Retail Theft Prosecutions Down 86% in Philly Over Five Years
U.S. Attorney Calls Out Philly DA

'Enough of this Nonsense: Restoring Respect for the Rule of Law with Prosecution that Serves Law-Abiding Citizens and Victims, Not Criminals'

- U.S. Attorney McSwain, Eastern PA., Scolds Philadelphia DA For Not Prosecuting
- Singles Out Drastic Reduction in Retail Theft Cases
- Calling 'Uncle Larry' as "Dangerous as the Criminals"

PHILADELPHIA – On October 15, 2019, United States Attorney William M. McSwain was invited to speak at the Quarterly Luncheon of the Executive Board of the Citizens’ Crime Commission of the Greater Delaware Valley. U.S. Attorney McSwain addressed the current state of criminal justice in Philadelphia, highlighting in particular the defense-oriented litigation tactics on display in several cases handled by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office during Larry Krasner’s tenure.

Unfortunately for those brave men and women, times are tough for law enforcement these days – in Philadelphia and beyond. For one thing, police work is not getting any safer. Gun violence continues to plague the City.

Times are also tough for law enforcement because their jobs are made all the more difficult by a culture of disrespect for law enforcement championed by the words and actions of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, or as he refers to himself, the City’s “public defender with power.” Or perhaps we should refer to him as Uncle Larry, which is the nickname that the City’s violent criminals have affectionately bestowed upon him. Uncle Larry’s antics are especially dangerous because he is a prosecutor – and as such, he’s supposed to be on the side of law enforcement and community safety. He took an oath to uphold the rule of law, to protect public safety, and to represent victims and the people of this City in our criminal justice system. Instead, through the policies he has put in place and through his various courtroom maneuvers, he has done just the opposite. This reality often makes Krasner as dangerous as the criminals that he’s looking out for.

Krasner's recently created "Public Data Dashboard" touts some stunning statistics. To highlight just a few that compare this year to five years ago: (1) the DA's Office has charged 26 percent fewer cases this year than through the same date in 2014; (2) it has charged 268 people for retail theft this year, down from 1,900 five years ago; (3) the conviction rate for homicides is down as compared to 2014; and (4) in a City full of gun violence, the number of illegal gun possession cases diverted into the Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition program (which amounts to a free first offense) has skyrocketed - there were 10 in 2014 and 78 in 2018. None of this is good news for law enforcement, for the rule of law, or for the communities we serve. justice.gov

Philadelphia Burglary Crew-Drug Gang Charged By Feds
49 Pharmacy Buglaries in Philadelphia & Surrounding Suburbs Over 5 Yrs.
“Huge Blow to this Sophisticated Burglary & Drug Distribution Organization”
United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that William Limper, 41, Raul Rivera, 42, Michael Dombrowski, 30, and Robert Hopkins, 24, all of Philadelphia, were charged by a Second Superseding Indictment for their roles in a conspiracy to burglarize or attempt to burglarize 49 pharmacies in the City of Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs over the last five years. The charges include 36 counts of pharmacy burglary; 13 counts of attempted pharmacy burglary; one count each of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances; one count each of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and related conspiracy, drug and gun offenses.

The Second Superseding Indictment alleges that Limper, Rivera, Dombrowski, and Hopkins were involved in a conspiracy from November 2014 until April 2019 to burglarize pharmacies in order to steal controlled substances – primarily Schedule II opiates such as oxycodone and Percocet tablets – for the purpose of distributing them to others for profit. The defendants allegedly forced entry into the pharmacies at nighttime with burglary tools such as crow bars and Halligan bars (specialized forcible entry tools used by law enforcement and firefighters) when the pharmacies were closed.

