Jake Wilson named Corporate Director Loss Prevention for Bed Bath & Beyond
Jake previously was the Regional Director of Loss Prevention for the retailer and and has been a part of the loss prevention team for Bed Bath & Beyond since 2007. He started as an Area Loss Prevention Manager and later was promoted to Regional Loss Prevention Manager. Jake was also a District Assets Protection Team Leader for Target prior to joining the Bed Bath & Beyond team. Jake was President of the San Diego Organized Retail Crime Alliance in 2010 and held that role for five years. He was also a Sergeant of Marines for the United States Marine Corps for over eight years. Congratulations Jake!


Marty Andrews, CFI promoted to Senior Director Loss Prevention for VF Outdoor and Action Sports Coalitions
Marty will now manage all loss prevention functions for 650+ retail stores across Vans, The North face, Timberland and Lucy. He will also oversee loss prevention, risk management and safety programs in the US, Mexico and Canada. Marty was previously in charge for loss prevention for Vans, 7 for all mankind, Splendid and Ella Moss as the Director of Loss Prevention and Risk Management. He has been with VF Corporation since 2011, when he started as a Loss Prevention Manager. He's held various loss prevention and investigations positions such as Regional Loss Prevention Manager for Vans, Regional Investigations Manager, Loss Prevention Manager, Senior Regional Investigator, Regional Investigator and Internal Investigator for Nordstrom and LP Agent for Macy's. Congratulations Marty!

Kevin Trimble, CFE named Director of Loss Prevention Development for Blue Dot Safes
Kevin Trimble, CFE, previously the Director of U.S. Security for the McDonald's Corporation, has joined Blue Dot Safes this week as their Director of Loss Prevention Development. Kevin has served in a senior leadership capacity for numerous Fortune 500 companies to include McDonald's, T-Mobile USA, and FedEx Office. His primary objective is to help continue growing the Blue Dot business by utilizing his entrepreneurial mindset and professional network to implement and design several new vertical offerings to existing and future Blue Dot customers.

Blue Dot Safes is a dynamic corporation dedicated to designing and manufacturing custom-made commercial and residential safes of uncompromising quality. Their mission is to provide customers peace of mind by securing their assets against theft in commercial and residential settings. Integrity, coupled with innovation, has enabled Blue Dot Safes to challenge traditional industry practices to ensure the development of superior products and services at a competitive price. Congratulations Kevin!

Ryan Dzwigalski, CFI promoted to Senior Loss Prevention Manager for VF Outdoor and Action Sports Coalitions
In his role Ryan will support Vans, The North Face, Timberland and Lucy. He will support the South East Region and also have a regional loss prevention manager in the mid-west report to him. Ryan has held various loss prevention and investigations positions such as Regional Loss Prevention Manager for Vans, Manager of Investigations for Michaels Stores, District LP Manager for Banana Republic, LP Manager for Mervyns, LP Detective for TJX and AP Specialist for Target. Ryan earned his Bachelor's of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University. Congratulations Ryan!

Dollar General in rapid EAS rollout with Checkpoint in 2,800 stores
Dollar General has completed a speedy installation of an electronic article surveillance (EAS) solution from Checkpoint Systems chainwide.

The discounter began its journey by testing EAS pedestals and deactivation systems in a limited number of stores to determine the benefits of how visible EAS tagging deters shoplifting and protects high-theft inventory.

Positive results prompted the company to deploy the technology in an additional 2,800 stores in what was, "the fastest deployment of EAS that I have ever witnessed," according to Carl Rysdon, VP of inventory control solutions for Checkpoint. See full press release below chainstoreage.com

FTC reveals the biggest online fraud in the US during 2016
More U.S. consumers complained about imposter scams than identity theft for the first time in 2016, as fraudsters relied more on the phone and less on email to find victims, the Federal Trade Commission said on Friday. Impostor scams accounted for 406,578 of the 3,050,374 consumer complaints received in 2016 by the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network, just above the 399,225 received for identity theft, the agency said.  gadgetsnow.com

Faceless recognition: is it really superior to facial recognition?
Faceless recognition, also known as person re-identification, is a method of recognition based on general appearance and clothes. It can track a person of interest in situations when biometric facial recognition fails: the face is occluded, or the person is viewed from the back.

