecommerce security.

The NCSAM 2019 Toolkit is a comprehensive guide to make it easy for you and your organization, regardless of size or industry, to engage and promote NCSAM. Use the guide and the resources below to help you engage your stakeholders and promote positive, lasting cybersecurity habits. niccs.us-cert.gov

What is Your Organization Doing to Get Involved?

FBI Releases Article on Defending Against Phishing and Spearphishing Attacks
In recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released an article to raise awareness of phishing and spearphishing. The article provides guidance on recognizing and avoiding these types of attacks.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages users to review the FBI article and CISA's Tip on Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks. For more information on NCSAM, see the NCSAM 2019 webpage and the NCSAM 2019 Toolkit. Users can report suspected attacks to their local FBI office or to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. us-cert.gov

Great Time to Donate to Local University Effort
And a Great Long Term Talent Development Resource
University of Minnesota and Target to Collaborate on Cybersecurity Education
The University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering announced a three-year collaboration with Target that includes a $250,000 donation from Target to fund programs that will educate the next generation of cybersecurity experts.

The donation, provided by Target’s Cybersecurity department, is Target’s first major gift to the University’s College of Science and Engineering. The gift helps build course curriculum and offers hands-on information security experiences, student scholarships, fellowships and grants, as well as opportunities for students to network with cyber security experts. securitymagazine.com

Salt Lake City, UT: Property to be returned to Riverdale retailer after pawn shop scheme
The Utah Attorney General’s Office received permission from the courts this week to return some $5,000 in property to one of the retailers following the recent pawn shop scheme. The return of the merchandise will occur Friday, at noon at the Riverdale Home Depot, at 999 W. Riverdale Road, said a news release from the Utah Attorney General’s Office. In June of 2018, special agents from the Utah Attorney General’s Office served search warrants on several pawn shops along the Wasatch Front that were suspected of buying large amounts of stolen property, the news release said. Investigators seized an estimated $1.2 million in brand new merchandise, still in the original packaging. gephardtdaily.com

Estero, FL: Thief at Perfumania at Miromar Outlets flees with $3,500 worth of fragrances
A theft at an Estero store left the business without a lot of scents. A man jumped the counter at the Perfumania store at Miromar Outlets and, after grabbing a multitude of boxes of men's cologne, bolted from the outlet. Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is making a plea for information in the Sept. 17 crime. Surveillance photos show the believed thief, with an Under Armor bag thrown over his shoulder, making his getaway. news-press.com

Oak Creek, WI: Meijer Theft Suspects Caught With $1,000 In Random Stuff

North Attleborough, MA: JC Penney Shoplifter arrested with $430 of stolen merchandise

Laredo, TX: Two Young women accused of stealing $600 worth of clothes

Laredo, TX: Woman arrested with hundreds of dollars in laundry detergent, fleeing out the Garden Center