As alleged, the defendants thoroughly planned and executed these burglaries in great detail. After each of the burglaries, the defendants divided the stolen narcotics among themselves for the purpose of selling them to others. justice.gov
 

The 2019 Security 500 Report

Security Magazine's annual Top 10 Trends, as identified by Security 500 members, include:

1. Workplace Violence and Active Shooter
2. Cybersecurity
3. Insider Threat
4. Executive and Employee Travel
5. Staffing and Training
6. Business Continuity, Natural Disaster, Weather
7. Budget
8. Security Technology
9. Theft
10. Mental Health/Opioid Crisis

Honorable mentions include Intellectual Property and Privacy/Regulations.

What are the critical issues and trends for the retail sector in 2019? How does your enterprise compare to your peers? These 17 Security 500 Sector Reports provide benchmarking data about budget changes, security leadership responsibilities, reporting structures and more.

The Consumer Digital Transformation Retail Wakeup Call

By Tony D'Onofrio, Global Retail Influencer

Contrary to all the retail apocalypse popular media hype, the retail industry is in the middle of a digital renaissance wakeup call. Below data is from one of my favorite annual studies from RIS News / IHL Group on the state of consumer facing technologies.

Note the 64% of the survey respondents plan on allowing consumers to create their own shopping journey linking loyalty apps to smartphones and QR codes. A great example of the potential of these solutions is from Sam's Club (Walmart).

Promisingly for exceptional experiences, the industry research also points to multiple other technologies designed to accelerate real-time engagement with consumers inside physical retail stores.

This article by Tony D'Onofrio summarizes selected technology trends charts on delivering exceptional differentiated consumer experiences which are the future of retail. Read More Here: tonydonofrio.com
 

The Loss Prevention Foundation Announces New Appointments
& New Member of Advisory Council

The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) announced several changes to the Loss Prevention Foundation Advisory Council (LPFAC). In October, Cathy Langley, LPC, Chair of the LPFAC, was elected to the LPF Board of Directors vacating the Chair position on the LPFAC. The purpose of the LPFAC is to advise, assist and support the LPF Board, as well as, advocate for the loss prevention industry. Members of the Advisory Council offer recommendations for new topics and improvement of the current LPF certification curriculums and serve as liaisons between the LPF and retailers and solution providers. The Advisory Council also makes recommendations to the LPF Board of Directors on topics including, but not limited to, diversity, membership, scholarships and LPF special projects. yourlpf.org

Preventing An Active Shooter In Your Workplace
In 2018, 59% of the 27 active shooter incidents in the U.S. occurred in areas of commerce.

With employee and customer lives at stake, companies should not ignore this growing threat in their security planning and employee training. The idea that “it could never happen here” is misguided. Active shooter incidents can happen anywhere. Restaurants and bars, distribution centers, a high-rise office complex, a hotel, a yoga retail location, a grocery store, a software company, a newspaper and a trucking company all saw the devastating effects of an active shooter in 2018. Only 9 of the 16 events that took place at businesses were at locations open to the public.

Many business leaders I've worked with feel unable to prepare for such a complex and unpredictable event. It’s true that there is no one profile for an active shooter. However, several common areas of risk emerge based on past shooter profiles: a disgruntled employee or former employee, someone with a grievance against the company or an individual perpetrating violence against a spouse or romantic partner. Often, shooters display preattack behaviors. When leaders know what to look for, they can often vet potential threats before an attack occurs.

There are practical and cost-effective steps your business can take to prevent and prepare for active shooter events.

Train Employees - Secure Your Physical Space - Monitor For Threats - Resources forbes.com

Austin, TX: Target called out for racist anti-theft devices on cosmetics
The giant multinational retailer Target has promised to investigate accusations of racially profiling its black customers. A photo posted on Twitter by a customer in Austin, Texas, shows a shelf of make-up in its cosmetics aisle where only the darkest shades of foundation have been fitted with anti-theft devices.

"Hey, @Target any reason you only put these anti theft devices on the darkest shades," the woman, who identifies herself Tall-yuh and appears to be white, tweeted to the retailer.

The post attracted more than 44,000 likes in the first 24 hours and prompted hundreds of comments, including one from a follower in North Carolina who re-posted a video filmed in Walmart, calling out the same issue.

