DoorDash Partners with ADT to Help Protect its Community of Millions of Dashers

DoorDash's SafeDashTM Provides Dashers In-App Safety Tools for Help On Demand, Powered by ADT

BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 3, 2021 – ADT, the most trusted name in security, today announced a partnership with DoorDash, the nation's leading last-mile logistics platform, to provide the Safe by ADT mobile safety solution to its community of millions of Dashers. Safe by ADT will power DoorDash’s new in-app safety toolkit called SafeDashTM, allowing Dashers to quickly and easily request professional help by voice or text and receive emergency services to their location anytime they feel unsafe.

“Our commitment to safety is central to what our teams at DoorDash work towards every day,” said Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, Vice-President of Communications and Policy at DoorDash. “We’ve heard from Dashers across the country who tell us that safety is a top consideration when choosing which platforms they work with. That’s why over the years, we’ve worked hard on new products, policies, and partnerships that reflect what we hear from Dashers. SafeDash was born out of feedback from Dashers, and our hope is that with access to resources like these from ADT, we’re giving Dashers yet another resource to feel safe and secure on the road.”

With SafeDash, Dashers can quickly and discreetly access ADT agent support two ways directly through the Dasher app. 

Read more here
 

The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

More Coverage of Yesterday's ORC Testimony
CVS director of organized retail crime explains how professional thieves are stealing $2,000 from stores in just 2 minutes

Retailers are pointing to e-commerce for the spike in "sophisticated and highly dangerous" crime rings.

Organized retail crime-related events are reported in a CVS Pharmacy store every three minutes. In just two minutes, the average professional thief targeting CVS steals $2,000 worth of goods.

That's according Ben Dugan, the director of organized retail crime and corporate investigations at CVS Health. On Tuesday, he testified alongside fellow retailers at a Senate judiciary committee hearing to discuss the illegal sales of stolen and counterfeit goods online.

It's an issue Dugan has personally investigated for over 30 years - and he said it's only getting worse due to the lack of regulation surrounding online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay.

"The ease with which online sellers can open and close their sites, essentially undetected, is directly related to this increase in criminal activity in our stores," he told legislators, adding that an estimated $500 billion in illicit stolen and counterfeit goods are sold on third-party marketplaces like Amazon each year.

"Let me just be clear about what organized retail crime is not. It is not everyday shoplifting," Dugan told the committee. "It is not individuals committing singular opportunistic thefts for personal reasons. It is organized, it is sophisticated, and it is massive in scale."

He said these complex crime rings often begin with a "booster" who steals from stores directly or recruits others to steal for them. The use of a weapon or physical violence during these thefts has more than doubled in the last year and a half, Dugan added. The booster then delivers the haul to a "fence" who collects and transports the stolen goods to a consolidation site such as a warehouse.

From there, "the stolen goods can be sold directly online to unsuspecting customers, to other third-party sellers (some of whom know the goods are stolen or counterfeit) or distributed to the marketplaces themselves to fulfill orders," he explained. news.yahoo.com

Shoplifting Epidemic Hits Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay area sheriff's offices report rises in shoplifting
CrimeTracker 10 has been crunching the numbers. We found Bay area sheriff’s agencies reporting steady rates of shoplifting across the Bay area, with increases from 2018 to 2019, a dip in 2020 - likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic - and now shoplifting once again on the rise.

Data from the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) shows shoplifters are caught, on average, only once in every 49 times they steal – yes even locally here in the Bay area. Even then, the cases are often not reported to law enforcement or pursued by prosecutors.

“They’re not going to charge you, they’re not going to report you. So why pay for it,” asks Sheriff Judd of those committing retail theft without being held accountable.

That’s not the way it works in Polk County, Sheriff Judd says. He says anyone caught shoplifting in Polk is immediately held accountable.

“We don’t do a notice to appear, even if it’s a misdemeanor, and let you walk out of that store. You leave that store in handcuffs and you go to jail. You’re not going to steal in this county," Judd said.

And while across the Bay area there are plenty of arrests to report, in many cases there’s no follow-through on shoplifting, because these crimes a lot of times are being carried out by repeat offenders. The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office shows 170 repeat offenders over the past 4 years. One suspect in 2019 was arrested 19 times. Another person this year, already racking up 9 arrests.

“They just cycle through the system. They’re chronic offenders,” said Staib. Brazen criminals who walk right into stores and just take whatever they want.