Faceless recognition takes as input a picture of a person of interest: Then it identifies this person in another place, from a different angle of view:

Can faceless recognition replace facial recognition? Not yet. Faceless recognition has two limits: first, it raises more false alarms than state-of-the-art facial recognition. Second, its efficiency is reduced when the person changes clothes. Therefore, this method is suitable for same-day tracking, but much less for tracking a person over longer periods of time.

However, faceless recognition can be complementary to facial recognition. It can help track a person within a wide network of video cameras.

Modern video surveillance systems produce huge amounts of video recordings, and faceless recognition can assist humans in digging into this data.

Will faceless recognition become a standard feature of smart CCTV? We might think so, since faceless recognition is an active field of research, boosted by recent advances in artificial intelligence and deep learning. On the other hand, faceless recognition might soon be supplanted by gait recognition, which can recognise a person independently of clothes.

Gait recognition becomes much more accurate when used with a 3D depth-sensor, and this new generation of cameras will become more common in the future. ifseccglobal.com
 
Let's Hope this Doesn't Start Trending
Philly Police: More Than 100 Kids Participated In Flash Mob, 20 Arrested
More than 20 people were arrested after a flash mob of more than 100 teenagers wreaked havoc in Center City Philadelphia Monday evening.

Police say the group gathered in the area of 15th and Market Streets around 5:30 p.m., and began fighting and running in and out of traffic with no regard for others.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross says 20 people were cited for disorderly conduct, while a few others may face more serious charges after several people were violently attacked.

"They were actually beaten, maced and claim to have even been tased. We know they were assaulted for sure. We had four people, we do not know if charges will be approved on those four. So we're trying to wait to see, but the whole thing is just idiotic."

The motive for the large crowd is unclear at this time. Commissioner Ross says police believe it was planned through social media. cbslocal.com

Sterling Jewelers Suit Casts Light on Wider Policies Hurting Women
Sandra Sargent had finally had enough when a guard at Jared the Galleria of Jewelry in Crestview Hills, Ky., waved his security scanning wand over her buttocks one day in 2007. Several weeks earlier, she said, he had used the same device to brush across her chest. So she called an anonymous company hotline and reported his behavior.

It was an inauspicious career decision by Ms. Sargent, a manager at the store. The complaint made its way to a district manager who later told her that she should "grow some thick skin" and that the guard had been having "harmless fun," according to a sworn written statement from Ms. Sargent. Soon after, she was fired.

Ms. Sargent is among the hundreds of former employees of Sterling Jewelers, the parent of Kay Jewelers, Jared and other jewelry retailers, whose statements about their experiences at the company were released on Feb. 26. The statements, most of them from women, are part of a class-action case that includes 69,000 current or former employees and accuses Sterling of pay discrimination against women.

The company has denied any wrongdoing. On the matter of pay and promotion discrimination, the accusations are "not substantiated by the facts," Signet Jewelers Limited, the parent of Sterling, said in a statement. In addition, Sterling said it found the claims of sexual misconduct to be without merit.

But lawyers and academics who specialize in gender discrimination say the documents - more than 1,300 pages in total - provide a rare insight into how a company's policies work in real life. Whether it is a not-so-confidential tip line or an in-house court, they say, some widely used corporate procedures can mask problems that women often face in the workplace. Here is a look at what the documents revealed.

Hotlines for Employees

Sterling's hotline was a particular problem in the view of many of the women who made statements, with some expressing fear of retaliation should they use it. Employees who called the hotline, known as the TIPS line, were supposed to be able to report problems anonymously.

