Walmart Security Staff "Are Looking Out for the Community"
"I'd like to see more stores be effective like our local Walmart
"Ask any police chief at a law enforcement conference" - "Walmart is a magnet all over the country"
In the years leading up to 2014, police calls for service to retailers in Cottage Grove mainly came from two stores - Target and Kohl's.

Walmart opened in March of that year, immediately becoming the top source of calls for service in the east metro suburb, claiming a lead that has remained firm since it opened.

"It's become its own little city," said Cottage Grove Public Safety Director Craig Woolery.

"If you have Walmart in your community, it is going to be your busiest retail grief as far as theft than any other business," said Hastings Police Chief Bryan Schafer.

According to a RiverTown Multimedia analysis of 2016 data from five cities with both stores, Walmart saw an average of 3.69 calls for service to every call at Target.

"Walmart is a magnet all over the country," Schafer said.

In 2016, the Hastings Walmart saw 646 calls for service compared with 109 calls of service to the Hastings Target.

The reasons for the disparity are many and often elusive, but in almost all cases, the draw on law enforcement resources is one that resounds with public safety leaders in those communities.

Ask any police chief at a law enforcement conference, and they will share the same sentiment about their community, Schafer said.

To Woodbury Public Safety Director Lee Vague, the issue is more complicated than it might appear.

Yes, Walmart requires a high call volume in his city. But to Vague, that's a sign that staff at the Woodbury store are looking out for the community. "We want that," he said.

Conventional logic seems to suggest crime at Walmarts would primarily be shoplifting and thefts. Data shows that while theft is a leading call for service at some stores, it's hardly the only reason law enforcement responds there. While shoplifting and theft calls topped the list at the Hastings, Woodbury and Red Wing Walmarts, a mix of other calls for service led the list elsewhere.

According to the data, Walmart thefts - combined with shoplifting calls - represented 39 percent of all calls in Woodbury; about 16 percent in Cottage Grove; about 8 percent in Hudson; 27 percent in Red Wing; and 31 percent in Hastings.

Calls for service at Target stores, meanwhile, paint a different picture.

According to the Target data, theft-related incidents represented less than 10 percent of calls in Cottage Grove; about 11 percent in Hudson; 31 percent in Red Wing; and 4 percent in Hastings.

Walmart clearly outpaces Target in calls for service in the region, but that trend holds up nationally, too, according to a security expert.

John Roberts, president of JR Roberts Security Strategies in North Carolina, said other discount retailers "all seem to have significantly less" crime than Walmart. Roberts, who testifies around the country on security-related matters including Walmart stores, said a multitude of factors make Walmart a frequent crime magnet.

While law enforcement officials struggle to identify the reason behind Walmart's apparent allure for criminals, most point to socioeconomic factors at play.

Francis Shen, a professor in the criminal justice department at the University of Minnesota, said that in general there is a link between socioeconomic status and crime rates. A possible explanation for the high call volume at Walmart might have to do with the difference in clientele between Target and Walmart. Also, Shen said the size of the store, customer traffic, corporate policy and accessibility could all play a role.

Woodbury police lauded security at the local Walmart, though the police chief said that seems to create a paradoxical scenario. "It would seem to me that it wouldn't be a good place to shoplift because they have a really engaged security staff," Vague said.

Vague, Woodbury's police chief, "I'd like to see more stores be effective like our local Walmart," he said.  twincities.com

Latest version of exacqVision offers enhanced video searching and bookmarking
Johnson Controls introduced the latest version of exacqVision video management system (v8.6) which offers improved video searching and video bookmarking, as well as a host of enhancements that improve the user experience and overall system protection. See full press release below.  tycosecurityproducts.com

March Networks Partners With EZUniverse To Launch March Networks Searchlight For QSR
March Networks, a global provider of intelligent IP video solutions and EZUniverse, a provider of cloud-based retail data analytics, announces a strategic partnership and the launch of a new cloud-based video and retail data analytics service for the quick service restaurant (QSR) and fast casual market. prnewswire.com

Brazen thieves targeting gun stores as ATF sees dramatic rise in firearm thefts
It's happening all across the country. Just this week, brazen thieves broke into the Warhorse Firearms shop in Littleton, Colo. and stole 27 semi-automatic rifles just before 3 a.m. No arrests have been made in the case.