Sheriff Judd started the Organized Retail Crime Task Force in 2012 and it has resulted in the arrest of 885 suspects accused of “organized retail theft.” wtsp.com

SF Crime Closures Making More Headlines
Safeway In Castro Cuts Hours Due To ‘Off The Charts’ Shoplifting; ‘It’s Sad, Upsetting And Frustrating’
Yet another major retailer in San Francisco has made the decision to close earlier due to excessive theft particularly at night, according to San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

The Castro Safeway on Market and Church Streets was open 24 hours, but that’s not the case any longer. Signs posted on its entrance state its new hours are 6 am to 9 pm, effective October 24.

Many shoppers were surprised to find that the Safeway they frequent at off-hours is cutting back.

“I think like a lot of retailers they’ve been experiencing increasing property crime and theft from their stores,” Mandelman said. “I think the last 6 months from what they say has been sort of – off the charts in terms of how bad it’s been. It’s sad, upsetting and frustrating.”

Mandelman said he’s now working on organizing a meeting with Safeway, San Francisco police and the district attorney. sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

Will San Francisco's new 'welcome ambassadors' deter city's rampant crime?

A look at crime in St. Louis and possible solutions
 

The Vote on Police Reform
Bad Night For Progressives

Minneapolis Rejects Measure to Replace Police
Minneapolis rejects measure to replace police department in first major electoral test of reform movement after George Floyd’s murder

Voters rejected the initiative by a margin of 56% to 44%.

Seventeen months after George Floyd’s murder led to nationwide calls to abolish or defund the police, voters in the city where the movement began soundly rejected a proposal Tuesday to replace its troubled police department in an election likely to have national implications in the debate over policing and racial justice.

City Question Two would have amended the Minneapolis charter to allow the police department to be replaced by a Department of Public Safety. The new agency would have taken a “comprehensive public health approach” to public safety, including dispatching mental health workers to certain calls and more investment in violence prevention efforts.

The measure also would have removed decades-old language from the city charter requiring a minimum number of police officers based on its population. The new department “could include” police officers “if necessary” — wording that potentially doomed the measure among residents concerned about rising violent crime in the city, even as supporters argued the city would still have armed police because state law requires them to respond in certain circumstances.

People on both sides of the fight had predicted results would be close, but with 99 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday, 56 percent of voters had rejected the measure — a disappointing result for supporters of the initiative, who blamed “disinformation” and “fearmongering” for the loss.

“The empire strikes back,” tweeted D.A. Bullock, a Black filmmaker and activist associated with the racial justice group Reclaim the Block, who had strongly advocated for the measure.  washingtonpost.com  wsj.com

How Does This Impact Criminal Justice & Shoplifting/ORC Cases in Boston?
Progressives win big in Boston's Mayor's Race - on an otherwise tough night
for the left
Michelle Wu cruised to victory in Boston’s mayoral election Tuesday night, bringing an end to two centuries of white male leadership in the city and delivering a major win for progressives in a year — and an election night — that otherwise brought sporadic triumphs and some big losses for the left.

In Boston, Wu triumphantly declared her victory as one that shows Boston is “absolutely” a proving ground for progressive policy. "And yes, Boston is ready to become a Green New Deal city.”

But the win was one of the few bright spots for progressives in an otherwise lackluster night for the left — and the Democratic Party. news.yahoo.com

Editor's Note: Obviously as progressives lose seats across the nation their power and impact on retail crime lessens. So this current violent crime surge coupled with the overall pandemic fear has fueled the public's focus on safety and redefined the consumers expectations. Both of which becoming a double edged sword, should the retailer not fulfill their obligation. Knowing full well what the consumer demands. Just a thought. -Gus Downing 

Cleveland: Civilian Review Board For Police Oversight Passes 59%-41%
Issue 24, controversial Cleveland police reform ballot initiative, passes

The charter amendment creates a special commission of Cleveland residents that would investigate police misconduct.

Establishes a Civilian Police Review Board and allow a special commission of citizens, chosen by Mayor-elect Justin Bibb, to be in charge of investigating reports of police misconduct. Before the proposed measure, possible misconduct was dealt with via an internal investigation within the Cleveland Division of Police and the City of Cleveland.