Many companies have hotlines that are effective and guarantee anonymity, and they can be "a sound H.R. tool" enabling complaints to circumvent the normal chain of command, said Joseph Sellers, one of the lawyers representing the Sterling women. "The question is, 'What's done with the information once it's provided to the people inside?'" he said.

Mandatory Arbitration

Since 1998, all employees at Sterling have had to agree that they will never sue the company. Instead, Sterling has a three-step internal dispute system known as "Resolve" that can escalate to an arbitration hearing. The class-action case against the company is now in that arbitration process.

Outside of the securities industry, Sterling was early to adopt a no-suing policy. Today, lured by the twin benefits of avoiding large jury awards and keeping ugly stories under wraps, companies are increasingly requiring arbitration. Alexander Colvin, a professor at Cornell's School of International Relations, estimates that a quarter of employees in nonunion workplaces are subject to mandatory arbitration.

The upside to internal dispute systems is that "a lot of problems get solved," said Lauren B. Edelman, a sociologist and the author of "Courts, Corporations, and Symbolic Civil Rights."

But employees should exercise caution, Ms. Edelman said. If the disputes become legal claims, she said, the employee who used the in-house program can be at a disadvantage. "It's often these offices that end up providing the defense for the organization," she said.

'Tap on the Shoulder'

In their affidavits, Sterling's women described instances where people got promotions because they were friends with the boss, or even were sleeping with the boss, but never because they had seen a job posting they had decided to pursue. The lack of promotions, they argue, helped contribute to lower wages for women.

Sterling managed its promotions by a so-called tap on the shoulder policy in which managers picked the people they liked instead of publicly posting job openings.

In 2007, Sterling introduced a program known as the Career Advancement Register, or C.A.R., that allowed employees to register interest in jobs they might want. In a memo seeking legal certification for its class-action case, though, the women said C.A.R. wound up being a paperwork formality that did not change anything.

In its statement, Sterling said that more than 68 percent of its store management staff members were female.

To get ahead, some women disclosed in their statements that they wound up sleeping with the boss.

One woman said in her statement that after she slept with her district manager, he told her "I am now your angel" at Sterling. "I have your back."  nytimes.com
 
9th Circ. Backs Cert. In O'Reilly Worker Expense Reimbursement Row -
Mileage for Bank Deposits
That they used a personal vehicle to make a bank deposit on behalf of O'Reilly, and were not reimbursed for that business expense. The company admittedly maintains no record of who makes a bank deposit or whether a personal vehicle is used. Court allowing to proceed the claim that the class was not reimbursed for their business expenses.

The Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld certification for a California class of O'Reilly Auto Enterprises LLC store managers and assistant managers alleging they weren't properly reimbursed for business expenses, saying the district court properly considered whether there were common enough factors among the employees to justify certification. law360.com

Retail sales are up - but closure and bankruptcies plague giants
It seems like a contradiction: Retail sales rose a healthy 5.6 percent in January over the year-ago period, but the industry is convulsing with store closures, bankruptcies and liquidations by major chains - topped off by levels of distressed debt not seen since the Great Recession.

What's going on? Overall, top-line results mask brick-and-mortar stores' desperate battle against Amazon, which has radically reshaped American shopping habits with its Prime membership club, which offers rapid shipping of millions of products for a flat annual fee.

"E-commerce acceleration is behind this dichotomy," said Garrick Brown, vice president of retail research, Americas, at Cushman & Wakefield, adding, "Consumers came through for the holidays, but they really came through for [Amazon Chief Executive] Jeff Bezos." nypost.com

Store closures will push 30% of US malls to brink of death
Hundreds of shopping malls in US at risk of closing
The closures will hit C- and D-rated malls the hardest. These shopping centers, which represent about 30% of malls in the US, are already battling declining customer traffic, falling occupancy rates, and low sales productivity, according to the real estate research firm Green Street Advisors.