Target responded promptly to Tall-yuh's Twitter complaint, thanking her for bringing the matter to its attention: "Please DM us with your email address, the store location and time/date this picture was taken. We would like to look further into this. Thanks." 7news.com.au

Crime Risks Increase by 198% in Areas Near Theme Parks
Crime rates are significantly higher in U.S. neighborhoods that surround theme parks, which are major tourist attractions, according to new research. The research team from the University of Texas at Dallas, U.S.; University of Central Florida, Orlando, U.S.; and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia examined crime rates near Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and found that crimes increased by 198 percent in neighborhoods within a mile of the park, which attracts over nine million visitors a year, says a news report.

According to the news report, researchers say hotels, bars and restaurants attribute to this trend. In addition, crime rates increased by 19 percent in areas with just one of these 'attractors.' securitymagazine.com

Rich Robbers: Why do wealthy people shoplift?
Evidence suggests the rich actually do steal more than the poor – and shoplifting is only ‘the first layer of the onion’.

On 6 April 2019, a man was arrested at the Kmart in Key West, Florida, after returning purchases for refunds. There was just one problem: the packaging he returned didn’t contain the original products. According to the police report, his bait-and-switch scam included two coffee makers – a Keurig ($153.99) and a Hamilton Beach ($54.99). But inside the returned Keurig box was a deflated basketball, and a heavily used coffee machine was stuffed into the other box.

There’s nothing unusual about this type of shoplifting. A 2018 National Retail Federation study pegged the cost of “return fraud” at a staggering $18.4bn. What is unusual is that this shoplifting suspect, Andrew Francis Lippi III, is rich. A week before his Kmart arrest, he paid $8m for an island in the Florida Keys. theguardian.com

Mattel, PwC Obscured Accounting Issues, Former Executive Says
Mattel Inc. was already struggling at the start of 2018 when the finance team delivered more bad news. It had uncovered an accounting error that had reduced Mattel’s loss for the previous year’s third quarter and threatened to be an embarrassment or worse for the toy company.

The accounting problem was tied to Mattel’s ownership of Thomas & Friends, an animated children’s show about talking trains. The finance team discussed fixing the problem and restating earnings, with the expectation that Mattel would have to admit to shortcomings in its accounting and reporting procedures, said Brett Whitaker, who was Mattel’s director of tax reporting at that time, in an interview.

Instead, senior finance executives and Mattel’s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, decided to change the accounting treatment of the Thomas asset, effectively burying the problem, according to Mr. Whitaker and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The executives agreed not to tell Mattel’s then-chief executive or its board of directors, an internal investigation found. wsj.com

Auditors Look to Modernize Rules to Include
Environmental, Social and Cybersecurity Issues
The auditing standards board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is working to modernize standards governing nonfinancial information to include cybersecurity and environmental, social and corporate governance issues.

The board, which sets the standards for audits of private companies in the U.S., is tackling projects to better define the role of new technology in gathering information for auditors of private companies. One of the projects, which spans three standards proposed in 2018, represents a broader effort to revise “attestation standards,” which establish requirements for procedures related to reporting on nonfinancial subjects. wsj.com

Fortune: Best Workplaces in Retail 2019
To determine the Best Workplaces in Retail in 2019, Great Place to Work analyzed anonymous survey feedback representing over 694,000 employees working in the retail industry in the United States.

