July - August 2020

JULY–AUGUST 2020 | V19.4 LOSSPREVENTIONMEDIA.COM

LOSS PREVENTION MAGAZINE THE AUTHORITY ON ALL THINGS ASSET PROTECTION

PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION LP STRATEGIES FOR TODAY’S SYSTEMIC THREAT OF SOCIAL UNREST

FROM BURGLAR ALARM SALESMAN TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT REVIEWING THE USE OF VIDEO TECHNOLOGIES IN RETAIL BECOMING YOUR WORKPLACE’S GO-TO PERSON

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

6 EDITOR’S LETTER Take a Stand.Wear a Mask.

By Jack Trlica

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10 RETAIL SPONSORS 12 INTERVIEWING Storytelling: Part 2

Protests and Property Protection

By David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE, and Shane G. Sturman, CFI, CPP

28 LPM EXCELLENCE LPM Magpie Awards: Applauding Excellence

LP strategies for today’s systemic threat of social unrest

By Garett Seivold, LPM Senior Writer

Featuring Lisa LaBruno, Esq., Retail Industry Leaders Association, and Guy Yehiav, Zebra Technologies

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36 CERTIFICATION The Benchmark for Performance and Ethics

From Burglar Alarm Salesman to Executive Vice President

Interview with Dustin Ares, LPC, Malong Technologies

46 FUTURE OF LP Cyber-Security Strategies during COVID-19

By Tom Meehan, CFI

The career of Mike Grady with Vector Security

48 CYBER SECURITY Preparing for Return-to-Work Cyber-Security Risks

By James Lee, LPC, LPM Executive Editor

By Stephen Burke

55 EVIDENCE-BASED LP Making Judgments Only on Behavioral Cues Or Actions

By Read Hayes, PhD, CPP

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57 ASK THE EXPERT How Retailers Can Use Computer Vision to Adapt to Changing Times

Caught on Camera

Interview with Tom Meehan, CFI, CONTROLTEK

Reviewing the use of video technologies in retailing

58 SOLUTIONS SHOWCASE - Checkpoint - ThinkLP

By Adrian Beck, Emeritus Professor, University of Leicester

61 PRODUCT SHOWCASE

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62 PEOPLE ON THE MOVE 64 ADVERTISERS

Becoming Your Workplace’s Go-to Person

64 SUBSCRIPTION FORM 65 VENDOR SPONSORS 66 PARTING WORDS Your Impact on Others Matters More than You Think

How to make yourself indispensable in your company

By Kevin McMenimen, LPC

By Bruce Tulgan, CEO, RainmakerThinking

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EDITOR’S LETTER

Take a Stand.

Wear a Mask.

T

he crazy times we live in today amid the reopening of the economy in an ongoing pandemic is nowhere more apparent than the issue of wearing a face covering. To say that wearing a mask in public has become politicized is an understatement. To a majority of Americans, the mandate to wear masks in public places is reasonable and prudent. To a very vocal minority of citizens, it’s an invasion of privacy and liberty akin to gun control.

The controversy has created a conundrum for retailers. If a state or county has mandated wearing masks in public, how does the retailer address customers who enter their store without masks? Most retailers have taken the position that their front-line employees should not be put in the position to enforce mandatory mask wearing.

We applaud Brian Dodge and RILA for taking strong stands supporting the industry, retail employees, and consumers throughout this pandemic. Too often companies, associations, and other organizations choose not to take important public positions for fear of alienating stakeholders or customers. For the sake of public health and safely reopening our economy, we should all follow RILA’s lead.

Charlotte-based supermarket chain Harris Teeter issued a statement when the North Carolina governor mandated wearing masks in public that said the grocer would offer free, disposable medical masks to customers not wearing them but would not force customers to leave the stores if they choose not to wear a face covering.

The statement read: “For those not in compliance, our policy is for a member of store management to approach the shopper to inform them of the order and offer a free, disposable mask. If the individual declines, we must remember and understand that there are many exceptions outlined in the order, and our associates are not authorized

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nor qualified to ask an individual to present proof that they qualify for an exception.”

Many other retailers have taken a similar stance. Other retailers are asking security officers to monitor mask wearing, and customers are taking it upon themselves at times to confront those not wearing masks. The result has been a number of viral videos on social media of shouting matches inside stores as well as physical confrontations.

By mid-July, the situation had escalated to the point that Brian Dodge, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), issued a letter to the National Governors Association advocating a uniform policy for mask wearing for all states. Here are excerpts from the letter: “Keeping retailers and other critical segments of the economy open requires everyone to observe common-sense practices around hygiene and social distancing. That includes wearing a mask or face covering while shopping or in a public space….

“Wearing a mask is not about fear, and it certainly should not reflect one’s politics. Wearing a mask is about respecting others and preventing the spread of a deadly disease. This should no longer be up for debate….

“We urge every governor to require consumers who are not incumbered by a medical condition to wear masks when shopping or in a public place.”

The statement goes on to recommend that store employees not be charged with enforcing the policy, and retailers should not be fined for customer noncompliance.

We applaud Brian Dodge and RILA for taking this and other strong stands supporting the industry, retail employees, and consumers throughout this pandemic. Too often companies, associations, and other organizations choose not to take important public positions for fear of alienating stakeholders or customers. For the sake of public health and safely reopening our economy, we should all follow RILA’s lead. Take a stand. Wear a mask.

Jack Trlica Managing Editor

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EDITORIAL BOARD Charles Bernard Group Vice President, Asset Protection and Comprehensive Loss, Walgreens Ray Cloud Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention, Ross Stores Scott Draher, LPC Vice President, Loss Prevention, Safety, and Operations, Lowe’s Scott Glenn, EDJ, LPC Vice President, Asset Protection, The Home Depot Barry Grant Chief Operating Officer, Photos Unlimited Robert Holm Director, Global Safety & Security McDonald’s Seth Hughes Director, Asset Protection, Risk & Safety, Internal Audit REI Co-op Frank Johns, LPC Chairman, The Loss Prevention Foundation Mike Lamb, LPC Vice President, Asset Protection, The Kroger Co. Michael Limauro, LPC Executive Leader, Asset Protection Whole Foods Market David Lund, LPC Vice President, Loss Prevention, DICK’S Sporting Goods

John Matas, CFE, CFCI Vice President, Profit Protection, Investigations, Fraud, & ORC, Macy’s Randy Meadows Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention, Kohl’s Dan Moren Senior Manager Starbucks Richard Peck, LPC Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention The TJX Companies Joe Schrauder Vice President, Asset Protection, Walmart Stores Tina Sellers, LPC Vice President, Loss Prevention, Family Dollar Hank Siemers, CFI Vice President, Global Retail Security, Tiffany & Co. Mark Stinde, MBA, LPC Senior Vice President, Asset Protection, JCPenney Paul Stone, CFE, LPC VP Security, Goodwill Industries of SE Wisconsin Pamela Velose Vice President, Asset Protection, Belk Keith White, LPC Executive Vice President, Loss Prevention and Global Sustainability, Gap Inc.

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700 Matthews Mint Hill Rd, Ste C Matthews, NC 28105 704-365-5226 office, 704-365-1026 fax MANAGING EDITOR Jack Trlica JackT@LPportal.com EXECUTIVE EDITORS James Lee, LPC JimL@LPportal.com Merek Bigelow MerekB@LPportal.com

Loss Prevention, LP Magazine, LP Magazine Europe, LPM, and LPM Online are service marks owned by the publishers and their use is restricted. All editorial content is copyrighted. No article may be reproduced by any means without expressed, written permission from the publisher. Reprints or PDF versions of articles are available by contacting the publisher. Statements of fact or opinion are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publishers. Advertising in the publication does not imply endorsement by the publishers. The editor reserves the right to accept or reject any article or advertisement.

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EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jacque Brittain, LPC JacB@LPportal.com RETAIL TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Tom Meehan, CFI TomM@LPportal.com SENIOR WRITER Garett Seivold GarettS@LPportal.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Read Hayes, PhD, CPP Walter Palmer, CFI, CFE Maurizio P. Scrofani, CCSP, LPC Ben Skidmore Shane G. Sturman, CFI, CPP Bill Turner, LPC David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Kevin McMenimen, LPC KevinM@LPportal.com DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL OPERATIONS John Selevitch JohnS@LPportal.com SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGERS Justin Kemp, LPQ Karen Rondeau DESIGN & PRODUCTION SPARK Publications info@SPARKpublications.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Larry Preslar ADVERTISING STRATEGIST Ben Skidmore 972-587-9064 office, 972-692-8138 fax BenS@LPportal.com SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

NEW OR CHANGE OF ADDRESS LPMsubscription.com or circulation@LPportal.com POSTMASTER Send change of address forms to Loss Prevention Magazine P.O. Box 92558 Long Beach, CA 90809-2558 Loss Prevention aka LP Magazine aka LPM (USPS 000-710) is published bimonthly

by Loss Prevention Magazine, Inc., 700 Matthews Mint Hill Rd, Ste C, Matthews, NC 28105. Print subscriptions are available free to qualified loss prevention and associated professionals in the U.S. and Canada at LPMsubscription.com.

The publisher reserves the right to determine qualification standards.

International print subscriptions are available for $99 per year payable in U.S. funds at circulation@LPportal.com. For questions about subscriptions, contact circulation@LPportal.com or call 888-881-5861. Periodicals postage paid at Matthews, NC, and additional mailing offices.

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INTERVIEWING

by David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE and Shane G. Sturman, CFI, CPP

Storytelling: Part 2 I

n our last column, we introduced the idea and importance of using a story to expand on empathy and show understanding, as well as the structure of telling a good story. In this column, we will address how the story works and why it continues rapport and builds trust.

The stories that we choose are not about the individual to whom we are speaking, but rather others who have faced circumstances or problems that are common to everyone.

When using stories to show understanding and empathy, the interviewer does not have to talk about circumstances that are illegal or immoral when developing the stories. In fact, the discussion seems to be much more effective when it doesn’t deal with these types of issues but instead focuses on more everyday circumstances that people face. The stories that are most effective are those that fit the experience of the listener’s everyday life. When focusing on common stories, it allows the individual to more easily generalize the information into their own decision-making.

Stories can provide a means of encouraging action, letting the listener visualize how to change their circumstances.

The story cannot have so much detail that it engages all the cognitive ability of the listener; it must leave enough resources so that they can consider their own personal changes.

can use social proof of how others have handled problems or failed to do so while providing an opportunity to consider available options.

Other stories can focus on the future and the opportunities that lie ahead. This allows the listener to begin to become comfortable with what the future may hold.

Listening to how others have handled obstacles gives people an opportunity to visualize the variety of avenues the future may hold for them.

So the stories can offer insight and resolution, but more importantly they commit the listener and create a state of engagement and thinking. Each story is presented as something of value worth listening to and should actively reflect the truth. Our truth is that we believe it’s good to talk through problems. When people are engaged and thinking about the story, they begin to apply the circumstances to their own situations and consider the possible remedies.

One thing that the interviewer should consider is the mindset of the subject. If I do this or that, “What’s in it for me?” Many decisions are simply made by considering the personal benefits of a course of action. If the positives outweigh the negatives, then the choice is easily made. If the negatives outweigh the positives, the choice is also easily made. When there is a balance between the two, however, it is often a story that can help change the balance.

Stories to Encourage Action

Stories can provide a means of encouraging action, letting the listener visualize how to change their circumstances. The story cannot have so much detail that it engages all the cognitive ability of the listener; it must leave enough resources so that they can consider their own personal changes.

Some stories may be used to share knowledge with the listener about how problems got resolved or failed to do so.

The story can focus on a myriad of possible options to resolve the problem or leave it unfulfilled. This type of story JULY–AUGUST 2020

© 2020 Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, Inc.

What’s in It for Me?

Types of Stories

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Zulawski and Sturman are executives in the investigative and training firm of Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates (w-z.com). Zulawski is a senior partner, and Sturman is president. Sturman is also a member of ASIS International’s Retail Loss Prevention Council. They can be reached at 800-222-7789 or via email at dzulawski@w-z.com and ssturman@w-z.com.

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The subject must see something worthwhile achieved in the story. For us in showing understanding, our story revolves around a change of perspective. When people are in trouble, they position themselves as victims who are helpless.

The purpose of this story is to reengage the individual, providing an opportunity for them to have some power in the situation. To do this, we might select a story that puts them in a decision-making capacity over others. They are now in a position where they must evaluate the actions and explanations of others and then decide. Intellectually this takes them out of the role of victim, and they now must consider how other people acted in a difficult situation. continued on page 14 LOSSPREVENTIONMEDIA.COM

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business. He finally purchased a bar and became addicted to crack cocaine. His life was literally one disaster after the next.

Mike was having trouble sleeping because his pillow wouldn’t hold its shape. He learned to sew, so he could make a prototype pillow that would hold that shape. While he had a bit of success selling a few pillows, the cocaine slowly took a grip on his life, causing him to lose his wife, his house, and almost his business. He hit bottom, and even his cocaine dealer cut him off because he was using too much crack. He was down and out. Then he got control of his addiction and his business.

At that point he was selling maybe $100,000 worth of pillows. He got his act together, focused on a better tomorrow, and today he employs over 1,500 people and has in excess of $300 million in sales. Just think: today 1,500 people are gainfully employed, just by Mike, not to mention those that are employed by his suppliers because he looked forward to better days.