"Lower productivity centers are increasingly at risk of obsolescence," "The top 300-400 malls by quality should fare well for the next several years, but it is reasonable to assume that several hundred lower quality malls will either close or become irrelevant retail destinations over the next 10 years." businessinsider.com


Family of killed Burlington LP associate creates GoFundMe page
Killer still on the loose
The suspected killer of Larry Drumgole, an LP associate for Burlington, is still on the loose as of 1:00 p.m. today. However, the family of the victim has created a GoFundMe page to help the family out with funeral expenses. See more here

The LP Benevolent Fund is also always open to accepting donations for assisting all Loss Prevention Professionals in their time of need. The LPBF is a 501c3 charity... your donation is tax deductible! Click here to donate now.

NRF Protect LP Awards - Submit Your Nomination Today
Nominate Award-Worthy Colleagues and Cases
Recognizing LP professionals for their hard work and talent is an important tradition at NRF PROTECT-but we need your help.

Tell us about outstanding people and cases so that we can celebrate them in a special awards ceremony at NRF PROTECT 2017 this summer in Washington, D.C. We're looking for nominations from across the industry, including retailers, supermarkets, restaurants and law enforcement.

Visit NRFPROTECT.com/awards to see past winners and submit your nomination today! The nominations deadline is April 21, 2017.
 
Advance Auto Parts plans 75 to 85 new stores & new DC in 2017

RadioShack to close 200 stores of it's 1,700 & braces for bankruptcy, lays off dozens at corp.

hhgregg files bankruptcy - sells assets - expects 60 day exit of Chapter 11
 
Gordman's preparing for bankruptcy filing - 106 stores in 22 states


Quarterly Sales Results
Dick's Sporting Goods Q4 comp's up 5%, net sales up 10.9%, full yr comp's up 3.5%, net sales up 9%
Casey's Q3 comp's fuel up 2.6%, Grocery & Merchandise up 3%, Prepared Food up 5.8%,
Pier 1 imports Q4 comp's up 0.2%, e-commerce up 28%, net sales down 2.6%
Pier 1 Imports full yr comp's down 1%, e-commerce up 20%, net sales down 3.4%
Ascena Retail Group Q2 comp's down 4%, sales down 4%
   Ann Taylor comp's down 9%
   LOFT comp's down 2%
   maurices comp's down 8%
   dressbarn comp's down 3%
   Lane Bryant down 5%
   Catherines comp's flat
   Justice comp's down 1%

Combatting Crises Getting More Complex for Companies
Cybersecurity Tops Ranks of Crises
A survey of 537 crisis management experts in 15 industries by the Economist Intelligence Unit and FTI Consulting found 73% said they had a crisis in 2016 that could have significantly affected the reputation of their organization-with cybersecurity issues accounting for 57% of those crises. Two-thirds said the world will become a riskier place to do business in the next three years, with cybersecurity (36%) and political risks (32%) the two areas cited as most likely to trigger those risks.

"Standard risks-product recalls, regulatory investigations, environmental accidents-continue to create crises. Many executives believe there is increased risk in the political sphere. Cyberattacks are seen as a major source of future risk," said West Coghlan, the editor of the report. "Add them together and you have a perception that the world is becoming an increasingly risky place to do business."  wsj.com
 
Retail analytics to more than double by 2020 Surpassing $7B
More and more retailers continue to experience increased ROI using BI and analytics tools and services that help them analyze data and improve business performance. These tools also help retailers to reduce operating costs and enhance the customer experience. 

Retail Analytics can be a game changer for Retail and CPG companies across the globe. The applicability of analytics across the retail value chain--tracking offline and online customer behavior, creating targeted marketing campaigns, merchandize planning, website performance assessment and social media analysis, provide a multitude of benefits ranging from increased sales, targeted cross-sell and up-sell strategies to reduced costs based on optimized media investments," Avrial Sinha, lead Quantzig analyst, told FierceRetail. fierceretail.com

New York's Cyber Regulations: How to Take Action & Who's Next
Setting Legal Precedent - assume the approach adopted by regulatory agencies
Financial firms are about to embark on a series of regulations put in place March 1 by the state Department of Financial Services, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and the SEC, all aimed at protecting clients, consumers, and financial entities from the "ever-growing threat of cyber attacks."