Methodology | Explore The List


 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Senior Manager of Investigations - Asset Protection for JCPenney - Plano, TX
The Sr. Manager of Investigations will lead the Central Investigation Center team by executing a strategy that will quickly identify, investigate, and resolve fraud activity for the company. Primary Responsibilities Include: Hire, train, and lead all Central Investigation Center team members. Plans, leads, coordinates and directs Asset Protection C.I.C. investigative activities. Oversees Asset Protection Investigation Programs while providing leadership to CI Team and guidance to AP field Leadership teams on methods to successfully execute programs in stores. jobs.jcp.com

Senior LP Job Postings Removed from Website:

● Sr. Dir. LP & Business Continuity - United Natural Foods - Eden Prairie, MN
● Director, Global Security and Loss Prevention - Grainger - Lake Forest, IL
● Director of Information Security - Landry's Inc. - Houston, TX
● Dir. Loss Prevention - Uniqlo - New York, NY
● Mgr. Asset Protection Sr. - Save-A-Lot - St. Ann, MO
 

Burlington, MA: Buffalo Wild Wings employee dies after exposure to 'common' cleaning agent, 10 others hospitalized

Sears to close 96 more stores; gets $250M cash lifeline

Gap CEO Art Peck stepping down

KPMG: Online, mass merchants will grab biggest share of holiday purchases


Quarterly Results

Sally Beauty Q4 comp's up 1.1%, net sales flat, e-commerce sales up 27.4%
Sally Beauty full-year global comp's up 1.3%, net sales down 0.8%
FAT Brands Q3 U.S. comp's down 0.1%, sales up 4.5%
Party City Q3 comp's down 2.6%, total revenue down 2.3%, North American e-commerce sales up 11.6%
Camping World Q3 comp's down 5%, revenue up 6%
 

Time to Beef Up Security: The Basics of Break-in Prevention

By Ken Kuehler, General Manager, Detex Corporation

How secure is your facility right now? From time to time we can all benefit from stepping back and evaluating the security of our buildings, our offices, our stores, even if we haven’t experienced a threat in a while. Security is something that should remain top-of-mind. When we relax and get complacent, that’s when protection is compromised, and theft, or worse, occurs.

So let’s take a moment to get back to basics and discuss a few fundamental steps we can take to thwart the efforts of those seeking to pilfer our property. These steps may seem quite simple, but they are critical and can be overlooked if you think you’re just in need of a fast fix or have significant budget concerns.

The first thing to understand is that there isn’t ever a fast fix. Break-in prevention isn’t about any single thing. It would be great if there was one simple preventative step or one impenetrable lock that stopped all intruders. The hard truth is that if given unlimited time and resources the determined burglar will likely find a way to get into your facility. We want to make it as challenging and as time-consuming as possible. At the very least, we want to slow him down long enough for law enforcement to arrive and take care of the problem before they enter.

With that in mind, there are a number of steps you should take to successfully prevent break-ins, and the more of them you address, the more secure your doors will be. In many cases, your efforts to create highly secure entry points may discourage scheming criminal minds from bothering with you in the first place.

Start with a Heavy-Duty Door

Perhaps the biggest mistake anyone can make starts with the door itself. Placing a strong lock on a weak door defeats the purpose, and makes it very easy for intruders to break in. This is why you absolutely need a good, sturdy door. We recommend a 16-gauge door and frame, at a minimum. Too often, we see people using 20-gauge doors because that’s what their contractor recommended. There’s a good chance the door in your house is more secure than that.

A 16-gauge commercial-grade door and frame is what you should look for, but it has to be reinforced for whatever security hardware you’re going to put on it. If you’re not sure, ask an expert. Your door security hardware distributor, or a third party integrator can be an invaluable resource regarding this and other break-in prevention matters.

Accounting Scams Continue to Bilk Businesses
While ransomware continues to garner attention for its sheer disruptive power, businesses and government organizations continue to lose billions of dollars to impersonators who insert themselves into the victims' financial workflow. Known most often as business e-mail compromise (BEC), the scam targets critical employees with phishing e-mails that specifically request they change the bank information for a particular vendor. When the company or organization pays future invoices, the funds are transferred to the fraudster's bank account.

The number of attempts at e-mail impersonation have skyrocketed, jumping by 269%, according to messaging security firm Mimecast. In its quarterly E-mail Security Risk Report, the company found that only two-hundredths of a percent of e-mail messages involved impersonation, but that still amounted to more than 60,000 and more than double the number of messages with malware attached. In a previous survey, the company found that 85% of companies surveyed had experienced an impersonation attack in 2018.

