Axis Senior Director Discusses Leveraging Video Data

Beyond Security: Leveraging Video Data In The Enterprise Environment

Since they were invented, video surveillance cameras have been used mostly for security applications. However, the advent of video analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) has paved the way for use of video data in a variety of other applications, from process control to measuring occupancy to analyzing customer traffic trends. The ‘data’ aspects of ‘video data’ are feeding many new applications that no longer involve operators looking at video images on a screen. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How can video data be leveraged in an enterprise beyond security?

Scott Dunn - Sr. Director Business Development Solutions & Services, Axis Communications

Enterprises should approach video surveillance with return on investment (ROI) in mind. Beyond installing a camera for the sake of enhanced security, enterprises can view video surveillance as an investment into a more holistic approach.

First, enterprises must prioritize ROI by determining what they need to enhance overall business operations. Capabilities today are no longer limited to feeding video footage into a video management system; instead, enterprises can leverage video data to meet a variety of operational needs.

For example, you can monitor a business lobby for safety and security, while conversely measuring traffic flow and time spent in that space. Enterprises can use the same cameras to monitor conference rooms to determine occupancy levels, or to leverage license plate recognition in parking garages for contactless parking. This usage of video data can help enterprises increase ROI on their security investment, and ensure all operations are running in a streamlined manner. securityinformed.com
 

The Driver of the Urban Crime Surge
Rethinking Urban Retail Development

The death of great American downtowns
Office-centric downtowns are soon to be a thing of the past.

The devastation of downtown commercial districts has been an unmistakable shift in America's largest cities. Deserted downtowns have been haunting US cities since the beginning of the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, 95% of offices were occupied. Today that number is closer to 47%. Employees' not returning to downtown offices has had a domino effect:

Less economic activity in urban cores and a lower tax base could mean fewer jobs and reduced government services, perpetuating a vicious cycle that further reduces foot traffic in downtowns, leading to more decline, more crime, and a lower quality of life. For residents of many downtowns, ghost downtowns will be a visible infliction.

These shifts follow the unassailable stickiness of remote work; researchers for the National Bureau of Economic Research predicted that 30% of workdays would be worked from home by the end of this year, a huge jump from before the pandemic.

The increased cancellations of office leases have cratered the office real-estate market. A study led by Arpit Gupta, a professor of finance at New York University's Stern School of Business, characterized the value wipeout as an "apocalypse."

London Breed, San Francisco's mayor, told Bloomberg that "life as we knew it before the pandemic is not going to go back."

Urban planners and city officials are looking at turning the empty office space into residential, mixed use, etc. businessinsider.com

Marshalls closing, Nordstrom Rack recently closed, Ameriprise cutting office space in downtown Minneapolis

Law Enforcement's #1 Challenge - Finding the Next Generation of Cops
Cops leaving the urban markets

N.Y.P.D. Officers Leave in Droves for Better Pay in Smaller Towns

This year has seen the highest number of resignations (3,200) in two decades.

Aurora, CO., Police Chief who recruited 14 NYPD officers to join said, "it’s a cutthroat environment right now among police chiefs to recruit talent, and we all desperately need it.”

Police departments across the country are grappling with increasing resignations and retirements. And while hiring levels rose last year after a sharp decrease in 2020, they have not made up for the losses, according to a March report from the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement policy group. In November, the organization’s director, Chuck Wexler, wrote that finding the next generation of cops may be “the single most daunting challenge that policing has faced in decades.” nytimes.com


'Taking Back the Tenderloin'

For Years, Tenderloin's Open-Air Black Market Has Operated Almost With Impunity

Retail ORC Leaders Have Been Pleading With SFPD, the DA's, and the Politicians For Years

There has been a lot of news coverage and filming of individuals selling stolen goods in broad daylight, within eye shot of police. And nothing was done.

We not only witnessed this ourselves but also spoke with a number of different retailers about their efforts to put a stop to it by meeting with various public officials. To no avail.

That is until the fentanyl over dose epidemic skyrocketed between 2018 and 2020. Rising over 483% - 519 individuals.