In the face of these new regulations, banks, hedge funds, insurers, and financial institutions must ensure client information, PII, investment strategy and all non-public information is safe and protected. The revised NY DFS proposal includes a few significant provisions that are very relevant to the office of the CISO and the CIO;, the most relevant are new requirements for access controls, encryption, and data loss prevention, and how security teams react and prepare.

Coming to a regulatory body near you
Even if your firm isn't directly subject to these new regulations, it's safe to assume that this approach will be rapidly adopted by similar regulatory bodies domestically and around the world. We're already seeing international bodies like the EU Parliament seek to expand regulation and expectations for cybersecurity outward from financial services. And as we've observed time and time again domestically, the best practices and approaches adopted in the financial system quickly make their way out into less-regulated industries. darkreading.com

NY Senate pushes bills upping punishments for Cyberterrorism
The state Senate has passed dual bills aimed at preventing cyberattacks and terrorism at international business and commerce centers like New York City. The Senate on Thursday approved legislation to create new crimes for cyberterrorism and to strengthen the laws against soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism. One proposal would prohibit using computer technology to commit financial harm against more than 10 people. Another would increase criminal penalties for using money laundering or credit card fraud to fund terrorist organizations. Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee Senator Tom Croci say the measures will protect infrastructure systems from cybercrime. The bills now require approval by the Assembly. lockportjournal.com

British Retail Consortium (BRC) launches retail cyber-security "toolkit"
Providing retail businesses of all sizes with a practical, step-by-step guide to prevent and manage cyber-security threats and protect the customers they serve.

It aims to provide retailers with practical guidance to ensure they have the appropriate preventative and response measures in place to reduce their vulnerabilities and to protect both themselves and their customers.

In developing this toolkit, the BRC and its members were driven by a desire to keep pace with the evolving risks associated with operating online and also to ensure they meet customer expectations around the protection of personal data.

The toolkit's recommendations to retail businesses include: establishing cyber-security as a board-level issue, retail-specific information-sharing, completing a cyber-security risk assessment, and creating an incident response plan. The toolkit also provides a guide to preparing, responding, recovering and reviewing attacks.

Consumers spend approximately one in four pounds online. According to the BRC Annual Retail Crime Survey 2016, an estimated 53 percent of reported fraud in the retail industry is cyber-enabled, which represents a total direct cost of around £100 million. scmagazineuk.com

One Million Stolen Gmail & Yahoo Accounts for Sale on Dark Web for Bitcoin

Checkpoint Systems Deploys Its EAS Solutions
at Dollar General Stores

Rapid EAS Rollout Aims to Reduce Retail Shrink

THOROFARE, N.J. - March 6, 2017 - Checkpoint Systems, a leading global supplier of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) and RFID solutions for the retail industry, today announced its partnership in implementing EAS pedestals and deactivation systems at approximately 2,800 Dollar General retail locations.

According to Carl Rysdon, Vice President of Inventory Control Solutions for Checkpoint, "The Dollar General implementation represents the fastest deployment of EAS that I have ever witnessed. It is rewarding to collaborate with Dollar General on this project and to help the company achieve improvements in sales and shrink by using our best-in-class systems to provide maximum protection on high-risk items. We are thrilled to partner with Dollar General, which is one of the fastest-growing and most successful retailers in North America."

Before the rollout, Dollar General tested Checkpoint EAS pedestals and deactivation systems in a limited number of stores to determine the benefits of further deterring shoplifting and protecting high-theft inventory with visible EAS tagging. With positive results, the rollout proceeded with Checkpoint's on-time delivery of the project.