A description of the measure on the Citizens for a Safer Cleveland website reads as follows:

"Under Issue 24, we propose that the Commission consist of 13 citizens that are broadly representative of the racial, social, economic, and cultural demographics of Cleveland. That includes racial minorities, immigrants and/or refugees, LGBTQ+ individuals, youth, faith, business, and other constituents. The Mayor will appoint all 13 members to the Commission, with approval of the Council by majority vote, for four-year terms following an application process. The Mayor will also be able to remove members for any malfeasance or gross neglect of duty, and other serious misconduct." wkyc.com

Voters pick police oversight over structural change
Voters across the country picked police oversight rather than structural change at the ballot box this week.

Austin, Texas, Albany, New York, Denver, Minneapolis and Cleveland all had police reform measures on the ballot. In Albany and Cleveland, voters chose to make changes to police oversight groups to increase authority.

Analysis: Education and Democrat infighting lead to Democratic upset in Virginia

In Austin, Texas, a measure to set specific demographics and training measures failed. But the city did pass a measure earlier this year establishing a police oversight director. Denver’s vote has not been certified.

In Minneapolis, voters rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety, an idea that supporters had hoped would bring radical change to policing in the city where George Floyd’s death under an officer’s knee brought calls for racial justice.

Back in 2020, there was more momentum behind the idea of structurally changing police forces as seen in key votes among residents of Los Angeles, San Francisco and King County, Washington.

According to Ballotpedia, an online elections tracker, there were 17 successful ballot measures last year that focused on, among other things, establishing oversight boards or better training of officers in use of force situations.

Austin & Minneapolis Rejects Police Reform / Cleveland & Albany Won Police Reform

More than 160 Voted for Police Oversight Boards / Since Floyd 24 installed police oversight committees. vervetimes.com

Austin voters reject ballot proposition to hire more police officers

A tacit endorsement of the city’s new scaled-down approach to policing.

With an estimated 91% of votes counted, voters rejected Proposition A by about 68.4% to 31.6%, according to KXAN-TV, preventing Austin from having to hire enough police officers to have two on patrol for every 1,000 residents. texastribune.org

U.S.'s Largest City

NYC New Mayor & New Manhattan DA
The Retail Impact?

Sounds Like NYC Got a Pro-Police Mayor
NYC Elects Former NYPD Captain and a Democrat - NYC's 2nd Black Mayor
During the primary, amid a spike in gun violence and jarring attacks on the subway, Mr. Adams emerged as one of his party’s most unflinching advocates for the police maintaining a robust role in preserving public safety. He often clashed with those who sought to scale back law enforcement’s power in favor of promoting greater investments in mental health and other social services.

Mr. Adams has made clear that large companies have a role to play in shepherding the city’s recovery, and there are signs that he may have a far warmer relationship with business leaders than Mr. de Blasio, who won on a populist platform.

Mr. Adams, who has said he has no tolerance for abusive officers, supports the restoration of a reformed plainclothes anti-crime unit. He opposes the abuse of stop-and-frisk policing tactics but sees a role for the practice in some circumstances. And he has called for a more visible police presence on the subways.

“We’re not going to just talk about safety,” Mr. Adams declared. “We’re going to have safety in our city.” nytimes.com

Is Manhattan's New DA a Progressive? Time Will Tell
Possibly - But he hasn't been labeled yet.

Alvin Bragg elected Manhattan DA, first Black person to lead the office

“The fundamental role of the district attorney is to guarantee both fairness and safety.”

Mr. Bragg, 48, a former federal prosecutor who campaigned on a pledge to balance public safety with fairness for all defendants. He said that under his administration the racial disparities in the system would be “shut down,

The Manhattan district attorney’s office continues to disproportionately prosecute Black defendants, and Mr. Bragg throughout his campaign has drawn on his personal experiences growing up in New York to illustrate the types of changes he wishes to make. Mr. Bragg has said he would show leniency to defendants who commit low-level crimes and has emphasized the importance of accountability for the police and the office’s prosecutors.

Mr. Bragg said dealing with the “humanitarian crisis” on Rikers Island was an urgent priority, and that included sending fewer people to jail.

His victory comes as Democrats are seeking to balance sweeping changes to the criminal justice system with some voters’ concerns about rising gun crime. After rises in homicides and shootings in New York and other cities, some voters have moderated their stances. nytimes.com
 

COVID Update

423.9M Vaccinations Given