He came to that crossroads in his life where he had to make a decision about which way to go. We’ve all been at that place at one time or another. That’s why it’s always important to think about the future and where we want to be.

continued from page 12

In this simple story, one of the people in trouble decides to deny his action while the other explained what happened and how he made his decision. In the story, as the decision-maker, the subject will appreciate the cooperation and discussion the second person decided to use. This is a decision the subject makes by themselves unaided, and they have now committed to a course of action that they believe is appropriate. The subject has identified their own benefit in the story, one that can be applied to their situation. Their commitment to this course of action encourages consistency with their decision, which has already been made.

The purpose of the story focusing on the future is to illustrate better days and outcomes. Effectively, this story revolves around a rags-to-riches concept or adversity overcome.This does not mean financially necessarily but moving from a point of despair to hope or making lemonade out of lemons.

Common Ground

Focusing on the Future For the people whom we deal with, our conversations with them occur at a particularly dark moment in their lives.

This moment is filled with fear about the unknown, and their primary concern is the present rather than their future.

They are concerned about their fears: arrest, termination, embarrassment, financial problems, or some other issue. The purpose of the story focusing on the future is to illustrate better days and outcomes. Effectively, this story revolves around a rags-to-riches concept or adversity overcome. This does not mean financially necessarily but moving from a point of despair to hope or making lemonade out of lemons.

There are literally thousands of stories of people who overcome the odds to recover or exceed what they had done before. Consider the story of Mike Lindell.

The Story of Mike Lindell People have a choice of how they want to deal with their difficulties. Some just go with the flow being pushed one way or another, while others step up and look toward a different future.

I remember an incredibly interesting story about a guy named Mike. Mike was fired from one of his first jobs at a grocery store after a disagreement with the manager. He went on to fail at a carpet-cleaning business, as a card counter in Las Vegas, as a pig farmer, and in a lunch-wagon

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The stories that we tell the subject focus on understanding the individual circumstances and decision-making that brought the person to that crossroads. Often, a story is chosen to convey a message that would be difficult to say directly, but the shared experiences of life allow the message to be conveyed to the subject. Sometimes the story names the problem, so the subject can more clearly assess how it affects their life and situation. Ironically, the stories also effect the teller using the same parts of the brain that the listener uses when considering and evaluating the story. This builds empathy and a common bond between the teller and the listener as they both experience the effect of the story. Both are relating to a situation they could see themselves in.

Regardless which type of story the investigator tells, there is a flow or sequence of events that connect with one another. There is some form of conflict that keeps the listener’s interest to find out how it ends. There is fear and dread about what is going to happen. This is where the subject is mentally and emotionally. The finality of the story relieves the pressure, making the individual feel better. And finally, there is the moral of the story, which leaves no question about what was to be understood.

The investigator uses stories to build a connection with the subject, showing understanding, sharing empathy, and building rapport. Our stories and the reactions to them give the listener an opportunity to show agreement, neutrality, or disagreement with its premise. Just as importantly, it gives the listener an opportunity to assess the teller’s character, understanding, and empathy toward others. If the listener hears this and assesses it in a positive fashion, it builds trust and encourages the view that we are not so different after all.

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Runrun2 / m.mphoto / Shutterstock.com Photo illustration by SPARK Publications

FEATURE

PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION LP STRATEGIES FOR TODAY’S SYSTEMIC THREAT OF SOCIAL UNREST

By Garett Seivold, LPM Senior Writer

PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION

A

s the image spread of George Floyd going lifeless under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, it was with bitter wisdom that LP professionals could see where this was heading.

“The reality is that every police officer trial, every police shooting, has become a potential flashpoint,” said Dave Colen, former director of corporate investigations and standards at Walgreens. And that was back when stores were burned and windows smashed after Freddie Grey died in the hands of Baltimore police. Five years on, the risk to retailers has only grown from social unrest, ideological and political protests turning violent, and associated criminal opportunism.

Chaos causes survival instincts to kick in. It fuels a need to protect oneself. And that is certainly one important element of readying for protests and mitigating the impact from vandalism and looting. Merchants learned—or relearned—about threats, vulnerabilities, and physically protecting individual stores.

But the scope of this summer’s looting, the scale of wanton destruction, and the remedies that cities subsequently discussed were also reminders of just how connected store security is to the larger retail ecosystem and to society at large—and of the work still to be done on many levels to build resilience. It’s a lesson for loss prevention that top retail executives have warmed to as many were uncharacteristically vocal in expressions of solidarity with peaceful calls for racial justice and police reform. Store security, like a retail brand’s fortunes, is captive to large external forces.

The spark lit in Minneapolis surely evoked a sense of déjà vu, but the stage was uniquely set for the fire to burn hotter. Months of social isolation, crushing unemployment, organized retail crime (ORC) gangs looking to make up for missed opportunities during shutdown orders, escalating societal divisiveness, rancor, and incivility—it all bore down squarely on

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retailers in late May. “At the very moment when retail establishments were restocking shelves in anticipation of the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the riots in major cities added another layer of risk to their businesses,” explained Timothy Williams, vice chairman with Pinkerton and a security and risk mitigation expert.

For more than a week, stores burned and were ransacked. A Target in downtown Minneapolis was among the first and hardest hit, Timothy Williams and hundreds of other stores were destroyed. Soon, violence and destruction became

frighteningly widespread. Entire streets worth of shops burned to the ground.

Nordstrom’s flagship in Seattle and Neiman’s in Dallas were vandalized.

Apple, Verizon, and myriad other electronic stores were ransacked in major cities across the country.

High-end sneaker and cannabis shops were targets of choice. Chanel and other luxury stores in Manhattan and in exclusive shopping districts nationwide were picked through. More than $1 million worth of products was stripped from a Louis Vuitton store in Atlanta. Cities said they were calculating losses in billions.

Major retailers of all stripes closed up shop in affected areas. More than 250 CVS stores across twenty-one states were damaged, and sixty remained closed more than a week

How Organizations Use Information Posted on Social Media* to Manage Crises

77% Understand the scope and magnitude of the crisis 42% Learn how others perceive our company’s actions and response 40% Update our corporate communications 39% Reposition people and assets out of harm’s way 39% Update the executive team 38% Support our internal investigations 37% Improve employee travel risk management 36% Comply with state, local, or federal emergency directives 33% Justify changes in security protocols and procedures 30% Monitor the safety and integrity of our supply chain 22% Ensure business continuity 20% Justify maintaining or increasing our executive protection program 9% We don’t use social media alerts to manage the crisis *or other online platforms Source: 678 responses to a joint survey by Dataminr and Security Management magazine of members of ASIS International, Oct. 2018.

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION devastation firsthand this summer, noting that many member businesses were completely cleaned out in major cities across Alex Hearding the country.

It is also hard to imagine that this summer’s social unrest was a one-off.

seemed to be fueling the looting and property destruction associated with protests after George Floyd’s killing.

The primary driver was a subject of much debate, often falling along political lines. To some, Antifa was sparking most of the violence. Others pointed fingers at white nationalists intent on discrediting peaceful protestors. State and local officials facilitated the narrative by claiming violence was provoked by “outsiders”

The spark lit in Minneapolis surely evoked a sense of déjà vu, but the stage was uniquely set for the fire to burn hotter. Months of social isolation, crushing unemployment, organized retail crime (ORC) gangs looking to make up for missed opportunities during shutdown orders, escalating societal divisiveness, rancor, and incivility—it all bore down squarely on retailers in late May.

lev radin / Shutterstock.com

after protests started, according to the company. A Target spokesman said 200 stores were closed the weekend following the killing of George Floyd, and several remained closed until they could be repaired after sustaining major damage.

Retailers have contended with protests-gone-wild many times before.

Damage and looting of retail properties associated with civil unrest is nothing new. But there did seem to be something different this summer, and it could change how retail will need to assess risks from protests and social movements moving forward.

The riots revealed the ability for today’s social unrest to spread rapidly, “enabled by uncontrollable social media and new democratized communication” that can quickly “bring thousands of people together in coordinated protests,” according to the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, which has conducted “stress case scenarios” of social unrest to understand how they might spread and the damage they’re likely to cause.

“Social unrest is now a systemic threat [and] has the potential to manifest in large-scale simultaneous occurrences,” the Cambridge Centre warned. “It poses a serious and growing societal threat” that “is changing the way that businesses are thinking about their risk from political instability.”

Several retailers told LP Magazine that civil unrest and social protests have raised the bar for retail crisis preparedness programs. Additive to traditional sources of agitation, LP teams now must track every police officer shooting, impending verdict, and key anniversary date to analyze the potential for it to spark protest and put store assets at risk. The senior asset protection manager for a national retailer said their crisis team convenes an emergency call whenever an event occurs that could spark a violent community response. “As unrest grows, it can potentially bring violence, looting, and property damage,” warned Alex Hearding, chief risk management officer at the National Cannabis Risk Management Association. He saw

Racism sparked this summer’s unrest in the US, but a combination of unemployment, tribal politics, and unequal wealth distribution could drive sociopolitical unrest in many parts of the world. Anger recedes, tempers cool, redress may even placate protestors for a time, but the risk of violence to stores remains ever present, dormant until the next viral video, election result, or catalytic event. What issues might LP think about during the during the respite?

An Evolving Risk Picture As events unfolded, before the benefit of hindsight, many motives LP MAGAZINE

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rather than placing responsibility on members of their own communities.

The Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) brought together members to share intelligence and solutions amid the turmoil. In a situation analysis summary from an emergency group call, which included participants from twenty retailers and topical experts, several groups were identified for co-opting the protests.

They included far-left groups seeking to promote revolution and far-right groups attempting to stoke racial divisions and instigate a “race war.”

But the call summary noted that the social unrest was co-opted by another

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION force: individuals engaging in crime for personal gain.

This simpler reality seemed a more common culprit to some. Yes, anger was boiling over, and some protesters may have reacted violently to police shows of force or been goaded by the media’s looting-heavy coverage, but much of the store theft was likely unprincipled, committed for self-gain.

It’s even what Joe Biggs, an organizer for the ultra-right hate group Proud Boys, told journalists he thought was behind the looting. “What they really want is a new 72-inch screen TV,” he said.

There was indeed organization behind the ransacking of retail stores, but those instances weren’t usually political groups, say some experts.

After reviewing video of a looting incident in Long Beach, California, in which a dozen police officers stood idly by, one longtime ORC analyst told LP Magazine it had all the hallmarks of an ORC gang, including a woman orchestrating the in- and outflow of boosters and directing them to escape vehicles. “Positioning cars and trucks outside of stores, looting, and loading them with stolen goods,” was a tactic used by those

Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com

It is a compressed timeline to be sure—from video, to outrage, to organized protests, to protest spiraling out of control and stores being damaged—but long enough for retailers to issue emergency alerts, enact contingency plans, and take critical actions to harden properties and remove and protect valuables.

Looters often seemed not to distinguish between chain stores and smaller retailers, hitting both in equal measure and seemingly driven by what they could get rather than any perceived symbolism of their attack. Some minority-owned local retailers were stripped bare, as were national chains.

One looter, running out of a nearly empty CVS with an arm full of eggs, gave a local reporter his view on the reason for the looting: “We’re doing it because we can,” he said. Experts in crowd psychology say riots are often an expression of power by groups that have traditionally felt powerless.

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engaged in unlawful activities, according to the retailers convened by the LPRC. Some journalists noted that many looters appeared to be methodically blocking off certain streets with their vehicles, working cooperatively, and calling out commands to one another, while others seemed to spontaneously join in.

That protests associated with the killing of George Floyd were co-opted by many people for many reasons seems to suggest the threat has grown and that protests could more likely spark violence in the months or years JULY–AUGUST 2020

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ahead. If Occupy Wall Street protests erupted today, would they be as peaceful?

Tony Gallo, a longtime LP executive and Tony Gallo managing partner at Sapphire Risk Advisory Group, a retail security consulting company, said he saw significant levels of organization in some attacks on clients, which are primarily high-risk specialty businesses such as jewelry stores, cannabis dispensaries, and pawn shops. “I think we saw more organized groups [in this summer’s looting],” he said. “In one case, a gang actually secured a store for several hours, fending off other looters, while they proceeded to attack the store safe.”

Sergeant Ray Kelly of the Alameda County (California) Sheriff’s Office described an attack on a local car dealership—during which seventy-five vehicles were stolen while police were occupied at protests in Oakland—as being “very strategic” and carried out by “well-coordinated criminals.” Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his department intervened in a significant coordinated operation “to sack an outlet mall.” Neil Sullivan, an expert on mass events security and retired commander for the city of Chicago, thinks it marks a new day.

“I have been a student of these things,” he said in an AP interview.

“And I have never seen anything like it.”

Industry experts like Caroline Kochman, executive director at the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP), could probably see it coming. She told LP Magazine that her group tracked an increase in retail theft activity following two recent galvanizing events, the 9/ 11 terrorist attack and the 2008 financial crisis, and that it loomed as stores reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown lifted. During an

PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION LP Magazine webinar, John Matas, CFE, CFCI, cochair of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators, said he was expecting the same. “When the brick-and-mortar stores start to reopen, there’s no doubt that there is an anticipation of significant theft issues.”

Large-scale peaceful protests, then, provided perfect cover to those already itching for a chance to strike.

And the impression that looters largely got away with their activities this summer could raise the risk that any future protests—for any number of causes—will be used by organized gangs to commit theft.

During the LPRC emergency call, retailers noted that police in some cities were overwhelmed. This risk may also be exacerbated as some cities are heeding calls to shift monies away from police toward social services for communities of color.

