COVID Update

US: Over 8.1M Cases - 222K Dead - 5.3M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 38.9M Cases - 1.1M Dead - 29.2M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 200+ 
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 121
*Red indicates change in total deaths

NRF Foundation Introduces COVID-19 Trainings to Aid Retail Employees

The NRF Foundation today launched two new credentials in its RISE Up program in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The credentials focus on Retail Operations and Customer Conflict Prevention to further ensure retail workers — and the millions of customers they serve — can work and shop more safely and help keep the economy open.

“Retailers have been on the front lines of this pandemic as economic first responders and are going above and beyond to maintaining a safe work environment for themselves, their colleagues and their customers,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “These new credentials will give employees the training they need to continue operating and serving customers safely. An informed workforce will build customer confidence and show local and state governments that retailers are taking all steps possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

While major retailers began implementing training for employees at the outset of the pandemic, the NRF Foundation’s new trainings have streamlined these best practices from retailers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a more comprehensive training for the entire industry. Both credentials are targeted toward front-line retail employees of small and mid-size businesses that do not have learning and development teams. nrf.com

COVID Slowed Security Biometrics Adoption Worldwide
COVID-19 Forces Global Fingerprint Revenues to Drop 22% in 2020
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, global biometric device revenues are expected to drop 22 percent to $6.6 billion, according to a recent report from global tech market advisory ABI Research. The entire biometrics market, however, will regain momentum in 2021 and is expected to reach approximately $40 billion in total revenues by 2025.

“First, they have been instigated primarily due to economic reforms during the crisis which forced governments to constrain budgets and focus on damage control, personnel well-being and operational efficiency.  Governments had to delay or temporarily cancel many fingerprint-based applications related to user/citizen and patient registration, physical access control, on-premise workforce management and certain applications in border control or civil, welfare, immigration, law enforcement and correctional facilities.  Second, commercial on-premise applications and access control suffered as the rise of the remote workers became the new norm for the first half of 2020. Lastly, hygiene concerns due to contact-based fingerprint technologies pummeled biometrics revenues, forcing a sudden drop in fingerprint shipments worldwide.” sdmmag.com

Survey: Consumers say indoor air quality crucial to prevent COVID-19 spread
Consumers are paying close attention to the indoor air quality of public spaces amid the pandemic. Ninety-one percent of consumers believe that IAQ is important in the prevention of COVID-19 spread, according to a survey from Carbon Lighthouse, an energy savings-as-a-service company for commercial real estate. Also, 76% said that a 'rating system' on the IAQ of a building — similar to restaurant ratings — would help them feel better about entering the building. chainstoreage.com

COVID Fatigue Setting In:
New U.S. Cases Up 23% Last 14 Days
As Virus Hits Rural U.S., Numbers May Be Small, but the Impact Is Not

‘A regional Covid storm,’ one governor says as cases spike in less populous states.

The spread of the coronavirus in the United States in recent weeks has been worse than it seems, not because of how it has been spreading but where. The virus has been pummeling some of the least populous states in the country, but the relatively low numbers can be deceptive. The surges in rural areas have been just as severe as the spikes in densely populated cities in the Sun Belt over the summer.

North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, for example, have announced the country’s highest number of cases on a per capita basis. Already, the North Dakota and South Dakota numbers exceed the per capita figures seen at the peak of summer surges in the Sun Belt.

Other states with large rural areas — including Wyoming, Idaho, West Virginia, Nebraska, Iowa, Utah, Alaska and Oklahoma — have recently recorded more cases in a seven-day stretch than in any other week of the pandemic.

“We, as North Dakotans, find ourselves in the middle of a regional Covid storm,” said Gov. Doug Burgum, who warned of “additional adversity and perhaps deadlier outcomes” after months of watching from afar as other places faced large outbreaks.

“And,” he said, “we’re doing this at a time when perhaps our citizens and parents and many are fatigued at the stress of managing this for so long.”

It is hardly just the country’s less populated regions that have health experts worried. Numbers are up across the country, and around the world.

“I don’t know why anybody would think it’s not so bad,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and an expert on contagious diseases. “We went to a low of around 35,000 cases per day late in the summer. Now we’re up to over 50,000, with those numbers climbing every day. Nationally, it’s going back up, and I’m really worried that we’re seeing a big increase.” nytimes.com

DC Mayor: Rising numbers show ‘COVID fatigue’ relaxation
Officials in the nation’s capital are warning residents not to relax their COVID-19 vigilance as the local infection numbers rise and the winter flu season approaches. More than 20% of new cases are people who had been to a restaurant or bar in the preceding two weeks and nearly a quarter had attended some sort of social event, according to contact tracing interviews.