ATF officials say it's a troubling new trend. Instead of stealing a gun from a home or street corner, thieves are now targeting gun stores where they could steal a handful or dozens of firearms at a time. "This is our top priority at ATF," according Lisa Meiman, spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which tracks gun thefts nationwide.

In 2012, there was a total of 5,762 guns stolen in America, according to the ATF. Last year, that number jumped to 9,281. In the same period, the number of gun shop robberies, defined as thefts committed during business hours with staff present, increased by 175 percent, ATF said.

Many happen at night, with thieves using vehicles to smash through doors, grab as many guns as possible and leave before police get there.

Federal officials say they really have no idea why the numbers of gun thefts have increased so dramatically in recent years, but they acknowledge the problem is growing worse year by year. foxnews.com

Retailers Welcome Removal of Border Tax From Tax Reform Plan
The National Retail Federation welcomed today's announcement by congressional and administration leaders that they are committed to passing comprehensive tax reform that lowers rates without creating a new border tax that would shift the burden to consumers.

"Today's update on the status of tax reform is very encouraging, particularly since the border adjustment tax is no longer under consideration," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "By removing this costly element of reform, the way has been cleared for swift action on a middle-class tax cut that will put more money in the wallets of the American taxpayer. Changing our outdated tax code is fundamental if we are to grow our economy, encourage investment and create jobs.  businesswire.com

Update: LinkedIn Case Tests Whether Firms Can Use Your Data
Part Two - This Case Could Change the Game
Both Sides Hire Star Litigators
Harvard Constitutional Scholar Vs. Obama's U.S. Solicitor General
The 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act statute is mostly used to prosecute hackers and data thieves. Whether businesses that scrape publicly available information can be held liable under the law is a hotly debated legal question.

For hiQ, the stakes are high. Without LinkedIn data, hiQ may need to "close down its operations, lay off its employees, and put to waste millions of dollars in investor capital," its lawyers told the court.

Among its services, hiQ monitors and analyzes LinkedIn profile pages to see who is polishing their résumés and liable to be poached, assigning so-called flight-risk scores to individual employees.

The data analysis it sells to companies such as eBay, Capital One and GoDaddy is no more invasive than the web-crawling robots that search engines like Google or Bing use to index LinkedIn profiles, its lawyers argue.

But LinkedIn says hiQ's data-scraping isn't as innocent as the startup contends.

"Indeed, if LinkedIn members knew that hiQ was accessing and collecting their data in this manner, many would not update their profiles," the company told the court.

Both Facebook and Craigslist have won in previous illegal scraping cases. With LinkedIn's case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court with arguing that antihacking law wasn't intended to outlaw data portability.

Distinguishing the case from other scraping disputes, hiQ isn't just playing defense. Its lawsuit claims LinkedIn is trying to "prevent anyone but LinkedIn from being able to use public information for data analytics," alleging violations of California's unfair competition law.

"LinkedIn is trying to illegally force out a smaller competitor so that they can have the business for themselves, plain and simple," said hiQ chief executive Mark Weidick in statement.

"Our members control the information that they make available to others on LinkedIn, and they trust us to honor that control," LinkedIn said in a statement. wsj.com

20 to 25% American Malls Will Close in Five Yr's
The Latest Blow to Struggling American Malls
Starbucks Closing 379 Store Teavana Division
Starbucks (SBUX) announced on Thursday that all 379 Teavana stores -- which are primarily based in malls across the country -- have been "underperforming." The move will impact 3,300 workers.

"The company concluded that despite efforts to reverse the trend through creative merchandising and new store designs, the underperformance was likely to continue," Starbucks said in a press release.

The coffee giant first announced plans to purchase the struggling tea retailer Teavana in 2012 for $620 million.

There were 5,300 store closing announcements in the first six months of the year, triple the number during the same period last year, according to an analysis by Fung Global Retail & Technology.

Between 20% and 25% of American malls will close within five years, Credit Suisse said in a report released last month.  cnn.com

Outgoing Sears Canada employees try to stop $7.6M in retention bonuses for 43 execs
Former and current employees of Sears Canada have filed a legal motion in an attempt to stop dozens of company executives from splitting $7.6 million in retention bonuses while many laid-off workers miss out on severance payments. If the payment goes through, 43 executives would take home bonuses.