"We selected Checkpoint because it offered an exceptional solution, service and support. It was important to deploy Checkpoint's EAS solutions in these additional 2,800 stores quickly in order to capture the opportunity to increase sales and reduce losses caused by shoplifting that we experienced in our test stores," said Ken Peschier, Senior Director of Store Operations at Dollar General.

Repeated industry studies demonstrate the benefits of source tagging. In addition, during past National Source Tagging Symposiums sponsored by Checkpoint, attendees have reported impressive results. According to one VP of Loss Prevention at a major North American drugstore chain, "Source tagging alone reduced theft of high-risk items by 44 percent in our stores." Another noted that "visible EAS labels are a great theft deterrent and source tagging protects the look and feel of premium packaging better than in-store tagging."

Read more here.

Checkpoint Systems is a global leader in EAS, High Theft and RFID solutions for the retail industry, encompassing loss prevention and inventory accuracy in a growing omni-channel environment. Stuart Rosenthal, VP of Sales for High-Theft Solutions (also known as Alpha) and Carl Rysdon, VP of Sales for Inventory Control Solutions, which comprises EAS and RFID solutions, tell us how Checkpoint's recent acquisition by CCL Industries will benefit their customers, how their brand has stayed relevant over the years, and what new innovations they're bringing to the LP industry.
 

Quick Take #5

Tim Bartkowiak tells Joe and Amber how Rocateq's one-cable system and other differentiators set it apart from other cart-containment solutions. Tim also shares some career advice and his bucket-list boating plans.

Solution Providers: Have a video or commercial you want to publish? Contact us

Forget Facebook and Google: The ad world thinks this tech giant is 'terrifying'
Money is increasingly trickling from television commercials to digital media - a market that Facebook and Google currently have in a duopolistic chokehold. Inter-agency competition is at a fever pitch. Unconventional upstarts are eating their lunch.

While Amazon's ads currently comprise less than two percent of the digital market - Facebook and Google collectively control two-thirds - its most recent earnings release last month revealed that ad revenue grew the most of any part of the company for the quarter - a 60-percent jump from the same period in 2016.

In fact, research firm Emarketer projects that Amazon will generate more than $1 billion in U.S. ad revenue this year - slightly more than its prediction for newly anointed Wall Street darling Snapchat, which is first and foremost an advertising-based business (despite its "camera company" spin).

Amazon has its own war chest of data culled from millions of customer searches, purchases and even music and video streams. Shoppers might browse for products on Google, Sorrell said, but Amazon's dominance of the e-commerce market means it knows more about people's consumption choices than anyone in the world.

That's of course particularly valuable information to advertisers looking to lock down online sales. It's the kind of awareness Facebook, Google and other digitals platforms have been trying to master for years with features like buy buttons, real-world store receipt-matching and shoppable ads.

Yet their crutch - Google's in particular - has always been that people still tend to leave the platform when they actually want to buy things. Amazon doesn't have that problem. mashable.com

Mobile Trumps ECommerce Sales For QVC

Chinese online retailer JD.com increases sales by 46% in Q4

Portland, OR: 9 accused in organized $102K theft from Safeway
A group of 9 people is accused of stealing more than $102,000 from Safeway-Albertson stores, according to police. The 5-week investigation into the suspect organized retail crime (ORC) began in October 2016.  The investigation resulted in the identification of 9 suspects, including suspected ringleader Jenna Hollingshead. koin.com


Boulder, CO: Former Nite Ize employee stole, resold $100K in merchandise
Teresa Jean Bergeron, 37, was arrested on suspicion of theft between $100,000 and $1 million, a Class 3 felony that could carry a prison sentence of up to 12 years. Bergeron was hired in 2007 as a designer by Nite Ize, a Boulder-based mobile phone accessory and hardware company. According to the affidavit, one of the benefits employees get is access to a "sample stock room" containing Nite Ize products that employees could take for their own personal use. "This was a gratuity of working at Nite Ize and it was not intended as a 'free for all' or as a way for any one person to accumulate mass amounts of free products and then sell them for a profit," the affidavit read. dailycamera.com