While it may or may not be a better

allocation of funds for those communities, it could certainly leave police departments less capable to respond when cities catch fire. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, with protests still ongoing, announced he was slashing the LAPD’s budget by more than $150 million. As local communities undertake efforts to reshape the role of police, retailers and their security representatives should get involved so that the industry’s interests and expertise are included in the conversations.

A Need for Intelligence and Analysis The gathering speed at which viral videos travel is impressive, and yet there is typically a lag between events hitting online and when they catch fire.

George Floyd’s killing, for example, started trending on the homepages of websites like Yahoo some thirty-six hours before commercial property damage in Minneapolis and several

days before criminals were using the cover of protests in other cities to loot retail stores. It is a compressed timeline to be sure—from video, to outrage, to organized protests, to protest spiraling out of control and stores being damaged—but long enough for retailers to issue emergency alerts, enact contingency plans, and take critical actions to harden properties and remove and protect valuables.

Knowing about a fraught event in real time can provide LP teams with a valuable lead. Social media provides a critical temperature check, but even before the comments section beneath the video to George Floyd’s killing started to fill, experienced security leaders, if aware of the breaking story, would know that store assets were at risk. Advanced intelligence is key. An early-warning system can be a lifeline to stores at risk.

Some LP teams at major big box stores work on the principle that any event that impacts communities

Inventory Quarantine Safely process returns in Real-Time

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION impacts their stores. If so, then LP needs to know about every incident that a community will feel. Crisis teams have grown accustomed to tracking weather events, but what about events that threaten to inflame or incite? “Just like with an approaching hurricane, there is always some time where you can see what’s coming. Even if it’s just that a protest is scheduled for tonight, it gives you warning to take critical

decisions to enact curfews—or not—varied wildly. Police response also differed, and in some cases “delaying a show of force may have exacerbated unlawful activities,” according to the LPRC summary of member input. All such information needs to be gathered, contextualized, compared against asset locations, and then acted upon.

And it all must happen on the fly, said retailers participating in the

“Architectural design will need to change. Retail shops and stores of all kinds will have to review their design and how products are displayed. Window display areas may need to be separated from stores by walls so that if a window is broken, access to the entire store is limited.”

Marcio Gianotto / Shutterstock.com

– Bob Doyle, Security Expert And Law Enforcement Veteran

actions,” said Gallo. It can be lifesaving intelligence that corporate teams can then use to reduce the risk of harm to staff, by warning store managers to be vigilant, ramp-up security or staffing, or close stores.

That, then, seems a critical point of review: how does a retail security team learn and make sense of incidents that could spark unrest? Is the process sufficiently robust to immediately learn what’s happened, to anticipate what’s going to happen next, and to put it into context, assign risk levels, and facilitate a response?

As noted earlier, the motives for violence were muddy and players diverse, which made the threat of violence and looting vary city by city and night by night, according to the Department of Justice. Local officials’

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emergency meeting convened by the LPRC. They noted that situations across the country were constantly and rapidly evolving and that there was considerable variation in unrest across cities and states. It was “a new situation every day, sometimes every hour,” making it “important to continuously track activities and threats.” Tony Gallo noted that his clients were affected first in Minneapolis but that the biggest problem he saw was in California. “It can start in one place and then all of a sudden shift to another part of the country, and then somewhere else,” he told LP Magazine.

While not every rioting event tracks the same, the advice from LP executives on the LPRC emergency call on the topic of intelligence-gathering JULY–AUGUST 2020

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and information management is probably a good roadmap for whenever social unrest starts to swell: ■ Connect with local, state, and federal law enforcement. “Protecting the business during a riot is dependent on effective local political and law enforcement engagement, to intervene to protect employees, customers, and the business,” noted Pinkerton’s Timothy Williams.

■ Share intelligence with other retailers and law enforcement.

■ Use social media to track activities of organizations known to be involved in protests. Even if the organizations are lawful and peaceable, others may use the protest as an opportunity for crime.

The LPRC group suggested that major retailers should use a special investigations team to collect information on social media.

■ Follow information released by state and national retail organizations and others.

■ Benchmark with other local retailers regarding store hours and other practices. “Establishing good communications and relationships with other firms in the immediate area creates a form of mutual ‘guardianship’ of businesses in the area who could alert each other when disruptive crowds or demonstrations are forming or when an incident occurs in the immediate area that could result in problems,” noted Williams.

■ Collect on-the-ground information and provide information to your security operations center to be used on the ground.

■ Follow retail and other informative organizations. And be prepared to provide facts-based context for senior leaders who will be getting information from general media sources that could provide an unrealistic picture of risk, one LP executive suggested to LP Magazine.

■ Assess risk daily. Periods of unrest are likely to have a peak and decline in activity.

PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION Definitions of Types of Social Unrest Level 1: Social Unrest

Level 2: Civil Disorder

Level 3: Mob Rule

Level 4: Rebellion

Peaceful protest

Unarmed mob violence

Unarmed mob violence with no law enforcement

Armed organized insurrection

Demonstrations, sit-ins, nonviolent protests

Crosses boundary of illegality: riots, looting, arson

Systematic destruction aimed at targets of hatred

Civil war, sectarian violence

EXAMPLES

Peaceful anticapitalist protests, Occupy Wall Street campaign, US (2012)

London Riots (2011), Bombay Riots (1992-3), Bread Riots France (1788)

Paris Riots (2005), Rodney King Riots (1992)

Arab Spring, including civil war in Libya & Syria; French Revolution (1789)

DRIVERS

Infringement of civil rights, government policies, economic conditions, unfairness

Economic disparity, unemployment, food price hikes, austerity driven cuts

Racial/ethnic tensions, religious tensions, lack of food or water

Sectarian violence, elite factionalism, wide-scale unrest

CHARACTERISTICS

Generally peaceful and isolated in character

High potential for contagion and for damage

Law enforcement forced to withdraw, temporary

Often protracted conflict with the potential to spark regional conflagration

DESTRUCTIVENESS

Disruptive to activities, no physical damage

Property directly targeted, cars damaged, arson

Systematic looting and destruction, specific groups being targeted, death and injury

Large scale physical and infrastructure damage, high death toll, massacres

LEVEL DESCRIPTION

Source: G. Bowman, F. Caccioli, A. W. Coburn, R. Hartley, S. Kelly, D. Ralph, S. J. Ruffle, J. Wallace. 2014. Stress Test Scenario: Millennial Uprising Social Unrest Scenario. Cambridge Risk Framework series, Center for Risk Studies, University of Cambridge.

■ Use

intelligence and analysis to tailor messaging to teams in different locations.

■ Release reports to teams on daily basis if necessary.

Gathering information is vital, and intelligent analysis of information is also necessary. Mob violence is still facilitated by social media, but simply monitoring for mentions may no longer be sufficient as looters seem to have grown wiser at the social media tracking performed by law enforcement and businesses. For example, several retailers noted that offenders were at times targeting locations away from areas where protests were being planned and where they believed police would not be.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said some people stealing from stores

were using encrypted messaging to communicate. In the San Francisco area, there were false tweets about looting and rioting that police believe may have been attempts by thieves to divert the police away from targets they wanted to hit, including a false tweet about an officer being shot in one area while a cannabis dispensary was being looted elsewhere. Groups of thieves struck a series of big box stores on Chicago’s South Side while periodically calling 911 to falsely report that a mall several miles away was being ransacked, a city council member told the Associated Press.

For smaller retailers, like the high-risk specialty stores that Gallo works with, “constant contact with law enforcement is particularly critical to get advanced notice and take LP MAGAZINE

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appropriate action.” Some larger retailers combine such coordination with social media monitoring tools or crisis management intelligence platforms, like tools offered by Dataminr, Everbridge, and Echosec.

Location-based social intelligence software can be useful for monitoring protests, allowing users to define a specific geographic area—a mile-wide circle around a store near a protest site—and then live stream the geotagged location of all social media posts within the defined area that contain keywords of interest, the store’s name, for example.

At the 2019 NRF Protect conference, Ryan Mason, asset protection analyst at Big Lots, said they use a real-time information platform for more timely and informed

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION decisions during critical events and to get a better sense of their scale. “We can have eyes on the ground during the event through social media,” he said. The top LP executive for a luxury global retailer added that protest areas and activities are often publicized in advance and that information monitoring helps alert them to an imminent escalation of tensions.

By layering company policies and protocols on top of threat data,

and disrupting fencing operations, working with online marketplaces to prevent the sale of stolen goods, and promoting the ability to identify and track goods at the product level and develop benefit-denial theft prevention solutions. As hard security measures were overwhelmed, all that remained was the ability to deny looters opportunity to capitalize on their crimes. (For more on reducing rewards from committing crime during social

Tverdokhlib / Shutterstock.com

An ever-present threat, the risk from vandalism could grow as stores and retail brands become surrogates for political expression and as racial tensions rise. There was already a rise before the pandemic in property destruction characterized as hate crimes—more than a 10 percent increase in 2018 over the level from three years prior.

software solutions can automate execution of predefined communications processes and track progress, which can be a critical lifeline if social unrest is starting to roil. “The goal…is to achieve situational safety quickly, and with as little risk as possible,” according to Mike Anderson, chief operating officer at Echosec, a dark web and social media threat intelligence firm. “Getting a clear perspective on the events as they unfold is critical for understanding what’s actually happening. Social media monitoring allows rapid access to this information.”

Finally, looting this summer revealed value in the “everyday” intelligence and communications work that LP teams do, including identifying

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unrest, see the accompanying sidebar for advice shared by the Loss Prevention Research Council.)

The Addition of Reputational Risks Like popular pro athletes, retail brands historically have maintained neutrality on hot-button societal issues.

Also like athletes, that has changed.

Public expressions by retailers of their

views on social issues have grown more common, with some brands finding it a good way to connect deeply with their customers and draw others in. Issues from transgender bathrooms to open carry have had their moments. Social media has made it infinitely easier for the public to put pressure on retail organizations to take positions on socially and politically tinged issues.

Protests this summer against police brutality and systemic racism saw retail organizations weighing in more than ever before. Many issued statements of solidarity with peaceful protestors. “The murder of George Floyd has unleashed the pent-up pain of years, as have the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

We say their names and hold a too-long list of others in our hearts,” wrote Target CEO Brian Cornell.

Some, like Gap, Target, and Lululemon, gave money to show support. Small retailers wrote messages of support on plywood covering store windows. While some retailers may have faced blowback for perceived hollow hashtag activism, saying nothing at all risked intense criticism.

From an LP and security perspective, corporate value statements raise the consequence of LP department operations or incidents that run counter to the values that retailers promote to the public. For example, a retail brand may try to aggressively promote itself as fighting for racial justice, but a lawsuit against it alleging discrimination in shoplifting stops or surveillance, or a single recorded incident of mistreatment with racial implications by store personnel, could quickly wipe out its effort to shape that reputation.

Property Destruction/Vandalism Incidents, 2015 vs. 2018

2015 Destruction/Damage/Vandalism, All Incidents 698,158 Destruction/Damage/Vandalism, Hate Crimes 1,698

2018 Pct. Change 717,424 + 2.8% 1,876 + 10.5%

Source: FBI data from Uniform Crime Reporting Program, National Incident-Based Reporting System

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION Given the growing potential for harm, retail LP departments might find value in reviewing their policies, staffing, training, and oversight to assess if they should do more to prevent the possibility that LP activities could expose a retailer to a claim of being hypocritical or cause lasting damage to its relationship with customers. On June 11, for example, Walgreens issued a statement that is was changing loss prevention tactics, a move that Walmart and CVS also made. “We are currently ensuring multicultural hair care and beauty products are not stored behind locked cases at any of our stores,” the company said.

A baseline for preventing a store incident with racial or ethnic overtones, which could put it in an unwelcome spotlight, is a strict nondiscrimination policy, periodic reminders to employees of acceptable and unacceptable behavior through emails and training, and swift discipline for any violations,

according to Professor Sameer Hinduja, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University. To better target training and awareness activities, LP might consider research that shows racial and ethnic tensions that contribute to violent incidents at businesses are rarely isolated from the surrounding community. Thus, an organization’s attempts to address them may benefit from some sort of community engagement. Studies show that—in terms of racial and ethnic hostilities—the relationship between the community and businesses is a reciprocal one.

Today’s divisive political and social climate creates security risks for retailers. The threat would grow if retailers were to receive even less public support for store safety. Police response to shoplifting and store crime was already on the decline across the country. Now, as cities such as Minneapolis discuss dismantling police departments in favor of

unidentified “community-based safety” solutions, it is possible that retailers may soon be expected to bear an even greater burden for managing and investigating incidents that occur on store property.

Retail brands can also become the specific target of protesters. As noted, some actively court customers by being outspoken on social issues, and while this can strengthen loyalty among some consumers, it can anger others. And more groups than ever exist that are ready to call out what they see as a retail organization’s faults. “There has been an explosion in the creation of groups that cater to all ends of the social ideological spectrum—many of which focus upon a very narrow subject area or cause,” according to a report by Damballa, a network security firm. No issue today seems too trivial to attract at least a small group of people who are willing to actively engage in its support or opposition, and picking sides—or even appearing

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION In a highly charged environment, retailers can also find their affiliations troublesome, including those with law enforcement. Target, for example, has a long history of working cooperatively with the Minneapolis Police Department, including helping to improve the safety of downtown shopping areas through joint video-surveillance initiatives. While the outreach has been the subject of praise historically, it made the retailer a bigger target in the aftermath of brutality by Minneapolis police officers. Widely shared posts on social media recast those safety initiatives, such as one that read, “Did you know that in 2004 Target spent 300k on cameras in downtown #Minneapolis to help MPD terrorize black + brown community members? And that Target actively funds the lie that cops exist to ‘protect communities’?”