"Businesses need to change their methodology and train users how to validate these e-mail messages," says Josh Douglas, vice president of threat intelligence at Mimecast. "There really should be an additive layer to look for this malicious activity."

The scheme has been lucrative for attackers. Nearly 180 countries and all 50 states have reported incidents of BEC, and reported losses have doubled in the past year, according to the FBI, which compiles statistics of compromises reported to the Internet Criminal Complaint Center (IC3). In the past three years, more than $26 billion in losses due to BEC have been reported internationally, the FBI said. darkreading.com

New Top Concern for Internal Audit: Data Governance
As organizations continue to collect customer and employee data, chief audit executives (CAEs) are increasingly concerned about how to govern and protect it, according to Gartner’s latest annual Audit Plan Hot Spots Report.

Data governance has risen to the top spot of CAEs’ audit concerns, up from second place in last year’s report, replacing cybersecurity preparedness.

Increased regulatory scrutiny has positioned governance risks, along with related data management challenges such as third-party ecosystems, cyber vulnerabilities, and data privacy, as major concerns for audit departments. cfo.com

Zebra Survey Shows Security, Management Planning Driving IoT Growth
The rate of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions adoption continues growing across multiple sectors, according to a new survey conducted by Zebra Technologies, though implementation is being better planned than in the past. The "Intelligent Enterprise Index" shows growth is being driven by an on-demand economy that requires faster deliveries in transportation and retail, greater mobility for health care, and transparent receipt of materials and work-in-progress (WIP) for manufacturers.

However, the company found, one key takeaway from this year's survey wasn't so much the rate of growth but rather the more strategic approach to IoT deployment, including planning solutions with security and data-management plans. "People are instrumenting out further, but they're doing it in a more purposeful matter," says Drew Ehlers, a global futurist at Zebra Technologies. "It's about the data and what they can do with it." rfidjournal.com

Senior security analysts are spending hours a day sifting through network logs
Instead of monitoring real security alerts and threats
Can you imagine if the head designer at Mercedes-Benz was asked to change tires? Or if an army general was expected to sit at a screen for hours at a time and track the movements of one spy? They would be out the door before you could say “HR”!

But this is what many organizations are effectively doing to their senior security analysts. CCIE’s – analysts with the highest network expert certification – are spending hours a day sifting through network logs, as are Networking experts, Cloud experts, Microsoft OS experts, application experts and other valuable employees.

What these hard to find and recruit team members SHOULD be doing is coordinating and managing all the expensive security assets at the organization and dealing only with real security alerts and threats.

Even if you assume that your analysts and security engineers – senior or junior – are willing to sift through the mountains of logs without reaching burnout after a few months – how effective is what they are doing in protecting your network? Unfortunately, not very. securitymagazine.com

Law enforcement can plunder DNA profile database, judge rules
A judge has approved a warrant for law enforcement to access the database of DNA profiler GEDmatch, a landmark ruling which may have serious privacy implications. Databases of genetic information, hosted by private companies including Ancestry.com and 23andMe, are a lure few police officers can ignore. DNA matches could provide the answers to criminal investigations gone cold; however, the question of whether the police should have access to the extremely sensitive DNA information of the masses in the quest for the few has raised a series of ethical and privacy complications. zdnet.com

Phishing attacks at highest level in three years

Cybersecurity Workforce Needs to Grow 145% to Close Skills Gap

Top-Paying U.S. Cities for Data Scientists and Data Analysts

GOLD SPONSOR

Retail Security Landscape
in 2018

ADT/P1 Perspective

ADT/Protection 1 is a national leader when it comes to delivering retail business security that does more for you. They’ve built their reputation by providing outstanding security, differentiated by careful attention to detail - from installation through ongoing services, including same day/next day service and its Tech Tracker program. Rex Gillette, Vice President of Retail Sales, tells us about the new technologies ADT/Protection 1 is bringing to the market, how their company merger is going, and what he sees for the future of retail.
 