In court documents, lawyers for the employees call the bonus pay "excessive" after 2,900 employees from 59 stores were let go in June.

Former CEO of Sears, Mark Cohen, siding with laid off employees - protect employees - "don't know that I would protect the employment of executives who, frankly, are in no small measure responsible for this problem." ctvnews.ca

Walmart has another bout of layoffs
It would not confirm any specific numbers.

But multiple sources inside the company said workers in the merchandising and replenishment divisions were among those hit Thursday. A source said a "few dozen workers" were affected. Another source said merchandising positions eliminated were at the senior director and director levels.

As we said in January, we're continuing to look at how the company is structured, which includes investing in and adding jobs in some areas and eliminating some in a few others," Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove said Thursday. "This is all about aligning and creating efficiencies as we change how we work to seamlessly serve our customer through our stores and e-commerce."

Hargrove also said there were "several dozen promotions" in the company Thursday, including category team assistants being elevated to merchandise specialists.

The efforts included about 1,000 workers being laid off across multiple divisions during a round of job cuts before the end of the fiscal year on Jan. 31. In addition, about 300 jobs in the company's internal systems division in Bentonville were among those affected by cuts in early April.  arkansasonline.com

Director of Data Science, Fraud for Hudson's Bay Company - HBC - in New York, New York
As a key member of the HBC Customer Loyalty, Insights & Engagement COE (Centre of Excellence) team, the Director of Data Science, Fraud will own the analytical and data agenda in support of reducing fraud across all HBC banners. monstermediaworks.ca

HBC's portfolio today includes formats ranging from luxury to premium department stores to off price fashion shopping destinations, with more than 480 stores and over 66,000 employees around the world. HBC's leading banners across North America and Europe include Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Gilt, Saks OFF 5TH, Galeria Kaufhof, the largest department store group in Germany, and Belgium's only department store group Galeria INNO. hbc.com

Starbucks to Add 240,000 Jobs Over Next Five Yr's Mostly in China
Buys Out China Partner 1,300 Stores - Plans 5,000 by 2021

Aldi to open Regional Office & DC in Arizona - Here they come West Coast

Supervalu acquires Central Grocers Illinois warehouse

Jeff Bezos briefly dethrones Bill Gates as world's richest person


Quarterly Same Store Sales Results

Amazon Q2 net sales up 17.2% to $38B
Floor & Decor Q2 comp's up 14.7, net sales up 29.4%
Del Taco Q2 system wide comp's up 7.1%, revenue up 8.6%
Carter's Q2 U.S. retail segment comp's up 6%, stores comp's up 0.4%, e-commerce comp up 27.6%, net sales up 8.2%
Starbucks Q2 U.S. comp's up 3%, China comp's up 7%, Global comp's up 3%, net revenue up 6%
Build-A-Bear Q2 comp's down 0.9%, total revenue up 2.8%

Quarterly & Half Year D&D Daily Exclusive Reports Coming 2nd & 3rd Weeks of August   ●  Senior LP/AP Jobs Report ●  Internet Jobs Report ●  Retail Violent Death Report ●  ORC Report ●  Robbery Report

9 Steps to Building an Efficient Restaurant
Loss Prevention Strategy

Designing a restaurant loss prevention strategy is a vital aspect of running a profitable business. Whether you run an established chain, or an up-and-coming restaurant, ignoring preventable sources of profit loss can derail the outlook of any business. This day and age, a successful restaurant LP strategy revolves around two things.

  ● A data-centric approach to understanding your main sources of profit loss
  ● A detailed action plan that breeds targeted analysis, follow-through, and communication

Whether you are implementing a new loss prevention program or looking to revamp your current LP initiatives, these 9 restaurant loss prevention tips form a baseline to help you kickstart the process.

Latest version of exacqVision offers enhanced video searching and bookmarking

WESTFORD, Mass. (July. 25, 2017) - Johnson Controls introduced the latest version of exacqVision video management system (v8.6) which offers improved video searching and video bookmarking, as well as a host of enhancements that improve the user experience and overall system protection.