A retailer’s own associations aren’t the only input for risk assessment, of

course. To understand risk to a store, an LP team must assess whether any vulnerability or issue may cause neighboring stores or businesses to be the target of protesters, a threat that could then spill over.

The General Services Administration’s Office of Federal Protective Services, for example, uses a highly detailed risk-management model that includes the target attractiveness of neighboring organizations to assess risk to federal buildings. For example, a store’s risk level increases if it is near, say, a reproductive health clinic, a biotechnology research company, or a government office, and key dates that are significant to individuals targeting those buildings may suggest “occasions” for risk that a store hasn’t considered.

Lessons in Store Protection Crime data on property destruction shows retailers are a frequent target of vandals. The total number of attacks on

George Wirt / Shutterstock.com

to pick sides—can make retailers more likely targets of protest groups. So in addition to generalized unrest, retailers themselves could become the more frequent targets of protesters in the months and years ahead.

Large retail companies have already been targeted for the alleged climate crime of “fast fashion,” for example, and social media has the ability to quickly generate enthusiasm for a cause, stoke anger, and organize and mobilize protests among striking workers or picketing consumers. Monitoring what is being said about a retailer on blogs and in social networks will help identify if a retail organization may become the target of activists and protests, and investigating how adversaries operate will suggest the risk they pose. Ultimately, how retailers manage those protests or strikes from a security perspective may directly affect the amount of reputational harm they do.

Applying Principles of Situational Crime Prevention to Reduce the Impact of Civil Disorder on Retail Operations Reduce rewards of committing a crime.

■ Place high-value items, equipment, and merchandise in stock rooms under additional security (for example, install locking door bars). This increases effort required to steal valuables; furthermore, if the store seems empty, it may make some offenders believe the store has already been looted on a previous occasion. If possible, move these items to an offsite storage facility. Note: this may not be possible when roads are blocked or when there is not enough time to safely organize and move inventory and other valuable property.

■ Remove all personnel files containing sensitive information from store locations. These files can be used to steal employee’s identities, engage in all types of fraud, and can enable offenders to use the information to breach IT systems.

■ Remove

all window merchandise displays even if windows are boarded up. Once boards are breached, you want offenders to believe that it is not worth removing additional boards or breaking windows; if the first thing they see upon removing one board is attractive merchandise, they will remove more boards and break windows to get to the merchandise.

■ Attach security tags and devices on products in places that will damage products if removed without proper tag removal tools. This will make these items less-desirable targets.

■ Ensure that any store equipment is marked as belonging to your company as this will make it more difficult to resell and thus less desirable.

Source: Excerpt from Responding to Civil Disorder by Cory Lowe, MA, PhD Candidate, University of Florida, Loss Prevention Research Council, 2020

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION department, specialty, and convenience stores exceed the number on colleges, universities, and secondary and elementary schools. Additionally, the most recent law enforcement data shows vandalism has been growing.

Incidents of property destruction in 2018 were up nearly 3 percent compared to 2015. The risk reaches its peak between midnight and 1:00 a.m., data shows.

For protection, looks matter, according to Bob Doyle, a security expert, thirty-seven-year law enforcement veteran, and former police officer with the Suffolk County (New York) Police Department.

“Having a comprehensive plan and approach to security that includes guards, alarms, exterior lighting, and Bob Doyle

cameras, along with physical security, makes a retail operation look more secure and protected,” he said. “A protected store becomes less of a target than one that does not go to these lengths,” as vandals and looters typically move to low-hanging fruit.

An ever-present threat, the risk from vandalism could grow as stores and retail brands become surrogates for political expression and as racial tensions rise. There was already a rise before the pandemic in property destruction characterized as hate crimes—more than a 10 percent increase in 2018 over the level from three years prior—and there is anecdotal evidence that the shutdown stoked racial tensions that especially crippled select retail establishments. It is certainly true that such incidents were well reported as news outlets eagerly reported on any fresh angle on the coronavirus crisis, but the volume of the reports were hard to disregard.

Across the country, news accounts of

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Asian-owned businesses being hit by vandals were especially common in April and May. Measures to protect stores against routine vandalism are helpful against social unrest. Some stores were spared this summer because of hardened exteriors. But even those measures were overwhelmed, as many videos showed groups tearing down metal security gates to get inside stores. Retailers sharing their experience in the LPRC emergency call in June said boarding up windows and bars on doors was recommended for hardening exteriors, while acknowledging may only delay entry. Other ideas they offered to protect against looting and arson included using water barrels, since they can act as an inflammable, heavy obstacle; reducing opportunities for crime by removing make-shift projectiles and combustibles or flammables; and when possible, placing high-value items in safes, secure storage, or moving them to a more secure

6/26/20 1:58 PM

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PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION location. “As we saw with rioting and looting, some stores were burned. This makes it even more important to have an effective fire alarm and fire suppression system,” Doyle told LP Magazine.

He also believes retailers need to think more about attacks during social unrest as they consider store design.

“Architectural design will need to change,” he said. “Retail shops and stores of all kinds will have to review

location based on risk” and to balance security costs against buying more insurance.

On the subject of safes, Gallo said he knew of more than 200 break-ins, and while gun and fire safes were penetrated, he did not know of a single case in which looters were able to defeat a TL-rated safe. “You want to board up if you can, take home any personal items of meaning to you, and I’ve been preaching [to high-risk specialty store

Halfpoint / Shutterstock.com

A store’s risk level increases if it is near, say, a reproductive health clinic, a biotechnology research company, or a government office, and key dates that are significant to individuals targeting those buildings may suggest “occasions” for risk that a store hasn’t considered.

their design and how products are displayed. Window display areas may need to be separated from stores by walls so that if a window is broken, access to the entire store is limited.” Especially in densely populated urban areas, where disturbances are most likely, he sees a greater role for roll-down metal gates, steel reinforced doors, and bullet-resistant or hurricane-resistant glass coatings to slow down access to store interiors.

Pinkerton’s Timothy Williams thinks the extraordinary events surrounding the protests this summer could cause some retailers to consider investing in more substantial barriers to deter rioters, but says state-of-the-art crime data and projections are important to “determine the proper calculus for each

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clients] to pack your TL-rated safe or vault with everything you possibly can and to use that as your lifeboat. Looters just don’t have the experience to get into those safes.”

Gallo said he also saw some stores forgetting about the risk to data and intellectual property during the unrest.

“A lot of stores were not backing up their data and customer files, so when the store was breached and looters stole everything, including hard drives, they lost all their files.” LPRC members similarly noted the importance of removing personnel files from store locations at risk of looting.

“An intellectual property security plan needs to be part of an emergency plan,” advised Gallo, noting that it is one of many planning elements that JULY–AUGUST 2020

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multistore retailers need to take, including assigning risk ratings for store locations. “I think failures go back to an it-will-never-happen-to-me mentality. As a business owner, you must be more proactive, and it’s a lot less expensive than being reactive.” He says he sees it as a “huge deficiency” in how retailers prepare for protests and the risk from social unrest. “You don’t go to Home Depot and buy plywood on the day the hurricane arrives,” he said by way of example.

Williams offered similar advice to retailers. “Protecting the business during a riot is dependent on appropriate preplanning. Crisis management preparations for retail must always take into consideration riots and civil unrest as a critical aspect of their planning,” he said. “Incidents like what we just witnessed across the US remind us that the most accessible and vulnerable businesses are in the retail sector.

Constant vigilance, communications, and preplanning are critical to protect retail businesses in a riot.”

One vital aspect of planning, say experts, is to consolidate policies on managing demonstrations and civil disobedience. Having policies spread out among departments, and in different locations within each department’s policy manuals, can create confusion during an actual event, they warn. One LP director noted the importance of maintaining a comprehensive list of actions that may be necessary to take to help a store location prepare for a protest or unrest, which is not something that can be pieced together at the last minute, he said.

Preplanning for protests and potential social unrest allows stores to more quickly secure critical property and close stores, thus reducing the risk of harm to store personnel—the top priority noted by LPRC members. “I’ve seen people staying in stores, and I am very much opposed to that,” said Gallo, citing one pawnbroker who remained in his store during the looting this summer and was shot and killed.

Williams agreed. He said it’s critical for retail organizations to instruct—and

PROTESTS AND PROPERTY PROTECTION make sure employees understand—that their safety is paramount, and that they should never try to physically defend the business during looting events.

“Merchandise can always be replaced; they cannot.”

As such, evacuation must be part of LP’s preplanning. “Plans must be in place and employees properly trained as to the steps to take if a riot occurs when the business is operating,” he advised.

“Evacuation routes need to be predetermined and the circumstances made clear for when locking the store and holding in place may be a safer alternative. Safe evacuation may be the only alternative when rioters are overwhelming businesses.”

As social unrest started to spread this summer, Williams said some retailers began considering use of armed security personnel, but he warned retail security pros to think critically before making such a decision and suggested asking the following questions: Is the use of the armed personnel to ensure the safety of employees, merchandise, or both? Is it reasonable to think that such steps would even be effective in a riot or severe demonstration? Are you prepared to deal with the ramifications of using deadly force to protect the business?

Could such force simply further target the business for greater harm during a riot?

Looters are brazen, certainly, but they are not immune to security measures, and even rioters act “rationally” in a way, according to academic research, including “Anatomy of Riots: A Situational Crime Prevention Approach,” a study published in Crime Prevention and Community Safety (July 2007).

“Even though a mob behaves irrationally and indulges in senseless acts of violence and destruction, the individuals comprising the mob are rational and guided by self-interest in their behavior,” according to the study.

“Therefore, even in riotous situations, rational choice perspective can be profitably exploited to prevent mayhem.”

LP pros participating in the LPRC emergency call noted that traditional situational crime prevention techniques

are applicable to protecting stores during times of social unrest. “Videoing and photographing looting deter offenders,” they noted, and recommended identifying perpetrators using surveillance video, license plates, and other means, and to save as much information as possible to file reports when protests ended. Police departments, many criticized for a lax initial response to looting and property destruction, promised to use footage to retroactively target criminals.

“Advanced technology can play a role as an intimidator,” said Maurizio Pejoves, director of P&O Global Technologies, noting that high-resolution Maurizio Pejoves images have amplified the ability of video to fill that role. One LP executive noted that IP cameras played an important role in giving his team a live look at unfolding situations at stores they were forced to close.

Bob Doyle suggested that available technology solutions to discourage looting are going unused in the retail industry. He sees room for greater adoption of video alarm verification; sensors and cameras that detect when glass breaks, instantly send an alarm, and start recording high-definition video; and internal and external flashing lights and sirens that provide an audible deterrent.

“There are even systems that fill rooms with clouds of harmless fog, which makes it hard for a person to see or move around easily in a retail store that is being looted or vandalized. Fog and sounds disorient and help to repel looters and vandals,” Doyle said.

The risk from vandals should be— but often isn’t—a consideration when purchasing store cameras, Pejoves said.

Retailers should consider vandal-proof security cameras for any reachable areas, and cameras should have a battery backup and surge protection, he said.

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suspicious activity can add another layer of protection. “It is also essential to have the main security system in a secure area,” he added. “I always recommend hiding the system out of sight, whether it’s in the attic or ceiling, so in case there is a violent or looting event, the system would not be able to be destroyed.”

There are also temporary technology solutions that can support a retailer if there is a risk for protests to spark unrest, Pejoves noted. Adding spotlights around the perimeter can help, and “there also are temporary mobile stations that work with solar panels, that allow you to temporarily install a trailer on the perimeter or in the parking lot.

You can remove when necessary and won’t have to run cables through your property,” he said.

From interviews with LP pros, here are additional preparations suggested for protests: ■ Complete crisis preparation forms in advance of scheduled events to help guide risk assessment and mitigation.

This can include information such as the asset’s proximity to the event; store construction, such as its number and placement of windows; store hours; neighborhood characteristics; and previous store crime.

■ Assess how practical it will be to operate normally during the protest and plan for employee absences in the event protests disrupt local transportation.

■ Prepare to execute contingencies in the event armored cars are unable to make cash pickups.

■ Create a specific alert or alarm to notify store personnel to a multiple-offender event.

■ As far out as possible from an identified event that could potentially spark public disruption, disseminate relevant information to store managers.

GARETT SEIVOLD is senior writer for LP Magazine. A trained journalist, he has spent the majority of his career writing about security, risk management, supply chain, and loss prevention topics. He can be reached at GarettS@LPportal.com.

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LPM EXCELLENCE

LPM Magpie Awards: Applauding Excellence

The LPM “Magpie” Awards offer a means to celebrate industry accomplishments on an ongoing basis, recognizing the loss prevention professionals, teams, solution providers, law enforcement partners, and others that demonstrate a stellar contribution to the profession.

The ability to influence change is a product of drive, creativity, and determination, but it also requires a unique ability to create a shared vision that others will understand, respect, support, and pursue.

Each of the following recipients reflects that standard of excellence, representing the quality and spirit of leadership that makes a difference in our lives, our people, and our programs. Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of our latest honorees.

Excellence in Leadership

Excellence in Partnerships

The retail industry has worked diligently to make sense of the current state of affairs tied to COVID-19.

Even those retailers with the best pandemic and crisis/enterprise management plans could never have fully prepared for the chaos and degree of unpredictability that’s followed in the wake of the pandemic.

