Zebra Technologies’ Prescriptive Analytics Suite Helps Home Depot Battle Shrink
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the edge of the enterprise with solutions and partners that enable organizations to gain a performance edge, today announced The Home Depot has selected Savanna® Prescriptive Analytics to help prevent fraud by identifying opportunities within the retailer’s sales data, online or in-store. The solution includes the Sales and Exception Based Reporting (EBR) module from Profitect, which is now part of Zebra.

After extensively analyzing analytics vendors in the market, The Home Depot was looking for a next generation analytics solution that offered smart tasks, workflow for accountability, and greater data insights. The Home Depot will be leveraging Savanna to process data from more than 2,000 stores in the United States and Canada.

“Our top deliverables in Asset Protection are to drive value for our customers and shareholders by reducing shrink and mitigating total retail loss,” said Scott Glenn, Vice President of Asset Protection, The Home Depot. “We recognized the need for an enterprise system that would drive these results. Zebra is providing us with unmatched functionality for our business needs.” zebra.com

LPRC Research Report: Self-Checkout Theft From the Perspective of Offenders
Retailers are often at the crossroads of staying on top of technology advancements for customer convenience and keeping inventory shrinkage to a minimum. Currently, many retailers are adopting self-checkout kiosks as they are well-liked by customers. However, thieves also prefer these kiosks.

The LPRC conducted an interview study of offenders (the process of which you can learn more about in this LPRC CrimeScience podcast) who admitted to shoplifting from a retail chain at least once in the previous 3 months using the self-checkout kiosks. The study was done to understand the effectiveness of stand-alone and integrated Public View Monitors (PVMs), the goal of which is to notify offenders that they are being monitored and recorded, and deterring shoplifting while using self-checkout technologies.

The conclusions drawn were not unimaginable: while PVMs do deter some people, having less attention from employees, among other things, makes shoplifters feel like it is easier to get away with committing crime.

The full results and conclusions are available for LPRC members in the Knowledge Center. If you’re a member, click here to view the report. If you would like to learn more and become a member, click here. lpresearch.org

LPRC Director Dr. Read Hayes Discusses Return Fraud
A Gwinnett County man was left empty-handed after a big-ticket purchase. Brian Wysocki received brand-new Apple AirPods as a gift from his wife. But he got a bigger shock when he opened the box. “To my surprise, all I received were instructions and a charger cord,” Wysocki said.

Employees at multiple Walmart locations across metro Atlanta told undercover producers they, too, have seen electronics returned to store locations by thieves with nothing in the boxes.

Return fraud is a rampant issue that affects both consumers and retailers. WSB-TV interviewed LPRC Director Dr. Read Hayes to hear his take on a recent occurrence that left a shopper empty-handed.

“You’re going to see the most desirable merchandise where it’s happening, and so now, you’re out of stock, which means the store has to eat the cost of that product and any future lost sales,” Hayes said. “That loss gets added to the cost of your next purchase or hits the stockholders, and they can’t pass that cost on to the manufacturer.” wsbtv.com

Governor Abbott Meets With Lawmakers Following El Paso Shooting
Announces Over $5.5 Million in Immediate State Funding to Assist with Recovery Efforts
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that the state of Texas will be providing more than $5.5 million in immediate financial assistance through the Criminal Justice Division (CJD) of the Governor's Public Safety Office for law enforcement agencies and the community of El Paso.

$550,000 in financial grant assistance will be administered to law enforcement agencies that bravely responded to the shooting on August 3rd, 2019 to aid in reimbursement for overtime costs.

$5 million in financial grant assistance will be administered through the following services and initiatives throughout the El Paso community

Psychological First Aid: Through the Local Mental Health Authority Emergence Health Network, psychological first aid and crisis counseling is available immediately and will be offered free of charge and long-term to survivors and those in the community experiencing vicarious trauma.