Thanks to this update, when exacqVision v8.6 is used as part of the Complete Security Solution from the Tyco Security Products brand portfolio, the system can leverage event information from intrusion and access control systems to improve search results and provide a comprehensive security picture. For example, users can now easily search an access control badge number to quickly obtain video of all the doors that a specific employee may have accessed.

Another enhancement involves the bookmarking and case management, which is used by organizations to tag and retain important video. The latest version allows users to create a case directly from "Live" view, which includes all cameras that are being actively monitored. This saves a significant amount of time over the former process which required the user to exit "Live" view and use the Search page to manually identify all cameras and time periods for that specific event. When the user exports the case, it will contain a chronological collection of clips from different cameras showing the suspect.

Those improvements include a significant performance enhancement in camera frame rate rendering and UI additions to display useful status information. Additionally, users can view all partitions of the Complete Security Solution integrated alarm systems along with the status of each zone - all on one screen.

Read full press release here.

For more information, visit www.exacq.com.

Bon Ton department stores improve inventory accuracy with RFID
The department store chain is replacing its manual, paper-based restocking process with a radio frequency identification (RFID)-based system. The solution, from Zebra, enables store associates to fully restock merchandise displays in a fraction of the time - a move that increases productivity and enables associates to spend more time servicing shoppers.

The solution is available in more than 180 Bon-Ton department stores.

"We look forward to expanding this rollout to include additional use cases across all of our stores in support of our omnichannel strategy to support our customers' changing shopping habits," said Lisa Celebre, VP of store operations, The Bon-Ton Stores. chainstoreage.com

The rise and rise of Cybercrime as a Service
Attacks Coming Faster & Quicker Then Ever Before
In the market for a Russian DDoS booter rental? That costs just $60 for the day or $400 for a week's lease. Orders over $500 qualify for 10 percent discounts - 15 percent off if you place orders in excess of $1,000.

Cybercrime-as-a-service - along with attacks-as-a-service, malware-as-a-service and fraud-as-a-service - has opened a wide digital door to anyone looking to score a quick, illicit buck on the internet. The customers for these wares don't need to be technically sophisticated anymore.

The presence of this flourishing "as-a-service" market has also attracted growing interest from traditional criminals. These individuals and groups are making use of the service-based nature of the cybercrime market.

From an enterprise security standpoint, the technology threats remain the same. The difference is the number of people who are now able to get involved in cybercrime.

The good news is that IT security experts, who have battled malicious hackers for decades, can apply the knowledge and lessons learned from past experience to meet this new challenge.

As always, it comes down to vigilance in following basic security principles around defense-in-depth along with the promulgation of best practices for employees.

What's changed is the need to adjust to the morphing nature of the threat landscape. Attacks are going to come faster and more frequently than ever, and security practitioners need to treat this as the new normal. Otherwise, it's the same blocking-and tackling that's helped enterprises deter attacks in the past. csoonline.com

Feds Indict Russian Over BTC-e Bitcoin Exchange
Greek Police Arrest Man, $4B Bitcoin Money Laundering
Also Laundering For Organized Cybercrime Gangs
Police in Greece on Tuesday arrested Alexander Vinnik, 38, for allegedly running a massive money laundering operation that processed $4 billion in bitcoins, many of which may be tied to the largest bitcoin exchange heist in history.

Vinnik, indicted in January by a California federal grand jury, has been accused of owning and operating a cryptocurrency exchange called BTC-e, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

U.S. authorities have accused BTC-e, founded in 2011, of not only operating as an unlicensed money service business, but also laundering funds for numerous cybercriminal enterprises. "BTC-e facilitated crimes, including computer hacking and ransomware, fraud, identity theft, tax refund fraud schemes, public corruption and drug trafficking," according to the indictment.

If convicted of all charges filed against him, Vinnik faces 55 years in prison and at least $500,000 in fines, or else "twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.

"We will hold accountable foreign-located money transmitters, including virtual currency exchangers, that do business in the United States when they willfully violate U.S. AML laws," said Jamal El-Hindi, acting director of FinCEN.  govinfosecurity.com

From Russia With Love - Now Residing in U.S. Prison
Inside the Investigation & Trial of Roman Seleznev
Over 400 POS Hacks - $169M in CC Fraud - Got 27 yr's & $170M Restitution
The notorious Russian computer hacker, responsible for more than 400 point-of-sale hacks and at least $169 million in credit card fraud. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison and $170 million in restitution after a trial that took place earlier this year.