“We should continue to choose our activities wisely and don’t succumb to COVID fatigue,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday. “Don’t get tired of protecting yourself and your entire community.” apnews.com

Europe Shutting Back Down
Paris Under Curfew: Europe Reacts As Countries See Highest-Ever COVID #'s
Coronavirus restrictions are taking effect in the Netherlands, the U.K., the Czech Republic and other parts of Europe on Wednesday as nations try to reverse an alarming wave in new cases. The continent is now seeing more new coronavirus cases – an average of 100,000 daily — than at any other time during the pandemic.

France has declared a national state of health emergency, the U.K. appearing to approach a second national lockdown and Germany introducing further rules to restrict the spread of the virus.

Bars, restaurants and schools are being shut down or sharply limited, and officials are working to bolster hospital capacity, to accommodate an expected influx of new COVID-19 patients.

Numbers that showed signs of taking off in late August and September are now skyrocketing. Europe reported more than 700,000 new coronavirus cases last week – a surge representing a 36% weekly increase, as NPR's Reese Oxner recently reported. npr.org cnbc.com

1 in 5 small businesses have closed
Pandemic hammers small businesses vital to economic recovery
The pandemic has hammered small businesses across the United States — an alarming trend for an economy that’s trying to rebound from the deepest, fastest recession in U.S. history. Normally, small employers are a vital source of hiring after a recession. They account for nearly half the economy’s output and an outsize portion of new jobs.

Roughly one in five small businesses have closed, according to the data firm Womply. Restaurants, bars, beauty shops and other retailers that involve face-to-face contact have been hardest hit at a time when Americans are trying to keep distance from one another. apnews.com
 

LP Body Cameras in the UK
Central England Co-op rolls out new measures in a bid to prevent criminals targeting stores
Bosses at a Lichfield retailer say they are rolling out new measures in a bid to tackle criminals targeting stores this winter. City-based Central England Co-op said it hoped the steps would keep staff and shoppers safe at its 260 stores across the country.

Among the measures are a trial of body-worn cameras, an increase in the use of tracking devices in products and a system allowing staff to press a button for immediate assistance.

Craig Goldie, the company’s loss prevention manager, said: "We want to send a clear message out to anyone who might be thinking of committing a crime at one of our stores this autumn and winter – this behaviour will not be tolerated and targeting our stores is not worth the risk." lichfieldlive.co.uk

DOJ's Operation Legends Nets 5,000+ Arrests Since July
Attorney General William P. Barr Announces Updates on Operation Legend at Roundtable in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Since Operation Legend’s launch in July 2020, more than 5,000 arrests – including approximately 247 for homicide – have been made; more than 2,000 firearms have been seized; and nearly 22 kilos of heroin, more than 15 kilos of fentanyl (enough to deliver more than 7.5 million fatal doses), more than 130 kilos of methamphetamine, more than 28 kilos of cocaine, and more than $7.3 million in drug proceeds have been seized.

Of the more than 5,000 individuals arrested, approximately 1,057 have been charged with federal offenses. Approximately 568 of those defendants have been charged with firearms offenses, while approximately 411 have been charged with drug-related crimes. The remaining defendants have been charged with various offenses.

The Attorney General launched the operation as a sustained, systematic, and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime.

Breakdown of Operation Legend charges:

The initiative, which was first launched first in Kansas City, MO., on July 8, 2020, is named in honor of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he slept early in the morning of June 29 in Kansas City. The operation was subsequently expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020; to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020; to St. Louis and Memphis on August 6, 2020; and to Indianapolis on August 14, 2020.

A breakdown of the federal charges in each district can be found here: justice.gov

Amazon Workers Say Prime Day Rush Breaks Virus Safety Vows

Amazon reinstates policy that penalizes workers for taking too many breaks: lawsuit

Workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York, who are suing the e-commerce giant for workplace violations, say the company has broken a promise to the judge overseeing the suit to not harass workers to get more productivity out of them, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Plaintiffs in the suit, filed in New York in June, which alleges Amazon violated employee safety laws, on Wednesday filed a complaint with the court claiming Amazon "has recklessly reinstated dangerous warehouse productivity quotas," Bloomberg's Josh Eidelson and Spencer Soper report.