One article even quoted the DEA and said 'San Francisco is 'drowning in fentanyl.' on Sept. 28, 2021. With the Tenderloin being the leading most dangerous neighborhood for overdose deaths. With many of the deaths occurring outdoors and on sidewalks in front of buildings.

According to and SF Chronicle survey, published Nov. 21,2022, SF had the highest accidental drug overdose rate and second highest Fentanyl overdose rate out of the 10 large urban cities they examined. With Phildelphia being highest in fentanly and second in overall over doses. And D.C. being 3rd in both category's.

On Dec. 17, 2021, San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared an official state of emergency in the Tenderloin district to address the escalating epidemic and to tackle crime. And in January the Mayor opened The Tenderloin Center. Meant to provide medical and mental health assistance. Coupled with an ambassador program on the streets to hopefully have an impact on crime.

The Tenderloin area has the highest crime rate in San Francisco: 70% of the city's violent crimes, and around one-fourth of the city's murders, occur in this neighborhood.

This year the Tenderloin has seen a 39.7% increase in larceny theft, an 18.4% increase in robberies, and an overall 17.1% increase in crime as of Dec. 4, 2022.

They've even created a web page Reducing violent crime and drug sales in the Tenderloin, as part of Tenderloin Emergency Initiative data and reports

   Here's the recent news and reports

NYC City Council Proposing 4 More 'Safe Injection' Sites
Why so-called ‘safe injection’ sites put NYC communities in danger
Just over a year ago, New York City opened the nation’s first “safe injection” sites (SIS) — two taxpayer-funded locations (one in Harlem, the other in Washington Heights) where people can use drugs while overseen by a medic.

To the surprise of few who understand these diseases, hardly any the SIS customers — less than 1% — request treatment once they are comfortably able to engage in continued drug use.

NYC City Council is now requesting $8 million to fund four additional sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

Yet as has been seen in similar efforts in San Francisco and Vancouver, there is little evidence these sites reduce overall harm to the addict. What is certain, however, is the effect SISs have on the surrounding communities.

People who live near the sites have watched as their neighborhoods have become open-air drug markets where dealers openly sell drugs like ballpark vendors and children step over used syringes on the bus and in their local playground. nypost.com

Odd items under lock and key at retail stores in San Diego as U.S. retail theft soars

After gunman shoots four at New Orleans dollar store, workers demand safety

US: 101.3M Cases - 1.1M Dead - 98.5M Recovered
Worldwide: 653.7M Cases - 6.6M Dead - 629.2M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 816

Viruses Are Coming for Your Holiday Season, Health Officials Warn
More people are getting sick and hospitalized post-Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving spurred on more respiratory infections in an already busy virus season. The coming holidays could be worse, public-health officials say.

RSV infection levels are showing signs of cooling off but remain elevated, as flu and Covid-19 infections spread.

“If you managed to avoid it at Thanksgiving, you may not at Christmas,” “There’s a ton of virus circulating,” wsj.com

COVID's Popping Back Up
COVID cases are soaring in San Francisco and Los Angeles — but one of them is doing worse

Case rates in San Francisco, Los Angeles County and the wider Bay Area are all on the rise, but, so far, L.A. is faring worse.

Hospitalizations are also rising in both regions. So far, Los Angeles is being hit a bit harder than the Bay Area. sfchronicle.com

One Bay Area county moves into ‘high’ COVID tier, triggering new mask guidelines
COVID-19 community levels continue to rise across the U.S., with 14% of Americans now living in a region classified in the “high” tier on Friday, based on hospitalization and case metrics used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, only 5% of the U.S. population fell into the “high” category. About 38.1% of people now live in areas with “medium” virus levels, while 48.2% are in “low” areas. sfchronical.com

New Yorkers Are Urged to Wear Masks Indoors as Covid and Flu Cases Rise
An “unusually high concurrent spike” of virus cases in New York City, including flu and a mix of Covid-19 variants, led health officials on Friday to strongly recommend that people wear high-quality masks indoors and in crowded outdoor settings.