State Behavioral Health Services: At the request of Governor Abbott, Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has deployed CJD-funded staff from HHSC’s Disaster Behavioral Health Services section to coordinate behavioral health assistance to the local community, conduct behavioral needs assessments, and provide strategic planning and care coordination with local service providers

County Reimbursements: The state can aid the prosecution of the alleged suspect through funding streams available at CJD. This includes expert witness fees, investigation, increased security, juror fees, and more. Indigent defense or related defense costs are not eligible. Costs associated with overtime for El Paso County’s Office of the Medical Examiner and Sheriff’s Office for increased correctional needs are also eligible.

School-Based Mental Health Services: CJD is offering funds to ensure Independent School Districts have the on-site resources they need to support students affected directly or indirectly. Referrals for youths with higher acuity behavioral health and psychological needs will also be available.

Family Resiliency Center (FRC): To support the long-term needs of the community, CJD will provide funding to establish an FRC in El Paso. As implemented in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and other communities that experienced a mass shooting, the FRC will be a focal point for community services including mental health needs, legal services, faith-based assistance, and public information.

Post Critical Incident Seminars (PCIS): PCIS is an intensively focused therapeutic seminar with an emphasis on peer support to assist first responders suffering from traumatic stress. These seminars are eligible for CJD funding. texas.gov

Walmart Examines Role in Confronting Gun Violence
Employees circulate message calling for end to chain’s gun sales; retailer has no plans to change policies

Walmart Inc.’s chief executive said he was rethinking the company’s role in confronting gun violence in the wake of two deadly shootings at Walmart stores, but didn’t offer specific plans or changes to its firearms and ammunition sales.

“We will work to understand the many important issues that arise from El Paso and Southaven, as well as those that have been raised in the broader national discussion around gun violence,” Doug McMillon wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday evening. “We will be thoughtful and deliberate in our responses.”

Mr. McMillon spent Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, meeting with Walmart employees who worked at the store where 22 people were killed in Saturday’s attack. Last week, in Southaven, Miss., a Walmart employee who had been suspended the previous weekend shot and killed two other workers at a company’s store.

His visit and Facebook message come as the retail giant is facing pressure from some employees and antigun activists to halt its sales of firearms or prohibit shoppers from carrying guns in stores. wsj.com

Few Walmart employees heed call for walkout over gun sales
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Employees at the corporate Walmart offices in California and two other states staged a walkout in hopes that the company will stop selling guns.

About 40 employees walked out Wednesday for 15 minutes from the San Bruno, Calif., offices in an organized protest that included a moment of silence for those killed in two recent shooting incidents at Walmart stores, according to The Washington Post.

Other workers at Walmart’s e-commerce offices in New York City and Portland, Ore., also took action, The Washington Post reports.

Those who could not call out sick or wear black in solidarity were encouraged to sign a petition on Change.org that calls for Walmart and its CEO Doug McMillon to stop selling guns. As of early Thursday, it had more than 43,000 signatures. wagmtv.com

After El Paso Shooting, Workers Plot Their Own ‘What-If’ Escape Plans
Insect spray, homemade panic buttons and walk-in freezers serve as contingency plans in case of workplace attacks.

Many workers and managers say talking through similar what-if scenarios has become water-cooler conversation this week, especially in stores and other places easily accessible to consumer traffic. Even before the weekend shootings that left 31 people dead and injured dozens, some say they plotted escape paths or hiding spots. Others stocked insect spray on desks to disorient a gunman or purchased doorbells to use as makeshift panic buttons.

The contingency plans aren’t so much fail-safe strategies as a reflection of the collective anxiety and futility they feel, some say. wsj.com

What experts say that Walmart and other retailers need to do to protect shoppers and workers in the aftermath of deadly shootings that killed 24 people
Security experts say that Walmart and other retailers need to take a close look at their policies to see whether they can make improvements to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Training in-store workers to identify red flags and swiftly react in crises is one of the most powerful solutions.

Workers at Walmart and other retail chains have taken to social media to express fear that returning to work could put them in the line of fire. Experts say Walmart and other retail giants — from Target to fast-food chains like McDonald's — are now likely seriously considering how to prevent another tragedy. businessinsider.com

Retail workers say they're scared to go to work after 2 shootings this weekend at a Texas Walmart and a bar in Ohio
Retail employees seem to be taking to social media to say they're terrified to go to work for fear of getting shot at their workplace.