Folsom, CA: Distraction Team busted after stealing $80,000 in jewelry
Four women and a minor were arrested on Thursday, March 2, 2017. The unidentified jewelry merchant, who has a store on the 700 block of Sutter Street in Old Town Folsom, called police shortly before noon on March 2 after she realized a number of items were missing. She told police she had been distracted by a group of customers prior to noticing her merchandise had been stolen. After describing the suspects to police, one officer found the women just as they were leaving the area. Two of them tried to flee, but were caught by other officers, who happened to be nearby. crimevoice.com


Gwinnett, GA: Police link $4,000 in Home Depot gift card thefts to Atlanta hip-hop duo
The Gwinnett County Police Department has linked the theft of $4,000 in Home Depot gift cards to an Atlanta hip-hop duo. Police issued warrants for three people allegedly involved in the theft, including two men who may be the members of Cool Amerika. Griffin, Giles, Darden and one unidentified person are suspected of colluding with a Norcross Home Depot employee in the theft of $4,000 in activated gift cards which they exchanged for cash at a DeKalb County Publix. ajc.com



Deer Park, IL: Apple Store nets 2 more arrests; most suspects are from out-of-state
A man and a woman who were arrested over the weekend at the Deer Park Apple Store are only the latest to be charged after a string of incidents at that location. Sterling L. Kimbrough and Zavonnti Glasker are the latest charged in an ongoing investigation. They are among 12 other arrests made in 2016 and earlier this year, several at the Deer Park location, from New York or Michigan, linked to the regional scheme, the sheriff's office said. suntimes.com



Chicopee, MA: Police charge Bronx, NY pair with passing fake $100 bills
Two New York City residents are facing counterfeiting charges after police found them on Saturday in a vehicle in the Walmart parking with $1,000 worth of ill-gotten merchandise and $6,000 in counterfeit $100 bills. masslive.com




Fort Wayne, IN: Medical Uniform company employee steals $5,000 in merchandise; attempting to resell online

Farmington, ME: Woman pleads guilty in $6,000 of multiple thefts from Walmart; probation violations in 2 counties

Council Bluffs, IA: Omaha trio arrested after stealing more than $1000 in hair extensions from Sally's Beauty

Shootings

San Diego, CA: Man who shot at Target employees gets 25 year sentence
A man was given the maximum sentence of 25 years for an armed robbery at a Target store in Oceanside, then led highway patrol officers on a pursuit through Orange County. Surveillance video captured in June 2015 showed 30-year-old Dennis Lam steal a $60 stylus pen, then shoot a gun at two loss-prevention officers narrowly missing them. Lam jumped in car with a woman waiting inside and they sped off. Officers eventually caught up and arrested Lam and the woman after they hit a dead end. fox5sandiego.com

Kansas City, MO: Store Clerk gets Probation for Shooting Teen who Shoplifted a package of Cookies
Mohammed G. Abdi, 28, admitted that he shot a 16-year-old boy who was shoplifting from the Pic N Save store in July 2015. The boy was found in the street with a gunshot wound in his left leg. Jackson County Circuit Judge on Friday sentenced Abdi to 5 years of probation for assault and unlawful use of a weapon. Abdi had pleaded guilty to both counts in December. kansascity.com

Allegheny County, PA: Monroeville Mall Shooter Attacked Allegheny Co. Corrections Officer

Cobb County, GA: Subway employee shoots Armed Robbery suspect; employee will not face charges

Robberies & Thefts

Wauwatosa, WI: Wisconsin Dept of Justice, Pharmacies partner with goal to prevent Robberies
The Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin have teamed up to create a pharmacy robbery prevention and response training program to be used by local law enforcement and pharmacies. Attorney General Brad Schimel announced details of the partnership Tuesday at a 9 a.m. press conference from Swan Pharmacy in Wauwatosa. Department of Justice officials say there were 45 pharmacy robberies in Wisconsin in 2015. wisn.com