Masks will remain voluntary in most places, however, except in health care facilities such as nursing homes where mask mandates are still enforced. nytimes.com

Hospitalizations signal rising COVID-19 risk for US seniors

Consumers Think Facial Recognition (FRT) Improves Safety
Convenience driving US consumer adoption of face biometrics: report

Over 131 million US nationals utilize face biometrics technologies daily, and almost half of them do so to access three applications or more every day.

The findings come from Taiwan-based facial recognition company CyberLink, which published a report conducted online with the third-party research firm YouGov about face biometrics use in America.

According to results from the research, which surveyed 2,455 US adults aged 18 and above in September, approximately 176 million Americans use facial recognition, 132 million of whom on at least one application per day.

A considerable 75 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds have adopted the technology and 57 percent of this age group use it daily. 55 percent of those surveyed say they think facial recognition technology can improve safety at airports. The numbers are similar for banks (54 percent) and medical offices (53 percent).

More generally, the highest percentage of respondents willing to adopt facial recognition technology said they would be open to using it while shopping at a store, eating at a restaurant or traveling if it better protected their data, personal information, and assets (54 percent).

A smaller number (42 percent) said they would consider it for improved safety at their home and workplace, 45 percent for convenience, 23 percent to ensure proper mask wearing and 20 percent to eliminate human contact or getting a VIP experience.

“Traditional and online businesses are applying facial recognition to a wide set of activities, ranging from security and access control to self-service, statistics, and the many facets of customer experience,” biometricupdate.com

Walmart Shooter: 'I was harassed by Idiots'
Walmart Investigated in Early 2020 Complaints About Chesapeake Shooter From Co-Workers

Employees says regional executives interviewed them about complaints regarding Andre Bing’s workplace behavior

More than two years before a Walmart supervisor shot and killed six workers, Walmart Inc. executives investigated employee workplace complaints against him, according to former and current employees.

Walmart’s handling of Bing and what it knew about problems at the store have been raised in two lawsuits brought against the company by employees who survived the attack. Both suits allege Bing demonstrated a pattern of disturbing workplace behavior. A Walmart spokesman said the company is reviewing both complaints and will respond with the court.

In early 2020, Walmart regional managers interviewed members of the store’s overnight shift about Bing after several complaints that he was an unkind manager and engaged in threatening behavior, according to the former and current employees familiar with the investigation.

“We were individually interviewed,” said Amanda Land, a former employee at the Chesapeake store. Bing “was not easy to get along with,” said Ms. Land, who left the store in 2020. “He thought people were always talking crap about him,” she said.

It couldn’t be learned what steps Walmart took after the investigation, which hasn’t previously been reported. A spokesman for Walmart declined to comment. Family members for Bing couldn’t be reached for comment.

Separately, people who had worked with Bing said in recent interviews that he could be combative and difficult to work with. They said he would cover his cellphone camera with tape because he said he worried the government was tracking him.

“Andre did a lot of weird things,” said Nathan Sinclair, who worked at the Chesapeake Walmart until recently, during an interview soon after the shooting. “Andre was an aggressive person.”

Bing bought a 9mm handgun the morning of the attack and left behind a note alleging he was harassed and ridiculed by co-workers, according to police. In it, he wrote, “I was harassed by idiots with low intelligence and a lack of wisdom.” wsj.com

If the Lights Go Off - Are Your Stores Aware of the Risk?
Attacks on Pacific north-west power stations raise fears for US electric grid
A string of attacks on power facilities in Oregon and Washington has caused alarm and highlighted the vulnerabilities of the US electric grid.

The attacks in the Pacific north-west come just days after a similar assault on North Carolina power stations that cut electricity to 40,000 people.

There have been at least six attacks, some of which involved firearms and caused residents to lose power. Two of the attacks shared similarities with the incident in Moore county, North Carolina, where two stations were hit by gunfire. Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the North Carolina attack. yahoo.com

6 Million Workers for 10 Million Jobs
You’re Hired! No Interview Required in Tight Labor Market

Some employers racing to snap up workers in the tight labor market are omitting a step once considered crucial to hiring: the job interview.