He went through three "chapters" in his time as a card thief, each defined by a different name. The first began in the early 2000s when he adopted the handle nCux, which he used to operate online shops for selling stolen information.

"By 2005, he picked up on the fact that credit cards were an easy way to monetize hacking," This was around the time the Secret Service began to notice his criminal activity and gather intelligence on him. By 2009, they had collected enough information to determine his identity - just in time for Seleznev to vanish.

Seleznev reappeared in 2009 under aliases Track2 and Bulba. The investigation was reopened in May 2010 and accelerated through June 2011. During this time, Seleznev was involved in hacking restaurants and stealing credit card data from their point-of-sale devices.

Following his injuries in the 2011 Morocco terrorist attacks, Seleznev returned to Russia and closed his online shop in January 2012. Investigators continued to chase him until 2013, when he reappeared under the alias 2PAC.CC. At this point he wasn't only selling his own stolen data; other major hackers were coming to him to resell credit cards.

Seleznev was arrested in the Maldives in 2014. Normally, the extradition process can take between six months and four years, said Barbosa. In this case, it took about two days to get the Secret Service to the Maldives, and only three more to get Seleznev to the United States.

Seleznev's laptop proved to be a gold mine of evidence. Law enforcement found 1.7 million credit card numbers stored on his device, along with Web pages he created to teach people how they could use stolen card details. On the page, he reminded users: "Remember this is illegal way!!"

Seleznev made several key slipups leading up to his arrest. He reused passwords for multiple online accounts, making it easy for investigators to guess the password to his laptop. He had two email addresses for his online aliases, some of which he used for crime and some of which he used for personal communications - for example, opening a PayPal account.

Seleznev used one of these email addresses to place a flower order for his wife, which he did using his own name and phone number that could be traced back to him.

He tried to bribe the prosecutor for his case and it only took a few hours for a Seattle jury to convict him on 38 counts.  darkreading.com

The Lazy Habits of Phishing Attackers
You've Got a Window to Mitigate the Attack
Most hackers who phish accounts do little to hide their tracks or even mine all of the data they can from phished accounts, mostly because they can afford to be lazy.

According to new research out this week culled from an extensive honeypot operation, most attackers using phishing to initiate attacks are the opposite of sophisticated. They're lax with their opsec-- most don't go through much effort at all to hide their attacks. Considering that some estimates peg 91% of all cyberattacks starting with phishing emails, that tells you that the vast majority of attacks are noisy and very identifiable. Yet the bad guys still manage to do a ton of damage because the resistance they face is paper thin.

"One of the more interesting areas of the research was uncovering which practices attackers used to cover their tracks, destroy evidence of their presence and activities in the account, and evade detection," says Luda Lazar, security researcher for Imperva. "Our research also showed that not all attackers take equal care in covering their tracks. We were surprised to find that only 17% made any attempt to cover their tracks."

What's more, attackers frequently take their sweet time taking advantage of stolen login credentials. Over half of attackers in this experiment took 24 hours or more to access honey accounts after the credential theft. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of attackers explore account content manually rather than through automated tools. 

The lesson here is that most of these attacks are leaving tons of evidence behind for users and defenders alike to start detecting attacks well before the bad guys have owned the account for the months-long time-period that is today's average industry dwell time. What's more there is a workable window between credential theft and account takeover where it's possible to mitigate the attack before it even starts to sink its fangs into systems. darkreading.com

AI/BOTS: Machine Learning Tips Online Fraud Scales
Within the retail industry specifically, artificial intelligence (AI) is moving the ball for a lot of merchants looking to not only streamline their business operations but provide a more personalized experience for consumers.

Stemming from AI, machine learning is helping technology move at a swifter rate, and as more people bring their shopping needs into the online world, it's likely that machine learning will play a larger role moving forward.

From enhancing the supply chain process to learning more about consumers' shopping behavior, machine learning is a technology that's at the forefront of retail advancements and innovation. As such, it would be logical to utilize machine learning to help tackle one of the largest threats to the eCommerce shopping world - online retail sales fraud.