Scores of Twitter users are tweeting stores describing how the shootings have affected their places of work. Some say they're terrified to go to work, and others say the incidents have caused them to think about what they would do if a shooting happened at their workplace.

"I wonder if today is the day we become the next mass shooting location," one Twitter user wrote. businessinsider.com

More retail workers than law-enforcement officers were killed in homicides on the job for 6 years in a row
More retail workers than law-enforcement workers were killed in homicides on the job each year between 2012 and 2017, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest year for which this data is available is 2017.

Ninety-four retail employees were killed in homicides while at work in 2017, compared with 85 law-enforcement officers, firefighters, and others in similar positions during the same period.

The number of homicides in retail is so high in part because so many people work in the industry — many more than are employed as police officers or security guards.

The figure represents a major problem for retailers, especially as the industry additionally saw 55,480 nonfatal worker injuries in 2017.

For comparison, 85 people in protective-service jobs — law-enforcement officers, firefighters, and related careers — were killed in homicides the same year. Thirty-seven police officers and 30 security guards were among those killed in homicides.

Part of the reason the total number of retail workers murdered is comparable to that of more stereotypically dangerous jobs is because many more people work in the retail industry than as police officers or security guards. When comparing the proportional number of employees who died by homicide at work, protective-service workers were about five times more likely to die by homicide.

The fatal-injury rate for law-enforcement officers and firefighters in 2017 was 7.7 — in other words, for every 100,000 full-time employees working in this sector, 7.7 died on the job because of homicide or other fatal injuries. Out of 100,000 retail workers, 1.6 died because of fatal injuries on the job in 2017. businessinsider.com

Companies are now listing active shooters as a risk factor in securities filings
Some companies are beginning to list active shooters as risk factors in their annual reports filed with the SEC, according to analysis by the Wall Street Journal.

In recent years, more people are dying from mass shootings.

Companies like Del Taco Restaurants and Dave & Buster’s have added language that refers to active-shooter situations in the “risk factor” section of their most recent annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to analysis of regulatory filings by the Wall Street Journal.

That section of regulatory filings includes potential catastrophes like natural disasters and terrorism alongside other risks like rising labor costs and strong competition.

Since 2016, The Cheesecake Factory has warned investors about active shooter situations as a risk factor in its annual reports.

“Acts of violence at or threatened against our restaurants or the centers in which they are located, including active shooter situations and terrorism, could unfavorably impact our restaurant sales, which could materially adversely affect our financial performance,” the Cheesecake Factory said in its latest annual report.

The number of people killed by active shooters has been on the rise in recent years. The Journal reported that active shooter incidents have resulted in 306 fatalities between 2016 and 2018. cnbc.com

A New Risk Factor in Corporate Disclosures: Active Shooters
Several companies have added language to securities filings warning investors about the possible financial impact of gun violence.

The disclosures come as fatalities in mass public shootings have surged in recent years. Between 2016 and 2018, active shooter incidents left 306 people dead and 850 wounded, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s up from the previous three years, when active shooters killed 136 and wounded 181. The FBI defines an active shooter incident as one or more shooters attempting to kill people in a crowded area.

Two incidents in the past week, including one at a Walmart Inc. store in El Paso, Texas, that left 22 people dead, have drawn more attention to the security measures companies have instituted in the workplace.

“People are legitimately trying to think through whether it’s responsible to put a risk factor like this in the document,” said David Martin, senior counsel focusing on securities law at Covington & Burling LLP.

The language in the disclosures varies by company. Most reference how a shooting could affect the company’s reputation and customer traffic.

Deciding what to disclose, and which risks count as material, is more art than science. Figuring out whether a shooting is material may depend on whether a company operates spaces that are open to the public, among other factors.

In many cases, though, companies decide whether they want to add a risk factor by looking at what competitors have included, lawyers said.

Walmart didn’t list “active shooters” as potential risks in its most recent annual report. But the retailer did list “terrorist attacks” as part of a wide-ranging list of other catastrophic risk factors.  wsj.com

How to Gather Documents Overseas in a Global Investigation
How companies conduct internal investigations has evolved considerably, partly due to the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). At multinational organizations, internal investigations are often global, and investigators inquiring into possible criminal misconduct can't afford to get caught breaking the law themselves.