Being a good leader means having the ability to navigate the uncertainty, provide clarity, communicate, guide, connect, and align, all while providing confidence along the way. That’s been the case with many asset protection leaders over the last several months. However, there’s one that has clearly embodied this for asset protection.

Lisa LaBruno’s ability to connect the industry has been the symbol of leadership. She has gotten AP leaders to collaborate, share insights, solve problems together, pose critical thinking, and provide clarity to the state of affairs we are all facing. Her consistency, urgency, insights, and availability has been nothing short of exceptional. From setting up a cadence of calls multiple times per week, to compiling best-practice models, to asking for insights and connecting people together—her leadership is precisely what was needed in a time like this.

While we’re not through the chaos, we are definitely much further along and always guided by a north star with her leadership and partnership. We couldn’t ask for a bigger advocate for the industry, a better voice of reason, or even a better friend. Thank you for all you do, Lisa—from all of us.

“If there’s anything that working two decades in the industry has taught me, it’s that keeping solutions simple is critical to success,” said Yehiav. “Support services should always be best-in-class.

I’ve always felt that offering a customer the ideal solution means providing them with one that can be used anytime, anywhere, and by anyone.”

Yehiav has over twenty-five years of experience working in the retail and supply chain industries and has held several leadership roles at companies such as Oracle and Demantra Inc. Previously, he was the CEO of Profitect before its acquisition by Zebra. He sits on several leadership councils, including the RILA’s Supply Chain and Asset Protection Leaders Councils, and is also a frequent editorial contributor to several prominent publications. He is also an advocate for the LP community, having helped sponsor the Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) and teaching LP-related classes at the University of Indianapolis.

When it comes to working collaboratively with retail LP leadership to manage complex solutions, Yehiav believes that solution providers should help retailers not just to understand but also to act on the available information.

“Collecting data is easy, but leveraging the data to make better-informed decisions going forward is what drives true value,” he said. “As a valued and respected partner, there is a responsibility to help determine what is happening, why it happened, how much it’s costing the business, what to do about it, and who should take action. When a retail LP executive reaches out, I always take the call as this is what builds relationships and leads to meaningful results.”

Lisa LaBruno, Esq., Senior Executive Vice President of Retail Operations and Innovation, Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA)

Guy Yehiav, General Manager and Vice President, Zebra Technologies

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INTERVIEW

FROM BURGLAR ALARM SALESMAN TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT THE CAREER OF MIKE GRADY WITH VECTOR SECURITY

By James Lee, LPC, LPM Executive Editor

FROM BURGLAR ALARM SALESMAN TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Grady, LPC, is executive vice president at Vector Security, where he’s worked for thirty-eight years. He is also on the board of the Loss Prevention Foundation.

EDITOR: You are one of the most respected and highly regarded individuals in our industry, and it is indeed a pleasure to congratulate you on your upcoming retirement and to congratulate you on all you’ve done for this industry.

GRADY: I appreciate that very much.

I’m speechless. In a lot of regards, I’ve had the opportunity to experience a great career with an absolutely unbelievable team of professionals.

EDITOR: Let’s go all the way back to the beginning of Mike Grady. Where did you grow up?

GRADY: I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, known as the Steel City. You can take the boy out of the city, but you can’t take the “Burgh” out of the boy.

That seems to be consistent among Pittsburgh natives.

EDITOR: When you were growing up with all that smoke coming out of those steel mills, what was your ambition in life at that point?

GRADY: You’ve painted a good picture of Pittsburgh at that time. I think my ambition was to graduate high school and then get into college, which I did. My undergraduate degree was in criminology, and my graduate degree was in public and international affairs.

After I graduated from college, I realized that I was blessed with the gift of gab, so I was pretty confident that I could be successful in business. But I needed to get a better understanding of where I could plant myself. I ended up working with the H. J. Heinz company right out of college. If you would have asked me back in high school if that’s where I would have been, I would have probably said no.

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I don’t want to paint too bleak of a picture of the city of Pittsburgh and the economy at the time, but think back to the late seventies—high interest rates and gas lines and a lot of other economic challenges. So getting into college around that time and being able to graduate and get my first job at H. J. Heinz —I consider myself very fortunate.

EDITOR: Did you go into sales and marketing at Heinz?

GRADY: No, my job was to conduct safety audits throughout the plant, not only at H. J. Heinz but also at StarKist in Torrance, California, or Ore-Ida in Boise, Idaho. A team of safety specialists would bring me along, and we would go in and do inspections on the facilities and the plants, to assure proper safety and security compliance.

Obviously, at that age I was a rookie and learned the business through the team leaders that I reported through, but I only worked there for a couple of years.

Going back to my comment about the gift of gab, it kind of paid off because one of my jobs was to purchase annunciating equipment for devices in the factory. So I met a gentleman from Honeywell who sold security annunciating devices.

One day he said to me, “You know, Mike, I’m probably cutting my legs out from under me, but you really should consider getting into sales at some point in your life. You just seem like that type of individual. Would you be interested in coming over to our group?” And I thought, “Boy, that’s odd.” At the time, working at H. J. Heinz out of college, you had to know somebody to get there, and you never expected to leave. You had to stay there for the rest of your life and retire there.

But as fate would have it, I decided to explore some other opportunities, and lo and behold, I ended up being a burglar alarm salesman two years after college.

My dad said, “What are you going to do Michael?” And I said, “Well, JULY–AUGUST 2020

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I’m going to sell electronic security devices.” Then the first time he introduced me to one of his business colleagues, he said, “This is my son.

He sells burglar alarms.” He told me, “Never try to sugar coat it, Michael.

You sell burglar alarms.”

EDITOR: And is that how you got to Vector Security?

GRADY: I did. It was called Westec Security at the time. In late 1982, I met the gentlemen who ran it, and he hired me as a commercial account manager. Didn’t know a thing about sales or a thing about burglar alarms, but I figured if you can treat people right, and you can treat them with respect, and you can build relationships, then you might be able to make some money. It wasn’t that easy, but I started that way.

EDITOR: Give our readership an idea of how Vector started, what it is today, and what is your current role?

GRADY: I started with the company back in, I guess, early ’83. At the time, we were a small regional three-office security company. We didn’t have any visibility into geographic areas outside of Pittsburgh; Youngstown, Ohio; and Rochester, New York.

As we continued to grow, we saw a need to get into the commercial side of the business—hospitals, commercial buildings, industrial, educational, institutional, and so forth. It didn’t happen quickly, but there was really a need at that time to explore and advance from residential security into commercial security. And we began to grow.

We had a fair amount of organic growth, and then we began to grow through mergers and acquisitions outside of the Pittsburgh area. That need for commercial security and commercial fire alarms grew quite rapidly, so we decided to build a team around that side of electronic security.

They put me in charge of it, and I went from sales manager to a general manager to senior management.

FROM BURGLAR ALARM SALESMAN TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT EDITOR: Does Vector remain privately held today?

GRADY: Absolutely. The Philadelphia Contributionship, founded in 1752 by Ben Franklin and his fellow firefighters, acquired Vector in 1982 and still own us to this day.

EDITOR: When did Vector make the move into retail?

GRADY: We made the move into retail in 1992. We had accumulated probably seven branches throughout

My dad said, “What are you going to do Michael?”

And I said, “Well, I’m going to sell electronic security devices.” Then the first time he introduced me to one of his business colleagues, he said, “This is my son. He sells burglar alarms.” He told me, “Never try to sugar coat it, Michael. You sell burglar alarms.” the tristate—Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia—and New York. We saw some common retail customers in those areas. We were getting them in pockets of the other branches and looked at it with a little bit more clarity. We decided that if we went after retail, we might be able to link all these branches together and be a comparable service provider for retail. So we did, and our first big hit was Toys“R”Us. We got the Toys“R”Us in Pittsburgh, then we got the Toys“R”Us in Youngstown, Ohio, and then we got the Toys“R”Us in Buffalo, New York, and we kicked it off.

EDITOR: Was the predominant product to begin with in retail burglary and fire?

GRADY: Yes, that was our area of specialization. We weren’t as involved with the video or EAS sides of the business at that time. It was burglary and fire, and that is what we built our foundation on.

EDITOR: Are you responsible for other industries besides retail today?

GRADY: Absolutely. We are involved

solutions center around premise and people protection.

EDITOR: In terms of the retail industry, please call out some of the LP executives who may have helped you understand retail loss prevention, and why your relationship with them may have been special.

GRADY: I’ve had such an incredible opportunity to be coached by some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated executives in the industry. You, Jim,

Mike Grady (right) and Joe English created Vector Security's National Accounts Division in the early 1990s.

with health care, which we’re doing a nice job of developing at this point, and we also concentrate on transportation and logistics where we’re beginning to see a great deal of progress.

EDITOR: How has your product line expanded out from burglary and fire?

GRADY: The product line has evolved quite rapidly over the years.

Our offerings encompass a list of products and services that center on video, fire and fire alarm inspections, and a cloud-based access-control system integration. All the aspects and LP MAGAZINE

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are one of those individuals who created a platform for me and coached me along the way, to the point where you have also been involved with addressing my entire team. Profiling LP executives on the do’s and don’ts and what to be prepared for when you go into the office of a loss prevention executive—you were extremely helpful and instrumental in my career.

It’s imperative that I call out Bob Oberosler, who was the Lowe’s executive at the time. It’s probably an overused statement, but he took a chance on a guy and a company that he knew nothing about. It was based on character. It was based on

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FROM BURGLAR ALARM SALESMAN TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT assumptions. But it was intuition. He thought, “I’m going to give this guy a break.” And, boy, he just carried me on his back for many years while Lowe’s converted a lot of business over to us. I can’t say enough about him. He’s just an absolutely spectacular loss prevention executive.

Enter Paul Jones, who took up carrying me where Bob left off. We met at a RILA conference

in the last ten years. Unfortunately, he’s since gone, but that’s Bob MacLea, formerly with TJX. I don’t think that there was ever one time when I needed Bob’s advice that he didn’t say, “Mike, come on in,” and I would, and that guy didn’t see too many people. If you were a service provider and were able to get a seat with Bob MacLea, you considered yourself very fortunate.

Gary Fraser, vice president of North American sales (left), and Stephen Collins, director of North American sales (right), with Mike Grady.

when he was with Sunglass Hut. I don’t want to sound corny with this, but he really looked into the soul of a company and the soul of the individual and said, “I feel comfortable with this company. I’m going to give them a shot.” And, my gosh, we were competing with some of the largest service providers in the world, and there we were, this little mom-and-pop company. We ended up converting all the Sunglass Hut business over to Vector Security.

Last, but certainly not least, was a guy that I got to know very well

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EDITOR: What moments are you especially proud of from a business standpoint in your time at Vector?

GRADY: I think the one of the proudest moments continues to be when our team felt that we made a difference in retail and then continued to produce and build the team to support the industry’s need. By nature, we are a very conservative company. We are very diligent about decisions we make and mitigating risk. We’re very thorough about who we do business with, including our JULY–AUGUST 2020

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customers. I was concerned that if we carried that culture forward, it might stunt our progress as we continued to penetrate the retail environment. But we saw that relationship with retail beginning to grow, and we challenged some of the largest competitors in the industry, national competitors and conglomerates that were competing against us. We all felt it, we all worked together for it, and it was very

We saw that relationship with retail beginning to grow, and we challenged some of the largest competitors in the industry, national competitors and conglomerates that were competing against us.

We all felt it, we all worked together for it, and it was very emotional. And then it became kind of a theme that was on automatic pilot. emotional. And then it became kind of a theme that was on automatic pilot. The men and women of Vector Security in its entirety all got together and said, “You know what? We can compete. We can develop, and we can be a major player.” I couldn’t be more proud to be associated with a group of people and a company like this.

EDITOR: What particular challenges have you seen over the years in working with retail LP executives? Do you have any advice that you might give

FROM BURGLAR ALARM SALESMAN TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT to other solution providers in how they approach and deal with retail asset protection?

GRADY: What would once have been a typical service offering or solution that we would engage with a loss prevention executive to reach an agreement—those days don’t exist anymore. Several areas or levels within retail need to buy into a solution and agree to a contract. We have to be able to migrate from the loss prevention executive to the chief financial officer to the chief information officer to the chief technical officer, and I think that is a challenge as it relates to all service providers We have to be fully prepared to provide solutions to multiple levels of large corporate organizations, whereas in the past we’ve been able to seal the deal with the executive directors and vice presidents of loss prevention.

We’re are forever working to develop and improve diversity in our product and service offerings and diversity throughout our relationships within corporate retail.

EDITOR: Through the years and certainly under your leadership, Vector has established quite a brand in the industry where they work with various associations. Speak a little bit about the NRF and RILA if you would and what your involvement has been in branding Vector as a leader.

GRADY: I’m involved with a lot of organizations throughout many industries in North America, but I think that retail offers some of the most relevant and strongest associations with NRF (National Retail Federation) and RILA (Retail Industry Leaders Association).

We cut our teeth with RILA. Promoting us as a viable member and introducing us to the conferences created a great deal of brand acknowledgment for us. They were just pivotal in our growth and success at the time. We couldn’t have done it without them.

We got into RILA first and thought, “Boy, we better put our best on before we join the National Retail Federation. This is a big show, right?” We finally got the gumption and the confidence to join them as well. My loyalty at the time—I have to be honest with you—was always to RILA because they were the ones that brought us to the dance. But once we got in with NRF, there was an equal amount of support, of contribution, and of providing brand acknowledgment for us and brand exposure for us in the industry.