United Parcel Service Inc. has bulked up its staff without conducting job interviews for package handlers and seasonal drivers. Home Depot Inc. has sent job offers as quickly as 24 hours after candidates apply, in some cases eliminating the interview process. Gap Inc. has dropped job interviews for some warehousing positions.

Applications for seasonal roles at Macy’s take as little as five minutes and a majority of job offers are made within 48 hours, said John Patterson, Macy’s vice president of talent. “This speed is imperative during holiday hiring.”

Job openings—at 10.3 million in October—far exceeded the 6.1 million unemployed Americans seeking work that month. A tight labor market during the pandemic rebound also has prompted employers to drop college-degree requirements as well as background checks and experience requirements.

Many businesses feel they have exhausted methods for attracting workers, including pay raises, signing bonuses and larger benefit packages, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at jobs site ZipRecruiter. Now, their focus is on moving fast.

“Speed is the number one way companies are competing for hourly workers at the moment, especially for the holiday season,” Ms. Pollak said. wsj.com

How Costco keeps the peace with its employees
Washington–based company has quietly emerged as a leader on another critical issue that dominated the retail sector in 2022 — labor relations and the employee push to unionize.

Costco, Yahoo Finance's 2022 Company of the Year, has managed to separate itself from the pack, building on a reputation as one of the friendliest places to work in retail.

According to data from Glassdoor, Costco employees rated the company a 4 out of 5, putting it well ahead of competitors like Sam’s Club and Target (TGT), Amazon, and Walmart.

“They’ve set a higher entry-level wage, more full-time jobs, more access to employee benefits, and generally, probably better working conditions as well,” said William Brucher, an assistant teaching professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University. “A lot of that has to do with Costco’s business model, in that it makes most of its profit on memberships.”  yahoo.com

Here's One for the Good Guys
Sounds like special forces & the FBI went in and snatched Masud

Alleged Pan Am 103 Lockerbie bomb maker Abu Agila Masud in US custody

Abu Agila Masud is in custody two years after the US announced charges against him for making the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988 is in custody in the United States.

US officials did not say how Masud came to be taken into US custody, but in late November, local Libyan media reported that Masud had been kidnapped by armed men on November 16 from his residence in Tripoli. (Wonder who did that?)

On November 21, Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister for the country's Tripoli-based government, told the BBC in an interview that "we, as a government, are very open in terms of collaboration in this matter," when asked whether an extradition was possible. abc.net.au

Editor's Note: Had to go outside U.S. to get the story on how Masud ended up in a U.S. prison and I know this is nothing to do with retail. But I remember the bombing and we don't hear enough about the wins of our federal law enforcement. The long arms of U.S. law enforcement. As this is the exact same case with the majority of the Eastern European and Russian hackers that are sitting in U.S. federal prisons now. Gus Downing

Retail Wire's #2 article last week & the Daily's #1:
Will persistent theft compel Walmart to raise prices or close stores?
 
CFO Dive: US could skirt recession, former Fed economist says

Business survey: Holiday parties hovering near pre-pandemic low.


Quarterly Results

Lululemon Q3 store comp's up 14%, DTC up 31%, revenue up 28%

Costco Q3 comp's up 6.6%, revenue up 8%

RH Q3 revenue down 13.6%

Chewy Q3 revenue up 14.5%
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director, Global Security Intelligence job posted for Bose in Framingham, MA
The Director of Global Security Intelligence plans strategy, provides direction, and oversees coordination of activities that reduce security risk management to protect our most valuable assets by providing guidance to the business on embedding security controls into business processes. The goal is to leverage security intelligence to improve processes and controls that prevent the predictable while preparing for the unexpected. Global Security Intelligence (GSI) aids both regulatory and internal policy compliance by analyzing and proactively monitoring diverse information across the enterprise, providing accountability, transparency, and measurability. boseallaboutme.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com