2020 Annual Cal-ORCA Training Conference
"A Bridge to Partnership"

Feb. 12-13, 2020 at the South San
Francisco Convention Center

California Organized Retail Crimes Association (Cal-ORCA): Working together to develop new, and innovative ways to combat organized retail crime. That is the mission of Cal-ORCA.

On Wednesday February 12th and Thursday February 13th in South San Francisco. This conference is designed for representatives of law enforcement, retail loss prevention, restaurant and grocery store loss prevention, hospitality industry, security services, and retail crime prevention solutions providers.

Cal-ORCA Annual Training Conferences in years past have drawn between 500-1000 attendees from law enforcement, retail, restaurant and grocery. The Cal-ORCA conference planning committee is excited about the training content being developed and also about the excellent line-up of speakers. Here is a sneak peek at the training topics for the 2020 Annual Conference:

Presentation Topics

• Loss Prevention & Global Sustainability
• The State of Retail Crime in California
• National Perspectives on Retail Crime
• Lobbying for Retail Crime Prevention
• AB 1065: Updates and Issues
• Homeless Populations: Impacts, Issues & Solutions
• ORC 101: Guide for Law Enforcement & Retail
• Dealing with the Disruptive Guest: Issues & Impacts
• Technology Solutions for Retail Crime Prevention
• Focus on e-Fencing
• Surveillance in Retail Cases
• Restaurant Loss Prevention & Safety
• ORC Interview Techniques

In addition to the 15+ hours of focused organized retail crimes education being offered, there will be best-in-class networking and solutions sharing opportunities that will bridge law enforcement and retail partnerships. A solution showcase room will help law enforcement and retail attendees meet a variety of solution providers for products and services.

For more information and to register for the conference, visit us at www.calorca2020.com.

Want to join us as a sponsor or exhibitor? See our great opportunities on www.calorca2020.com. Contact Mark Lorimer at mark@eventivegroup.com for more details.

Santa Ana, CA: Men Suspected of Committing 21 Burglaries Over 3 Months Arrested; $290,000 in coins and precious metals
A nearly three-month burglary spree of collectible coin and precious metal stores as well as a federal firearms licensee has finally ended with the arrest of two suspects in Santa Ana. The suspects, who are believed to have committed and attempted 21 burglaries across California and Nevada between July 10 and September 29, 2019, have been identified as 20-year-old Caleb Jamal Griffin of Long Beach, California and 49-year-old Owen Lazaro Thompson of Las Vegas, Nevada. Griffin was taken into custody on September 30th, while he was in the process of burglarizing a coin dealer. Thompson was arrested at home without incident on the same day. A search warrant lead to the discovery of items likely stolen during the crime spree. Griffin and Thompson are suspected of burglarizing over $292,000 worth of items, and both face charges of interstate transportation of stolen goods. Prior to their arrest, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)—composed of detectives from Brea, Fullerton, Signal Hill, and Huntington Beach—collaborated with local law enforcement a task force in order identify, investigate, and conduct extensive surveillance of the suspects. crimevoice.com

Boise, ID: Burglars steal over $22K in prescription meds from medical building
Three suspects broke into a medical building in Boise and stole over $22,000 in prescription medication Friday. Boise Police are looking for these three burglars after got into a building near Milwaukee and Emerald at 1:47 a.m. Nov. 1 and stole a large amount of medication. idahonews.com

Santa Ana, CA: 3 men smash displays & grab Macy's perfume at MainPlace Mall
Robbers staged a smash-and-grab robbery Thursday night at a Macy’s fragrance counter at the MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana. Three men smashed glass display cases and made off with perfume just before 8 p.m., according to the Santa Ana Police Department. The suspects put the bottles into duffel bags and left via the store’s south doors to an awaiting early 2000s silver Nissan Altima, police said. ocregister.com

Elko, NV: Home Depot and Fastenal Tool thief arrested; merchandise valued at $671