I did accept a position on the steering committee at RILA. I served there for probably close to ten years under a number of leaders who ran that board, and I felt it very worthwhile. It provided me exposure to some of the largest loss prevention retailers and exposure to some of the most impressive loss prevention executives.

EDITOR: You are a founding board member of the Loss Prevention Foundation and remain a director of the board. How did that relationship start?

GRADY: It started with a conversation I had with Gene Smith.

The foundation was looking to create a board of directors. I think he spent quite a bit of time drawing from loss prevention retail executives, and as I recall, his comment to me was, “We want to diversify the board.

We want to start with a couple of solutions providers. Would you be interested?” And I said, “Absolutely.”

Our culture at Vector is centered around development by education.

The foundation was consistent with what we wanted to do in retail loss prevention. So I was all in.

I remember asking him how many other solutions providers were going to be there. He said two. I later found out that it was Tyco. But that wasn’t important to me. The only thing that was important to me was one of my best buddies in the industry was going LP MAGAZINE

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to be representing this company on the other side of the tracks. So it was me and Kevin Lynch who were walking in there, proud as peacocks, beating our chests saying, “We did this. We were the two guys that went for it.”

Little did we know the amount of work that we’d have to put in to make it work. We were hand in hand with the other executives from the foundation and the board to make this thing real, to validate it, and to announce it throughout the industry.

Kevin and I, our job at the time, was to spread the word through whatever means we had to drive the interest level and need for loss prevention certification. So we did, and it’s been one of the most unbelievable and worthwhile experiences I’ve ever had in my life.

It’s just been absolutely spectacular to see these hundreds of loss prevention professionals create even more of a profound impact on retail through education and certification.

It’s really cool, and Kevin and I still can high five each other over a pint of Guinness.

EDITOR: You and Vector had a profound effect on the foundation in leading the effort for the scholarship program. Could you speak a little bit about what the scholarship program has been to the foundation and to the industry and the support that Vector has given it?

GRADY: The executive committee wanted to figure out a way to award scholarships. So we had to figure out a way to promote scholarships, to create a higher level of importance. How were we going to do that? How were we going to make this something that loss prevention professionals would consider a real honor to achieve?

Vector promoted the scholarship awards as a member of the board of directors and a foundation sponsor.

We created campaigns around awarding these scholarships to up-and-coming retail loss prevention

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FROM BURGLAR ALARM SALESMAN TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT professionals. However, as opposed to us just providing them with the scholarship and saying, “You’re awarded a scholarship,” I wanted them to work for it. I wanted them to feel the need and have a sense of achievement and accomplishment.

So we developed an application process. We weren’t shy about letting them know the study time involved, the expense of the scholarship, and

community was responding. We graded every single application, and still do today. Then we celebrated when the applicant was chosen. All of a sudden, we started getting letters and emails and phone calls and repeat applicants that received LPQ and then applied for LPC. It became a program that was acknowledged and sought-after by loss prevention professionals throughout the industry.

to have Vector and your support. Anything else that you might want to comment about the golf event?

GRADY: The gentleman who is running the foundation right now—Terry Sullivan—talk about getting people excited around an event like the Swing for Certification. He’s been the driver behind this effort.

Vector just jumped on the bandwagon

The product line has evolved quite rapidly over the years. Our offerings encompass a list of products and services that center on video, fire and fire alarm inspections, and a cloud-based access-control system integration.

All the aspects and solutions center around premise and people protection.

Mike Grady in Vector Security’s Network Operations Center in Pittsburgh.

the benefits from being LPQ and LPC certified.

We built the entire campaign around, “This is what you need to do. If you want to be successful in loss prevention, you need to be certified. And instead of you paying for it, we’ll award it to you if you qualify.” So it was a national campaign, and that same campaign continues to this day. It was important to all of us that we very carefully selected those individuals that we felt met the qualifications to be awarded a scholarship.

Interestingly enough, the applications started to pile on. It was incredible. Over 100, then 150, then 180, then we hit 200. The LP

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I am very proud of the efforts that my team put forth to generate excitement to promote loss prevention scholarships. I see other service providers doing the same, and it makes me even happier. As much as we can get out there and award loss prevention professionals to be able to expand and extend their educations and further themselves up the ladder of loss prevention, the better off it is. We’ve award 286 scholarships awarded to date.

EDITOR: That is terrific. Vector is also the premier sponsor of the foundation’s Swing for Certification golf event.

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with him. Everybody’s been involved with it—loss prevention professionals, executives, service providers. It’s just really taken off. We’re looking forward to this year. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get together in October.

EDITOR: On the personal side, do you have any particular plans for the future after retirement? Do you have some things on your bucket list?

GRADY: I’ve been on the road traveling for many years. My family is safe and healthy, and everybody’s in check, thank God. Spending more time with family and a lot more time on the golf course is my immediate mission in retirement. If I can get that

RESECURE.

accomplished in the first year, I will consider myself very fortunate. So that’s about it—just to relax a little bit, spend family time, and maybe a little bit more time on the golf course and a little bit more time in the stream.

I love fly fishing and do quite a bit of fly fishing in the mountains.

REOPEN. Before you call a locksmith, let us help you set up your key system to be more efficient and cost-effective for the days ahead.

EDITOR: You mentioned that you travel a lot. You have constantly been on the road servicing your customers and your clients. What are some of your favorite cities that you’ve been to?

GRADY: I think my favorite city of them all, I happen to be sitting in right now. Pittsburgh is where I was born and raised. It’s my home and will always be my favorite city. But the two that follow would be Boston and San Francisco. There are some great people in those cities that I enjoy professionally and personally visiting, and that said, I just love those two cities quite a bit.

We have to be fully prepared to provide solutions to multiple levels of large corporate organizations, whereas in the past we’ve been able to seal the deal with the executive directors and vice presidents of loss prevention.

EDITOR: Do you have a favorite golf course?

GRADY: I want to preface this by saying that I don’t mean to boast, but I’ve had the opportunity through Vector to play in courses all over North America, the Caribbean, and Ireland. If I wasn’t employed by Vector, I never would have been able to play a lot of them. But my belief, really, is it’s the people that you’re playing with that create the most memorable experience. I would have to say, based on that, Pebble Beach is number one. It might not be the best track, but every time I play Pebble with my business associates or personal friends, we just have a blast.

EDITOR: It’s been a delight to have this interview with you this morning, and it’s been very special for me over the years to have a relationship with you. So I thank you on part of the magazine and those in the industry who know and have been supportive and trusting of Mike Grady.

GRADY: I appreciate that, and I appreciate the time that you spent. I’m honored that you selected me. God bless and good health and safety to you.

LP MAGAZINE

We’ll be with you every step of the way.

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CERTIFICATION Interview with Dustin Ares, LPC

The Benchmark for Performance and Ethics

Ares is director of global sales for Malong Technologies, which provides unique artificial intelligence solutions for a wide variety of problems in retail. His experience in retail loss prevention includes physical security, data systems, store design, training, investigations, organized retail crime, and return-fraud prevention. Companies he has worked for include Target, Hollywood Video, Abercrombie & Fitch, and SIRAS (a Nintendo subsidiary at the time).

Why did you decide to pursue LPC certification?

I first learned about the LPC certification program from a discussion at the National Retail Federation with Gene Smith and Jim Lee talking about the need for standards and a mechanism to measure proficiency within the LP industry. This was largely viewed as a first step to initiate serious discourse in retail LP and to encourage college students in a wide variety of disciplines to consider LP as a viable career path. I really liked the idea for a few reasons: (1) it shows that LP is a legitimate career path that stands on its own and requires proficiency across many departments and functions within retail, and (2) it creates high standards for participants to understand the content and demonstrate it via their performance. I volunteered, contributed a few chapters of content to the study materials, and signed up to take the first LPC exam as it was ready.

As a solution provider, how has the LPC certification assisted in your ability to connect with your customers and develop solutions and technology to support the LP industry?

I feel that achieving and maintaining the LPC certification has done a couple of things for me in my career on the solutions side. First, it has allowed me a regular seat at the table in the companies I have joined in determining specific product offerings and formulating the right strategies for the industry.

I think having this background allows me insight into areas of “unmet needs” at retail that deserve real focus and thought.

Instead of chasing trendy topics or creating solutions that might miss the mark, the focus on solutions to real operational problems in retail can be much more accurate.

Second, and maybe more importantly, by demonstrating proficiency in LP, one gains a unique perspective about how to approach the retail business as a technology company. The successful approach in this industry requires honesty, integrity, and the ability to work through complex operational issues with a straightforward approach. Retail LP demands partners ready to stand side-by-side with them in the trenches to do battle. I think the LPC certification shows an understanding of this need and the willingness to roll up your sleeves and get down to the real work.

Talk about the process of going through the coursework and taking the exam.

Often in our careers, we naturally drift to one focus area or another, depending on our own motivations, interests,

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and curiosity. For me, that meant my role had taken me through corporate management practices and technical implementations of systems and solutions. I found, largely from the coursework, that there were significant areas in supply chain and physical security concerns surrounding distribution centers that I had not realized I was lacking. I spent the bulk of my study time in these areas, keying in on fundamentals and publications by experts in the field. I also found that while you may grow quickly in your career and demonstrate significant proficiency in something, you may not even realize the formal theory (behavioral, criminological, and so forth) that underlies your work. I found that interesting and continue to try to understand as I work through new issues.

Looking at your own background and knowledge, what information helped you the most?

After about ten years in the field, you may gain that feeling that you have “seen that, done that” and a false sense of confidence. I think the first thing I learned from the coursework is that no matter how much you have been exposed to, there is always something new over the next horizon. If you are open to the possibility that you don’t know everything, there are actually worlds of new information ready for you to discover. The depth and breadth of your understanding are entirely up to you.

From a content perspective, I still remember reading about behavioral store design as an important consideration for security in a store. While I had lived many days using carefully mapped store designs with Target stores, I had not understood all of the underlying design considerations and choices.

What benefits have you seen from taking the course?

The LPC coursework showed me how broad the industry is and how it continues to expand, even today. While one can choose to be a generalist or specialize within the LP industry, the industry continues to expand, change, and grow. As shopping experiences evolve over time, the LP industry must also adapt to meet the new challenges that are presented.

I enjoy having the LPC designation on the solution-provider side as it shows that I understand the issues facing today’s LP practitioners. I lived it firsthand. If I am engaging with retail loss prevention, they can be comfortable that I understand where they are coming from, that I have already considered the constraints and opportunities from that side of the desk, and that I won’t waste their time. This helps LOSSPREVENTIONMEDIA.COM

to streamline conversations and spend time where the focus needs to be.

If you could offer one key takeaway to someone considering getting certified, what would it be?

Get it done! In my opinion, a comparable analogy is performing well in high school algebra or geometry. Getting good grades in math differentiates the people who can operate a calculator, for example, versus those who understand how the underlying math works. The fundamental understanding of key roles, issues, and approaches can be really important for career progression in the highly competitive and specialized LP industry. The LPC sets you apart from your peers that do not hold that certification.

I especially recommend the LPC for practitioners relatively early in their careers to gain exposure to other areas that may be of interest; for solution providers, because there are not many of us that have LPC certifications, this can be a real differentiator.

Certification demonstrates that you are highly motivated, dedicated to the sport, and your words carry the weight of knowledge.

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How would you compare the foundation certifications to other educational courses that you’ve taken?

The Loss Prevention Foundation’s certification content is more comprehensive than many other offerings. While others may be quite specific and can be accomplished with a day or two, the LPC certification specifically is something that requires dedicated time and focus and requires the applicant to strengthen knowledge in those areas where they are less experienced or knowledgeable.

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How has certification changed your expectations of loss prevention as a career, for yourself and for others?

I value that the foundation and its certifications create a basis for students, institutions, and career practitioners to evaluate the knowledge base of the industry. By pointing to the coursework and certification process, it allows people to think about the function of loss prevention with a much more holistic view than maybe what they have seen portrayed in the media. For retail professionals, a path into loss prevention and, further, into certification can be a motivator to get people thinking about their career development.

Would you recommend certification to others?

I highly recommend certification for various reasons for various people and for different career stages. I recommend certification for the young professional in loss prevention or the high-performing retail operator to explore the industry and to obtain the LPQ as an ethical and performance benchmark. I feel the LPQ sets a good standard for basic knowledge in the LP field and sets the applicant up to build upon a strong foundation of industry knowledge.

I recommend certification for highly motivated LP professionals to obtain their LPC designation to demonstrate a well-rounded understanding of roles, issues, and approaches in retail. The certification demonstrates a high standard of loss prevention understanding and performance. It sets achievers apart from those who may simply be “going through the motions.” continued on page 38 LP MAGAZINE

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pr 0tecting and pr 0m 0ting retailers

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Professional development is key to a fulfilling career.

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Educating an industry, one leader at a time.

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I recommend certification for solution providers to demonstrate their knowledge and support of the industry. The LPQ and LPC certifications add credibility to your involvement as you interact with retail loss prevention teams. It also shows that you understand the concerns of retailers and know how to speak their language.

Bond Pratt, LPC, Office Depot Urszula Rzepien, LPC, CVS Health Jacob Sawyer, LPC, Family Dollar Joseph Shires, LPC, Family Dollar Steve Slater, LPC, Harris Teeter Bobby Templet, LPC, Whole Foods Market Daniel Viera, LPC, Lowe’s Michelle Wallace, LPC, David’s Bridal

Recent LPQ Recipients

Newly Certified

Following are individuals who recently earned their certifications.