While the technological challenges may be significant, investigatory document gathering within the United States presents few legal challenges so long as the organization follows recommended practices, such as having previously told staff that the employer owns all company information and systems and that management reserves its right to access company data without notice.

This plays out differently abroad, especially under the GDPR and other countries' data protection laws.

In the EU, data law allows a company to review its own data only for "the specified, explicit and legitimate purposes" for which that organization originally collected that data in the first place (GDPR Article 5(1)(b)).

In addition, some EU jurisdictions have other restrictions against company investigators searching and reviewing employee text messages, e-mails, company documents, Internet search histories and security camera footage.

As another example, France prohibits managers from accessing employee e-mails until the company goes to court and brings in a court officer to oversee the review. shrm.org

U.S. Attorney Announces “Federal Initiative For The Tenderloin”
New Federal Law Enforcement Partnership To Address Crime In San Francisco’s Tenderloin District
The program, called the Federal Initiative for the Tenderloin, brings together the resources of more than 15 federal law enforcement agencies to combat endemic drug trafficking, firearms offenses, robberies, and other crime in the neighborhood. "A wonderful neighborhood being “smothered by lawlessness.” At today’s press conference, U.S. Attorney Anderson also announced charges against 32 individuals as the first steps in implementing the new program. The initiative will persist for a minimum of one year.

The Tenderloin neighborhood encompasses about 50 square blocks of downtown San Francisco. justice.gov

Bankruptcies pushing up job cuts - especially in retail
Job cuts announced due to bankruptcy have hit the highest level since 2009. That’s according to a new analysis of monthly job cut announcements from global outplacement and executive and business coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Through July, companies have announced 42,937 job cuts due to bankruptcy, which is 40% higher than the 30,673 job cuts announced for this reason through July 2018 and 19% higher than the 36,016 bankruptcy cuts announced through all of 2018. It is the highest seven-month total since 2009 when 50,258 cuts due to bankruptcy were announced, the report said. In fact, it is higher than the annual totals for bankruptcy cuts every year since 2009, when 50,911 were announced for the entire year. chainstoreage.com

As Shootings Spike in Brooklyn, N.Y.P.D. and Prosecutors Collide
PD's & Prosecutors Colliding Nationwide Continues
A progressive district attorney’s efforts to give offenders a second chance has upset the police, who are struggling to contain gun violence.

For months, his officers had wrestled with a stubborn spike in gun violence in northern Brooklyn, and by Chief Monahan’s assessment, the statistics were not his department’s fault. He took the microphone and aimed a public swipe at Brooklyn’s district attorney, Eric Gonzalez.

The salvo was a rare public glimpse of a months long spat between the police and Mr. Gonzalez over the alarming rise in shootings and murders in a small cluster of neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Shootings are up 10 percent across northern Brooklyn for the year, and in some neighborhoods — like East New York and Crown Heights — they have doubled. nytimes.com

Will drones take off within security?
The role of robotics within security continues to increase, as the technology can act as a force multiplier, expand the scope and effectiveness of security around and within a perimeter, including everything from small to expansive areas.

With drone technology advancing at a fast rate, FAA regulations loosening, and more accessible off-the-shelf solutions available, we may be at a turning point when it comes to increased adoption of drones within security, according to a recent whitepaper, Drones in Security & Surveillance, by FlytBase, an enterprise drone automation company.

“Drone patrols will augment human guards and enable security agencies, risk managers, security directors, system integrators and other stakeholders to make faster, better decisions for real-time incident response, remote security operations, event management, disaster response and more.”

The two obvious obstacles for driving broad adoption of drones in aerial security use-cases tended to be:
● Hardware (battery life, sensor quality, flight stability, etc.); and
● Regulation (especially for beyond visual-line-of-sight i.e. BVLOS operations)

Click here for the complete white paper. securitysystemsnews.com

A'Gaci to shut all 54 stores

Stein Mart Deploying Mobile POS & Endless Aisle iPads


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