Raleigh, NC: Man faces 2 counts of Armed Robbery and 3 counts of Kidnapping for incidents at Family Dollar and Dollar General
Raleigh police picked up Christopher James Cobb on Thursday night. An arrest warrant served that day accused him of a Feb. 27 holdup that netted $471 from a Dollar General. Friday, while Cobb was being held at the Wake County Detention Center, sheriff's deputies served him with charges that he also robbed the Family Dollar on March 1. The robber that time got $135. A silver-and-black gun was used turned out to be a cap gun. Three counts of second-degree kidnapping were based on store employees being held against their will during the robberies. heraldsun.com

Charlotte, NC: 3 charged in connection with 20 robberies, 1 on the loose
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have arrested three men who they said are connected to 20 armed robberies throughout Charlotte. Officers said they're looking for one more man involved in the robberies. Derrick Adams, Sean Boyd and Bryan Blakney have been charged with robberies from businesses and individuals that spanned from December 2016 to March 2017. Police believe all three worked together to commit several of the robberies. Investigators said an off-duty officer spotted a Honda that was involved in multiple armed robberies, which helped lead to arrests in the case. wsoctv.com

Charlotte, NC: Harris Teeter employee/ Student facing Deportation after stealing $2,900
Gustavo "Gus" Zamudio was arrested Feb. 25 on felony larceny by employee. A police report on the incident says Zamudio, 18, took $2,907 in cash from Harris Teeter. Under North Carolina law, a of over $1,000 is a felony. The thefts occurred over a seven-week period. Carnell Johnson, the teenager's immigration attorney, says Zamudio disputes the embezzlement charges. Zamudio is scheduled to graduate in the spring from Northwest School of the Arts. Zamudio had received protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a renewable two-year program started by the Obama administration that protected certain immigrants from deportation who had come into the country with their parents. charlotteobserver.com

Twin Falls, ID: 2 Charged With Staging Domino's Pizza Robbery

Northglenn, CO: Man admits to string of pot shop Armed Robberies

Luverne, MN: Taco John's manager charged with $31,000 felony theft

Bomb Threat

Norwalk, CT: Bomb scare clears Stop & Shop lot

Arson & Fire

Montgomery County, PA: Marshall's Employee admits to setting Fire inside store, then putting it out
Ronak Patel, 19, received a four-year probation and $380 in restitution for the misdemeanor offense he committed on June 7. One month later on July 7, Patel admitted to the store's regional loss prevention manager and later to police that he set the fire. Patel told authorities he was "mad" at Marshalls for continuously changing his schedule, the complaint said. As conditions of his probation, Patel must pay $380 in restitution, and submit to an arson risk assessment and complying with any of its recommendations. theintell.com

Greenville Co., SC: Fire damages several buildings in strip mall

Skimming Thefts

Mahwah, NJ: Two skimming devices found at supermarket
Submitted by Bob Moraca, Vice President Loss Prevention at the NRF
On March 1st, 2017, this agency was contacted in regards to two skimming devices that were discovered at checkout lanes of a supermarket. The devices were placed over the credit card machines by an unknown actor/s and it is unknown how long the machines were in place. The devices were located in the Express lane (cashier operated) and the Self-Checkout lane.

The store's Loss Prevention Unit is currently reviewing surveillance video in an attempt to identify the possible actors. Any agency with similar incidents or information is asked to contact Det. Sgt. K. Hebert at 201-831-2020. Mahwah Police Detective Bureau: 201-529-1000

Credit Card Skimmer Sweep Targets Popular Florida Spring Break Destinations
Average $1,000 stolen per victim
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspected nearly 500 gas stations last week in popular spring break destinations for skimmers, and Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced today that the sweep uncovered eight skimmers.

If undetected, the number of consumers victimized by each skimmer averages around 100 per device, with an average of $1,000 stolen from each victim. Since early 2015, the department has found and removed more than 430 skimmers across the state. spacecoastdaily.com

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