Recent LPC Recipients

Suzanne Clift, LPC, TJX William Decker, LPC, Harris Teeter Supermarkets Kevin Fitzgerald, LPC, Victoria’s Secret Paul Flintoff, LPC, Albertsons Scott Harbin, LPC, Skechers USA Daniel Helmick, LPC, Five Below Nicholas Hmel, LPC, Homegoods Matthew Hollingsworth, LPC, TJX Eric Koopmeiners, LPC, Five Below Benjamin Lampley, LPC, Office Depot Mike Le, LPC, Lowe’s Matthew Logan, LPC, Target Salvatore Lupo, LPC, Family Dollar Christopher Marzo, LPC, Staples Steve Mathieu, LPC, Paradies Lagardere Omer Nuhoglu, LPC, The ICONIC Jennifer Peck, LPC, TJX

Tina Alfonso, LPQ, Walgreens Elizabeth Bell, LPQ, Army Air Force Exchange Service Scott Boyd, LPQ, Jason Burchfield, LPQ, TJX Jennifer Carl, LPQ, Nordstrom Robert Cozart, III, LPQ, Axis Communications Kelsey Demsky, LPQ, TJX Michael Downs, LPQ, AFA Protective Systems Dennis Freire, LPQ, Michaels DC Craig Hadley, LPQ, American Telecommunications Curtin Michael, LPQ, Vector Security Services Blake Owens, LPQ, Fanatics Ryan Payne, LPQ, AT&T Luke Pipkin, LPQ, Home Depot John Pocse, LPQ, Home Depot Mi ke Russo, LPQ, US State Department, Diplomatic Security Service Julie Saitta, LPQ, TJX Mark Stewart, Jr, LPQ, Giant Food Stores Julie Trump, LPQ, The Beer Store Christopher Workman, LPQ, TJX

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Loss prevention management Loss prevention executives

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FEATURE

CAUGHT ON CAMERA REVIEWING THE USE OF VIDEO TECHNOLOGIES IN RETAILING

By Adrian Beck, Emeritus Professor, University of Leicester

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

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t is hard to overestimate the extent to which video technologies are now becoming embedded in societies around the world in general and within retail in particular. Indeed, estimates suggest that global retailing could be spending as much as $2.2 billion on video technologies by 2023. In many respects, this is not surprising. Video’s use is not only longstanding but also increasingly ubiquitous. It is hard these days to find a segment of retail space that is not under the gaze of some form of video system. Indeed, retailing has been at the forefront of the use of what are often called closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems since the 1970s and 1980s. Primarily deployed as a crime prevention and detection tool, and initially based upon analogue technologies, it is now going through a period of considerable and remarkable change, driven by a rapidly changing technological and social context.

This has led to the potential role and capability of video technologies in retailing beginning to expand beyond its traditional role as merely a facilitator of safety and security to one covering a much wider range of retail activities, including managing the retail environment and playing a role in enhancing business profitability.

Moreover, the recent rapid growth in the development of video systems that can potentially provide an analytic capability—in effect building some form of automation into the viewing, reviewing, and responding process—has further heightened interest in utilizing these systems more broadly across retail environments.

Indeed, talk of video-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) technologies being the next big transformative change in retailing is currently dominating many trade shows and future-gazing deliberations.

However, whether their introduction and use currently makes sense, or are indeed the most appropriate interventions to address the pressing and varied concerns of retailing, is certainly open to debate

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and critical review. Indeed, there is a general paucity of available information on the overall role video technologies might play in supporting the endeavors of the retail industry.

Given this, the ECR Retail Loss Group commissioned research to look carefully at how current and future video systems can or might contribute to the retail environment, the benefits they can bring, the lessons that can be learned from those currently using them, and the ways in which this investment can be maximized to have the greatest effect.

The study draws upon in-depth interviews with representatives from twenty-two retailers based in the US and Europe, with collective sales of nearly €1 trillion, equivalent to approximately 12 percent of their retail markets, and operating in over 57,000 retail outlets. In addition, interviews were carried out with representatives from five major video technology providers.

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Current Utilization of Video Technologies in Retailing

Given that retailers have been using various types of video technologies for the best part of forty-five years, it may seem odd to spend research time asking this deceptively simple question: to what purpose do retailers use them? Evidence of ubiquity, however, does not always translate into uniformity of purpose nor understanding of rationale. The study found that retail use of video technologies could be grouped in to eight use cases.

The most common use cases were focused on passive forms of utilization: delivering deterrence, providing reassurance, and ensuring that users were in compliance with specific legal requirements. Since its early incarnations, video systems have been employed to try and deter would-be miscreants—make them think that there is an elevated

CAUGHT ON CAMERA risk that they will be caught either in the act or subsequently due to their images being recorded and reviewed. What the research found is that this generalized deterrent capability is thought to have a fading impact, mainly due to familiarity and ubiquity, and has been superseded by attempts to make the deterrent effect more personalized. This was found in the increasing use of body-worn cameras, face-boxing technologies on public-display monitors, and the use of personalized displays at fixed self-checkout machines.

There was relatively little evidence of retailers using their systems to any great extent for real-time monitoring. The costs of employing staff to do this was not regarded as a good return on investment in most day-to-day situations. There was significant use of systems in reactive mode, principally to undertake reviews driven by other exception-reporting systems and explicitly reported events such as slips and falls by staff and customers. Using video systems to generate a response was found in some retailers where there was an elevated risk of violence occurring with video operators being alerted to live events and having the capacity to intervene in various ways, such as audio warning.

What the research found is that this generalized deterrent capability is thought to have a fading impact, mainly due to familiarity and ubiquity, and has been superseded by attempts to make the deterrent effect more personalized.

Overall, the research found a complex web of use cases, some of which were clearly covered in the original plans for the video system, while others had developed more organically as various retail concerns and problems emerged. As will be discussed later, the lack of an overarching and clearly articulated plan for the use of video in retail businesses can lead to significant problems when it comes to ensuring that the system is well designed and fit for purpose.

Assessing the Use of Video Analytics in Retailing As a term, “video analytics” has become the next big thing to supposedly transform the retail landscape. Promises that AI and ML will revolutionize the industry are not hard to find, although pinning down how this will materialize

The ECR Retail Loss Group commissioned research to look carefully at how current and future video systems can or might contribute to the retail environment, the benefits they can bring, the lessons that can be learned from those currently using them, and the ways in which this investment can be maximized to have the greatest effect.

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remains more challenging. All the respondents to this research had some form of experience of utilizing various types of video analytic, most with varying degrees of success. As one respondent put it, “The thing with video analytics is that there have been claims, promises, suggestions for years and years that it can do all kinds of things, and inevitably with lots of it, it ends up being the emperor’s new clothes.” However, there was also a growing sense that the capability was beginning to improve: “We are right at the cusp of discovering just what can we do with these systems; there are a lot of technologies that are emerging to the point where they can begin to scale.”

The most-commonly used security and safety-based video analytics were motion-based triggers, particularly alerting when intruders entered prohibited spaces or high-risk products were moved. In addition, there was considerable use and experimentation around the use of analytics to help manage the growing problem of self-scan related losses, such as nonscanning and misscanning. While some respondents to the research had tried facial/ feature recognition technologies and were generally excited by what they might be able to deliver, all were deeply concerned about the potential public relations car crash that was likely should they declare active use. In addition, there were ongoing concerns about how it would be operationalized, particularly when many retailers were trying to

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CAUGHT ON CAMERA reduce the number of circumstances when store staff were brought into potential conflict situations.

There was also evidence of using video analytics to generate business intelligence, with good examples being shared of ways in which customer service could be improved, and of course as the COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the retail landscape, monitoring and counting customers.

But it is also a technology that presents many challenges, and the research documents the various hurdles retailers face in trying to get video analytics to work well.

Of concern is ensuring that video analytics do not generate too many false positives and what the study called “overload positives,” where a poorly designed analytic generates a flood of data, creating a real risk of alarm fatigue. Respondents also flagged issues about the challenges of scalability—the criticality of context-specific factors being considered when systems are being installed in any given location.

In addition, the research found that the efficacy of most video analytical systems is compromised by two other factors: the clarity with which the objective of the analytic can be defined and the degree of retail complexity within which it will be asked to operate.

As the retail environment becomes

The most-commonly used security and safety-based video analytics were motion-based triggers, particularly alerting when intruders entered prohibited spaces or high-risk products were moved more complex and demanding, and the link between a stated objective and an outcome trigger becomes blurrier and more ill-defined, then the likelihood of false and overload positives becomes more of a reality.

For example, the objective of identifying shop thieves in certain retail environments from their behavior is complex and difficult.

Many of the ways in which they act increasingly mirror the activities of normal shoppers. In addition, the growing use of different types of self-scan systems and the encouragement of shoppers to bring their own shopping bags makes the identification of errant behavior extremely challenging. Designing a reliable video analytic that will generate a high proportion of true positives in this type of scenario seems at best optimistic. More positively, where the link between objective and

trigger can be more clearly identified and the context simplified, then the prospects are more promising. For instance, identifying when a person enters an unauthorized space that is currently not in use is a relatively easy situation for an analytic to be successfully deployed.

Unless these three factors of scalability, complexity, and clarity are carefully managed and monitored, a real danger exists that many video analytics could be accused of crying wolf, becoming subject to retail ridicule, labeled a costly distraction, and generating mountains of unusable data. It is therefore important that developers of these technologies move cautiously, responsibly, and realistically.

Strategic Trends in the Use of Video Technologies in Retailing

The study also identified a series of strategic trends in the way in which retailers are using video technologies.

Developing Organizational Leadership For the most part, this research found a general lack of a coordinated and cross-organizational approach to the strategic use of video technologies in retail companies. While the loss prevention function was typically the titular head, this was often more a consequence of historical legacy rather than a considered corporate mandate.

As such, establishing why and how video technologies should be employed across a retail business to facilitate the meeting of key company goals is

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CAUGHT ON CAMERA not easy. Too often, video investments are unnecessarily unidimensional, their potential poorly communicated, and insufficient attention given to maximizing the value that could be derived from a more coherent integration strategy. This inevitably leads to technological overlap, redundancy, and underperformance.

It seems clear, therefore, that retail organizations should actively anoint a “video technology czar� to positively and proactively lead on the current and future use of these systems. Their role would involve at least five interrelated activities. First, develop a clear and coordinated strategy for panorganizational use of video technologies. Secondly, ensure that the business speaks with one voice to avoid duplication of effort and investment. Thirdly, ensure that all parts of the business not only understand the potential of what video systems may offer but also actively facilitate their access to them.

Fourthly, establish clear parameters and methodologies for how the value of investing in video technologies can be measured and understood.

Finally, take full accountability for maximizing the ROI for any and all video technologies procured by the business.

While the loss prevention function will no doubt remain the dominant user of video systems within a retail business for the foreseeable future, it does not necessarily follow that they must take on this role. The move toward greater use of IP-based video systems and the value and importance of system integration may mean that the IT function increasingly takes a much more involved role and could therefore take on this leadership responsibility. They may well adopt a more dispassionate approach to what it could be used for and who owns it, as well as ensure greater connectivity. No doubt organizational culture, localized specialization, and historical responsibilities will all need to be considered when making this decision, but the key is that the

role of video czar is established, recognized, and empowered.

Using Video Command Centers A key development that became apparent as this research progressed was not only the growing use of centralized video-monitoring stations but also the increasing breadth of the activities being undertaken by these facilities. In and of themselves, centralized monitoring stations are not necessarily a new development.

Distributed fire and burglar alarm systems in retail buildings have been brought into alarm response centres (ARCs), often provided by third-party companies, for many years. In addition, some larger retailers have operated full-time security centers where they monitor and respond to incidents occurring across their estates.

However, the growing availability and use of networked video systems has encouraged more retailers to begin to establish video-based centralized command centers within their own businesses.

Broadening the Use Case of Video Technologies While video technologies have been, and largely continue to be, focused primarily on issues relating to safety and security, and this is unlikely to change much in the foreseeable future, what is likely is that the overall use of video technologies will grow. This will be influenced by three factors. First, the retail context is likely to encourage more utilization and not less.

Pressures brought about by growing competition, rising costs (particularly labor), and shrinking margins will see retailers looking to a range of technologies to meet these challenges.

Secondly, the applicability of video technologies will further grow.

This can be seen in the way in which retail developments such as self-scan technologies have created a new set of risk challenges that may be ameliorated by the application of video technologies and analytics.

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Finally, the growing capability of video technologies will mean that they can begin to be utilized in ways that were not previously considered possible or appropriate. For instance, the growing networkification and centralization of retail video systems is enabling innovation in the way in which the problems of burglary and violence may be addressed.

Building Greater Capacity through Data Integration Video systems are increasingly being viewed as one of several data sources that retailers can access and analyze to improve their operations and business profitability. As such, the value of integrating video data with other data feeds to improve value was a readily apparent trend in those taking part in this research.

For some, this was part of the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the value that can be had from enabling various objects to communicate, including video technologies. For others, it was the way in which better decisions could be made when multiple data sources could be accessed, combined, and analyzed. Certainly, when it comes to the growing utilization of video analytics, especially in complex environments where the likelihood of overload positives is high or the risk of a false positive is unacceptable, then combining video data with other data sources would seem a useful strategy. A key trend, therefore, will be technology providers working with their retail partners to ensure that, wherever possible, video data is fully integrated into the broader organizational information web to maximize impact and value.