In 2016, online financial fraud hit 15.4 million Americans, a 16 percent increase to $16 billion in stolen money. With a $1-billion climb from the year prior, it's apparent that this type of fraud is not going away any time soon, especially with the increasing popularity of online purchases.

Several companies have popped up over the last few years with the specific purpose of combatting online fraud. As machine learning is implemented in retailers' operations, it appears its working as far as helping to reduce the amount of fraudulent activities.

In PYMNTS and Signifyd's Q1 2017 Fraud Index, it was found that eCommerce fraud has decreased an astounding 35 percent since 2016. The increased use of machine learning was found to be one of the main contributing factors in helping to reduce fraud across most industries, except for department stores and jewelry stores. pymnts.com

With CNP Fraud, Vigilance Is Only Part Of The Battle
The impact of online fraud reaches far beyond the dollar count of sales lost. When data breaches occur, jobs are on the line from the CIO down to lower-level IT personnel. And the damage to trust and confidence on the part of consumers can be incalculable. To paraphrase an investing maxim, a company can be built up over decades and destroyed in minutes.

Against this backdrop, fraudsters are finding new avenues by which to ply their trade. In recent studies, as noted by EKN Research and Radial, developed nations are seeing an increase in card not present (CNP) fraud, which now accounts for as much as 70 percent of all card fraud and is growing at double-digit percentage rates in some nations.

With firms losing more than $5 million in stolen data tied to breaches, the true cost of online fraud is increasing. Retailers and merchants are losing more than $3 for every dollar of fraud incurred as recently as 2014, and that number was up from $2.79 the year before. At 71 percent, as estimated by one secure payments processing firm, identity theft is the most common type of fraud. Phishing follows close behind at 66 percent.

In terms of tempting targets for fraud, eCommerce stands out. Radial noted a 55 percent growth in fraudulent activity through the last 12 months. pymnts.com

ORC Week - ORC Leaders, Stories and Top LPNN Episodes
Oct. 2nd - Oct. 6th - Part of LPNN's 'Special Series' Schedule

(Update) Viera, FL: Ice Cream Depot owners sentenced to 35 Months in $100,000 ORC case
Lisa McDermott ran for the District 4 seat during the 2014 Republican primary race. However, she withdrew that June after Brevard County Sheriff's Office Economic Crimes Task Force agents executed a search warrant at Ice Cream Depot in West Melbourne. The McDermotts were arrested in August 2014 and charged with racketeering, money laundering and dealing in stolen property. Investigators accused them of operating an organized theft ring that bought stolen health care products and sold them online. In a plea agreement last month, Jim McDermott pleaded no contest to racketeering. Thursday at the Justice Center, the couple sat together in the courtroom as co-defendants. Judge Reinman sentenced Jim McDermott to 35 months in prison and ordered him to pay $6,590 in restitution costs to Melbourne Walgreens. According to the McDermotts' arrest affidavits, "boosters" - or thieves who target retail stores - shoplifted health care products in 2013 from CVS, Walgreens, Target and other stores across the Space Coast and elsewhere in Florida. The boosters delivered the stolen health care products to Ice Cream Depot in black garbage bags and the McDermotts resold the goods on eBay for a profit. A crime analyst determined that the couple racked up more than $111,000 from sales of Crest Whitestrips, Rogaine and Alli between November 2012 and January 2014. floridatoday.com

Willow Grove, PA: JC Penney Loss Prevention Manager busted for theft of $25,000 in Gift Cards
The J.C. Penney at the Willow Grove Park mall had hired him to stop shoplifters and other thieves, but on Thursday he admitted in Montgomery County Court to helping himself to nearly $25,000 in store gift cards. Shawn P. Horochiwsky, of Philadelphia, a 35-year-old former loss-prevention manager at the Abington store, pleaded guilty to theft by deception and received a five-year probation sentence and ordered to pay $24,685 in restitution. theintell.com

Lufkin, TX: Citizen helps Police nab suspects in Home Depot $21,000 ORC theft
Three suspects are in jail after a failed third attempt at trying to steal over $21,000 in merchandise at Home Depot in Lufkin. The 3 suspects are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity in connection with six previous shopping incidents at the same store. It was the failed attempt Wednesday that ended in their arrests. The two male suspects entered the store at 1 p.m., and started filling up buggies with tool sets, but were noticed by loss prevention employees who then contacted the Lufkin Police. The female suspect was their parking lot lookout, and alerted the group to the police, and the chase began. Bodycam footage shows White surrendering to a citizen whom White believed was an officer due to his clothing and shouting at him to get on the ground. Minneweather crossed the bridge and attempted to hide in a bush at a home. cbs19tv.com