The authors note that today's complaint accuses Amazon of going back on a pledge made to the court in July not to discipline workers for productivity lapses. The complaint alleges extra pressure around Prime Day, Amazon's annual shopping holiday that took place yesterday and today.

"The plaintiffs allege that in the lead-up to 'Prime Day,' Amazon's self-created, labor-intensive annual promotional holiday that started Tuesday and ends Wednesday, the company has once again been hassling employees about productivity, and warning them that slowness could get them terminated," the article relates.

In the original suit, the workers claim that Amazon's pressure to deliver productivity has increased the risk to the workers of catching COVID-19 because the pressure prevents them from taking adequate safety precautions. zdnet.com

SIA's Latest Security Market Index Shows Returning Confidence
The September/October 2020 Security Market Index (SMI), released by the Security Industry Association (SIA), shows that after May/June 2020’s low SMI in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the industry is returning to confidence, a trend that was seen also in the July/August SMI report.

The Security Market Index measures the current status and future expectations of security industry executives through a select survey of SIA members. The index’s goal is to provide a macro-view of confidence levels in the security industry every two months while closely examining nine specific business measures: Number of employees or hours worked; marketing spending; product production or service output; capital equipment spending; product inventories or service backlogs; R&D spending; new product or service introductions; product or service sales; and new orders or contracts.

The SMI for September/October 2020 is 49, up from 32 in the July/August report and up from 30 in the May/June report. The last time the security industry's confidence was this high was in the March/April SMI, which recorded a confidence level of 50 before the full effect of the pandemic impacted the security industry. An index above 50 indicates that conditions within the industry are largely positive and that security industry professionals are predominantly confident in their business outlooks.

Special focuses of SIA’s September/October 2020 SMI include: Improvement in the video surveillance sector of the market, which is showing high confidence; Continued decline in confidence within the integration sector; and strong confidence within the access control solutions market, driven by new product introductions, with 100 percent of the access control industry leaders surveyed predicting the market will be "much better" or "a little better" in the near future. sdmmag.com

Las Vegas, NV: More than $1.6M in grants awarded to improve services for Nevada crime victims
U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich made the announcement on Wednesday, saying $1,617,954 in grants, awarded by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs, are a part of over $144 million distributed to improve the district’s response to victims of crime all through the U.S. The awards, made to organizations in the Silver State, will advance using expertise, improve neighborhood preparedness and regulation enforcement coaching and supply emergency and transitional shelter to help victims of crime, in accordance to the Attorney’s Office. us.newschant.com

Macy’s is turning stores dark for the holidays
Macy’s has decided that it will close two of its department stores to on-site shopping for the holidays. The retailer is choosing instead to convert the locations into dark stores that offer in-store and curbside pickup of online orders and enable product returns. The retailer will use stores in Dover, DE, and Littleton, CO, as pilot locations for the dark store test, reports the Delaware News Journal. Macy’s did not disclose if it intends to turn any other locations into dark stores for the holiday season. retailwire.com

Nordstrom removes BOPIS silos between banners
Nordstrom is turning its Nordstrom Rack off-price stores into one-stop online order pickup locations for all of its banners. The luxury retailer is introducing online order pickup at U.S. Nordstrom Rack stores for Nordstrom.com, NordstromRack.com and HauteLook.com orders. Nordstrom is also enabling all Nordstrom Rack stores to fulfill online orders for customers. chainstoreage.com

Google's Thorsen to Keynote TMA's 2020 Annual Meeting
The Monitoring Association (TMA) is pleased to announce that Wayne Thorsen, Managing Director, Hardware Business Development for Google, will deliver the keynote address at its upcoming 2020 Annual Meeting. Mr. Thorsen will speak virtually via Zoom on Tues., Oct. 27th at 11:10 AM EST. Full details and registration options are available at www.tma.us/annual-meeting/.

Starbucks announces new diversity targets, links executive compensation to hitting goals

McDonald’s, Chipotle and Domino’s Are Booming During Coronavirus While Your Neighborhood Restaurant Struggles

Acme Markets to acquire 27 Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s Food Lover’s Markets

Per Mar Security Acquires Indiana-Based Martin Security Systems

Peloton recalls pedals on 27,000 bikes after reports of injuries


Quarterly Results
Walgreen Q4 U.S. retail pharmacy comp's up 3.6%, retail pharmacy sales up 3.6%, retail comp's up 4.7%, retail sales up 1.5%, total sales up 2.3%;
Walgreen 2020 U.S. sales up 2.0%