Fort Wayne, IN: Shoplifting suspect attacks Kohl's Loss Prevention Agent with Stun Gun
Tyresha Ranae Thomas, 29, walked out of Kohl's around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday while a loss prevention officer followed her outside and tried to stop her. She continued to flee while a second loss prevention officer pursued her. When he told her to stop, she turned around and discharged the stun gun. The prevention officer stopped after she used her stun gun. Fort Wayne Police Officers arrested Thomas along with an accomplice and recovered the stolen merchandise valued at more the $1,800. journalgazette.net

Sunbury, PA: Weis LP Agent Assaulted by female with multiple warrants
A city woman with active warrants in two different states allegedly assaulted a grocery store security guard who accused her of stealing groceries earlier this month. Amber Morton, 41, was arrested on July 19, a day after Officer Mazzeo was dispatched to Weis Markets, following reports that a woman walked out of the store with a cart filled with over $300 of stolen items. Police also discovered Morton had active warrants out for her arrest in Florida and North Carolina. dailyitem.com

Shootings & Deaths

Phoenix, AZ: Police ID Ex-Con who died in Shootout with Police outside Circle K
Police say an ex-convict who fired at officers in the parking lot of a Phoenix convenience store has died in the ensuing shootout. Police identified the man as 35-year-old Andrew Collins of Phoenix. They say no officers were injured in the shooting incident around 1 a.m. Wednesday. Police say two officers were looking for a man wanted for a felony warrant. azfamily.com



Longmont, CO: Police Arrest Murder Suspect Days After Deadly Shooting
Police have arrested the man they believe shot and killed another man outside a Walmart store in Longmont. The vehicle of a 34-year-old man identified by Longmont police as the person responsible for an early morning shooting and murder has been found. Officers arrested Joseph Anderson, 34, Wednesday night and will be charged with second-degree murder in the death of Keith Williams. Williams was shot and killed in a Walmart parking lot near County Line and Ken Pratt early Sunday morning. Investigators have been searching for Anderson since the shooting. cbslocal.com

Robberies & Thefts

Elizabeth, NJ: Garda Armored Car Officer allegedly steals $100,000 first day on the job
Larry Brooks, 19, of Elizabeth, was working for Garda, a cash vault and armored car company, when he was captured by company surveillance cameras taking the money. Brooks was charged with theft for allegedly taking the cash Tuesday evening. Security officers reportedly found $85,900 in a vehicle parked in Elizabeth before police were alerted. nj.com



Albuquerque, NM: Family Dollar clerk fights back after spotting gunman's weakness
A Family Dollar store clerk staring down the barrel of a gun made a heroic decision to turn the tables of an armed robber in June. When that gunman turned his weapon sideways gangster style, the clerk realized there was no magazine in the gun. No magazine probably means no bullets, so the clerk knew it was safe to take him out. The suspect fled the store and no arrests have been made in this case. kob.com



Minnesota Gun Retailers get a crash course on thwarting thieves; ATF's education push
"The theme of this seminar is how to protect your business, how to protect your assets - which ultimately means how to protect your livelihood," said Sarah Schmidt, an ATF industry operations investigator. The agency recently noted that Minnesota saw a five-year high in reported stolen firearms last year, but more than half came from a single burglary in Millville. Nationally, the number of firearms stolen in gun-store burglaries has shot up 48 percent since 2012. startribune.com


Hong Kong: A Jordanian Man arrested; Swallowed Diamonds in $11 Million attempted Robbery
A Middle Eastern man found no way out of a jewelry firm in Central shortly after he was said to have snatched $11 Million worth of diamonds and swallowed some of them when he realized police were closing in. The 22-year-old Jordanian man who has been in Hong Kong on a tourist visa since Wednesday was arrested in the middle of the alleged robbery at the office of M & B Diamonds, where he was also accused of beating up a female shopkeeper. scmp.com



Austin, TX: Police searching for Armed Robbery suspect; CVS, Walgreens, and Randalls Pharmacy in the last month
Austin Police seek the public's assistance finding a man who allegedly robbed various pharmacies for drugs at gunpoint. Police said all of the incidents happened in July. The man, who can be seen in surveillance footage, approaches the pharmacy and demands controlled drugs while armed. kvue.com



(Update) Atlanta, GA: Two Arrested in $700,000 Kay Jewelers Armed Robbery
Two people have been arrested in connection with an April 2017 armed robbery of a Conyers jewelry store.
According to the FBI, Cephos Leyon "Jamal" White, 29, and Sandrika Denise Sears, aka Nubian Monae, 31, were arrested on Wednesday. Police said White and Sears entered Kay Jewelers on April 18 and robbed the store at gunpoint, making off with more than $700,000 worth of jewelry. The arrests were made without any incident. 11alive.com

Cleveland, OH: Brother and Sister charged with 16 Armed Robberies

Brooklyn, NY: Bonnie & Clyde Rob 8 stores in 10 days, Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and East New York

Naples, FL: Brazen Smash-and-Grab Burglary at Bigham Jewelers

(Update) Colorado Springs, CO: Suspect arrested in King Soopers Pharmacy Armed Robbery; pills recovered

Jareds in the Regency Square at Brandon, : Brandon, FL reported Grab & Run on 7/27, item valued at $2,999

Piercing Pagoda in the Westfield San Francisco Centre, San Francisco, CA reported a Grab & Run on 7/27, item valued at $249

Sentencings & Updates

Rapid City, SD: Trial Scheduled for Man Accused in Killing of C-Store Clerk

Pittsburgh, PA: Coraopolis man indicted in pharmacy robbery

Georgetown, SC: Man gets 15 years for robbing three Georgetown stores in one night

Newark Man And Wilmington Man Charged In String Of Robberies

Arson/Fire

Baton Rouge, LA: Fire Department says someone deliberately set fire that destroyed Family Dollar
Baton Rouge Fire Department officials determined arson as the cause of the blaze that damaged the Family Dollar store on Florida Boulevard and $200,000 worth of items Thursday afternoon. The fire was reported at 4:42 p.m. and was extinguished by 5:28 p.m., contained to the rear of the building. This is the second fire at the store in the past two weeks after a storage container outside was set on fire, she said, expressing frustration after she and a team had worked so hard to clean and re-open the store. theadvocate.com

Bomb Threats

Spartanburg, SC: Agencies investigate bomb threats at area Walmart stores; Employee?

Cargo Theft

Florida Ports Council Announces Security Conference
The Florida Ports Security and Technology Conference, taking place September 12-13 in Orlando, Florida, will provide a platform for seaport security operators and solution providers to come together and explore ways to optimize protection systems. The conference will delve into challenges within port security operations and offer a fresh overview of issues faced in today's technology-driven security solutions. Intensive workshops will cover challenges such as illegal entry, terrorism, human trafficking, weapon smuggling and cyber security threats on seaports, as well as the effect of these activities on global port performance. maritime-executive.com

Mexican truckers plead for crack down on cargo theft surge; trucking companies are urging lawmakers to stiffen penalties

Earnest Stewart, CFI named Asset Protection Manager for American Girl




Jamal Pineda promoted from DLPM (Puerto Rico) to RLPM for Region 6 for National Stores Inc.

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2: 4 Things to Trash If You Want to Move Up the Ladder  If you're trying to work your way up the career ladder, advance your career, learning new skills and building your network are great ways to get ahead. But there are some things that could be holding you back. Here's what you want to let go. Control use of technology

1: 3 Small Things that Separate Great Leaders from the Good Ones  Staying in touch and connected with your employees should be a top priority for leaders. It helps sustain your team's culture, retain great talent and navigate through change. Here's what you can do as a leader to connect with your team and be a great leader. Equal Footing

Everyday you've got to work and you've got to ask yourself what value are you adding to the company, to the industry and to your career. While this may seem rather ominous at first, try reducing it to your daily tasks and just make sure that with every effort you make there is value you deliver to someone, to some store or to some project. If you can merely focus on the word "value" and ask yourself am I delivering it everyday, you're then one step closer to advancing your career. Because if you can build the field they will come and play.

Just a Thought,
Gus

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