Prioritizing Value Measurement While the presence of video systems in retailing is now almost ubiquitous, it is a technology that can be difficult to justify purely in terms of a definitively identifiable ROI. Part of the challenge is the intangibility of some of the desired outcomes of using

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PREPARING CAUGHT ONFOR CAMERA AN ORC EPIDEMIC POST COVID-19 these systems, such as customer and staff reassurance and the deterrence of crime. It can be hard to put a concrete monetary value on what these are worth, and in some respects, it may not be desirable to try. However, this research has singularly struggled to identify many retail companies that have developed a systematic approach to capturing the various ways in which their investments in video systems have secured value. Too often, the approach is piecemeal, partial, and incomplete, driven in part by a lack of strategic oversight as detailed earlier, but also by the disparate ownership of various systems within a retail business.

In addition, it is driven by a lack of a coherent understanding of the overall purpose of any given investment in

in which video generates value to an organization, the route to making a persuasive business case for future investment will continue to be challenging, undermining opportunities for further utilization, innovation, and integration.

Business Requirements Driving System Design A final key trend that emerged from this research was a growing realization that unless the retail business fully understands how it wants to benefit from an investment in video technologies, then system designs will continue to be ad hoc and poorly configured.

In many respects, this is linked to the need for somebody to take overall

many different unconnected systems, just looks a mess.”

Part of this process is not only understanding what the technology can deliver now and to a degree in the future, but also engaging in an educational/listening/training exercise with the rest of the business. Does the rest of the organization understand the potential of what video technologies might deliver, and what are the future priorities of various retail functions?

While future-proofing is never an easy task, developing a clear and considered organizational strategy for how video technologies may be used to benefit the profitability and productivity of a business will be a key first step in ensuring that any proposed video system design is fit for purpose.

Next Steps

It seems clear, therefore, that retail organizations should actively anoint a “video technology czar” to positively and proactively lead on the current and future use of these systems. video technologies. When the use case is wrapped in blurry and imprecise expectations, such as reducing crime and detecting persistent offenders, then it should come as no surprise that the key performance indicators (KPIs) are equally fuzzy and unclear.

More encouragingly, it is possible to identify a range of KPIs that can be measured to begin to assess the overall contribution of various video systems.

But without a clear cross-functional plan to consolidate the various ways

cross-organizational ownership of the video strategy—to be a video czar—to ensure that desired outcomes are matched against system requirements.

This was evident from some of the responses to this research: “If you don’t know what you want the system to deliver, how can you design a system in the first place?” Others lamented the outcome of not adopting a systematic approach to the procurement and use of video systems: “Our store ceilings look like a showroom for video cameras—so

Download your FREE copy To receive a free copy of the report, go to: ecr-shrink-group.com/page/the-use-of-video-cctv-in-retail

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Retailing is a constantly evolving and dynamic industry, hard wired into the economies of most countries. It is also an increasingly competitive and complex environment, demanding businesses not only to be agile and responsive to the needs of their customers, but also to make use of a growing array of technologies. While video systems have been used by retailers for many years, primarily to deliver security and safety, this new ECR research provides a stimulus to think more creatively now, and in the future, about how its role can be further developed to enable retailers to meet their core goals of satisfying customers and returning a profit.

Emeritus Professor ADRIAN BECK spent his academic career in the criminology department at the University of Leicester in the UK where he focused on retail crime and shrinkage issues.

He currently is an academic advisor and researcher for organization’s like the ECR Community’s Shrinkage and On-shelf Availability Group and the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Beck is a frequent speaker at conferences worldwide and a contributor to both LP Magazine’s US and Europe publications. He can be reached at bna@le.ac.uk.

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FUTURE OF LP

Cyber-Security Strategies during COVID-19

By Tom Meehan, CFI Meehan is retail technology editor for LP Magazine as well as chief strategy officer and chief information security officer for CONTROLTEK. Previously, Meehan was director of technology and investigations with Bloomingdale’s, where he was responsible for physical security, internal investigations, systems and data analytics. He currently serves as the chair of the Loss Prevention Research Council’s (LPRC) innovations working group. Meehan recently published is first book titled Evolution of Retail Asset Protection: Protecting Your Profit in a Digital Age. He can be reached at TomM@LPportal.com.

C

yber crime has always been an issue, and the era of COVID-19 is no exception. In recent months, bad actors have been taking advantage of both individuals and businesses during this vulnerable time through phishing scams with COVID-specific themes, anything from fake websites to access your coronavirus stimulus check or impersonating regional health authorities to share fake news.

The pandemic has also seen a wave of bad actors attempt to infiltrate major corporations, with the hope that they have been overwhelmed by pandemic-related issues and have weaker cyber-security protocols. In June, Amazon Web Services reported that they had to defend themselves against a significant denial-of-service (DDoS) attack with a peak traffic volume of 2.3 terabytes per second (TBps), the largest ever reported. Before that, the previous largest DDoS attack recorded was 1.7 TBps, mitigated by NETSCOUT Arbor in March 2018. The Australian government also came under cyber attack in June, from what the prime minister described as a “malicious” and “sophisticated” state-based actor.

In June, Amazon Web Services reported that they had to defend themselves against a significant denial-of-service (DDoS) attack with a peak traffic volume of 2.3 terabytes per second (TBps), the largest ever reported.

The best way to protect ourselves from cyber criminals is for both the public and private sectors to work together to prevent bad actors from accessing our systems while also educating the public about how to identify and avoid phishing scams and other malware.

Working Together to Prevent and Respond to Cyber Crime

Private companies often have more-advanced technological innovation that can not only prevent bad actors from infiltrating their systems but also track and analyze these attempts. This technology can be very helpful for law

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enforcement to find and arrest cyber criminals, which will offer justice to victims of cyber crime while also increasing the risk of cyber crime, making it less enticing to others.

In April 2020, the World Economic Forum launched the Partnership against Cybercrime initiative with the goal of unifying the public and private sectors in working to prevent cyber crime. This initiative involves creating a global framework where governments and private companies can collaborate to improve the effectiveness of cyber-crime investigations and enhance the potential of disruptive actions against cyber-criminal infrastructures.

Educating the Public to Protect Themselves from Cyber Crime

The sudden and unplanned shift of so many office employees to long-term remote work has introduced a wide range of challenges for both businesses and individuals. For example, video conference meetings on Zoom have become a necessary replacement for regular in-person meetings, but these virtual meetings are not always secure. Zoom meeting rooms can be easily found and infiltrated by unwanted visitors, or even transcribed and posted online without meeting participants’ consent.

Shifting to remote work also means companies have had to move sensitive information to online servers, so employees can access these files, which opens up their organizations to the possibility of unauthorized external access. While many businesses are incorporating cyber-security strategies in their organizations as they grow, one large group has not caught up: schools. In an effort to keep up with the digitization of education, public schools have moved a lot of resources and teaching tools online, but they often lack the dedicated funding and resources to secure this data—and these obstacles already existed before learning moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, schools struggle to follow industry-wide best practices for cyber security, such as having a dedicated cyber-security expert review and update their security protocols and regularly patching system vulnerabilities. With so many teachers and students abruptly moving everything online, anything from Zoom class meetings to online school portals, if not properly encrypted or otherwise secured, can become an opening for a cyber criminal to infiltrate the school’s system. These vulnerabilities

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Private home WiFi networks are often not equipped with the layers of security a commercial network typically has.This has led to more people becoming vulnerable to phishing attempts and other malware.

can lead to cyber criminals accessing sensitive information via school VPNs or Remote Desktop Protocol and even sending ransomware to unsuspecting students and teachers.

Major organizations, like university campuses and businesses, have more secure systems in place to protect users who are accessing the Internet. However, with everyone working and going to school from home, their private home WiFi networks are often not equipped with the layers of security a commercial network typically has. This has led to more people becoming vulnerable to phishing attempts and other malware that normally would be filtered out by their organization’s cyber-security protocols.

On top of this, COVID-19 has created a very vulnerable environment for the public—we are all afraid of contracting the virus or unintentionally infecting others. This fear is very easy for bad actors to take advantage of in phishing scams and provides them with a foothold to access your private information, such as via an email claiming that employees at your work have tested positive for COVID-19 and asking you for sensitive company information.

Fortunately, the same rules for identifying and avoiding malware still apply: ■ Do not click links or open attachments in an email from an unfamiliar email address.

■ Do not click ads while you’re browsing the web, even if it’s for a legitimate website. It’s always safer to visit the website directly or search for the sale the ad is promoting.

■ Do not give out private information, such as your social security number or a two-factor authentication code, over

the phone, via email, or on a website that isn’t verified.

Secure organizations, such as your bank, will not ask for personal information that way.

Another step for individuals to take to protect themselves is to enable any security protocols they can find on their router.

This is as simple as looking up exactly which kind of router you have and how to log in and turn on the security features.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create long-term demands for remote work and more online activity, we must be vigilant in not only maintaining our cyber-security strategies but also in being proactive to prevent cyber attacks and address any possible vulnerabilities before they pose a problem. One of the most important lessons we are learning during this pandemic is that we are stronger and more successful when we work together, and that is clear in the steps we must take to protect our businesses and to educate the public in proper cyber security.

THE LPRC IMPACT CONFERENCE IS GOING DIGITAL. OCTOBER 5 - 7, 2020 LPRC IMPACT is an opportunity to engage with your peers and collaborate on emerging ideas & research to fight theft, fraud, & violence. This year’s conference will transition to a fully virtual event, FREE for all to attend.

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CYBER SECURITY

Preparing for Return-to-Work Cyber-Security Risks

By Stephen Burke Burke founded Cyber Risk Aware in 2016 after a career spanning over twenty years in technology and security specializing as a chief information security officer. In that time, he found that most if not all security incidents are caused by human error at all levels in an organization, no matter how good the technical defenses were. Burke founded Cyber Risk Aware with the mission of making a genuine difference and preventing companies and users at home from being victims of cyber crime.

A

s lockdown eases, many businesses are preparing for employees to return to work. But are their corporate networks ready, with adequate security measures in place to ensure their systems are protected from the increased risk of a cyber attack owing to staff and their equipment working from home? Cyber criminals are well aware of employee environments and will target cyber attacks in areas that have become vulnerable. We saw this with the spike of phishing attacks themed around working from home, and it will continue to evolve as workforces change their work practices once again.

When remote working descended upon the nation strong and fast earlier this year, some organizations were able to issue company standard devices with regularly patched antivirus security. However, for the majority, there was a frenzy to equip their staffs with the required machines to enable a quick and adequate working-from-home setup. As we now raise our heads above the parapet, we are seeing an abundance of employee hardware lacking necessary security and about to connect to their company’s corporate network, risking sensitive data being exposed to cyber attacks.

Computers used for remote working are likely to have confidential company data stored and to have been shared with family members who possibly visited insecure websites or installed insecure software, with no guarantee that they have been patched and maintained over these recent months. The big question is—can these external devices be trusted back on to the corporate network?

Businesses need to carry out risk assessments and put best practices in place before their networks are exposed. First, staff need to share where company data has been saved and under which accounts—work or private credentials. Was it a public cloud environment like Google Drive, One Drive, or Dropbox? This all needs to be disclosed to minimize risk, ensure data is safe, and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance is maintained.

Second, if employees have been sharing the devices with their household members, have they given away their passwords? Is the password the same across work

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accounts and personal accounts? What new software has been installed or removed and by whom? Were there any security warnings such as viruses being detected by antivirus software? Has any confidential paperwork been printed at home, and has it been shredded or dropped in the trash? Where employees have access to sensitive information, questions need to be answered before they rejoin an organization’s network.

Computers used for remote working are likely to have confidential company data stored and to have been shared with family members who possibly visited insecure websites or installed insecure software, with no guarantee that they have been patched and maintained over these recent months.

If a company allows all machines back onto their corporate network, they will need to rely on network monitoring, and most critically, they will need to monitor the activities of the people within the network. It is the people who pose the greatest business risk if they don’t have ongoing support in terms of cyber-security awareness training. They are operating from within a company’s network on a daily basis, sending and receiving data through a multitude of access points. If left untrained, employees are a hacker’s haven, an easy access point to the entire network, surpassing any technological measures in place to keep them out. If trained, employees are your greatest line of defense—your “human firewall.”

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FEATURE

BECOMING YOUR WORKPLACE’S GO-TO PERSON HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF INDISPENSABLE

vectorfusionart/Shutterstock.com Photo illustration by SPARK Publications

By Bruce Tulgan

BECOMING YOUR WORKPLACE’S GO-TO PERSON

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f someone were to evaluate your job performance tomorrow, what would they say? Would their review have more to reflect about you than just the numbers? It might be difficult to guess, not because you don’t do great work, but because your work is about way more than it used to be.

Your job is no longer just about you and the work you do alone. It’s also increasingly about how well you manage work with colleagues up, down, and sideways in the chain of command. Everyone is responsible for serving their clients, their bosses, and an endless number of “internal customers” at work. The collaboration

are helping them to succeed even in the midst of such enormous uncertainty and change. To be clear, nothing I have written about speaks specifically to the business challenges of COVID-19: social distancing, furloughs, or even remote work. But what it does speak to are the essential elements of how to conduct oneself in the middle of a crisis. It’s about how to take control and ownership of the only thing

going to pitch in, everyone on the team suffers. That’s especially true now that so many of us are working remotely, with limited support and resources.

Of course, the tricky balance here is to resist succumbing to burnout, or what I would call “overcommitment syndrome.” You don’t want to let anybody down. But remember that if you’re constantly juggling, eventually you’ll drop the ball.

With such high stakes, it will be tempting to say “yes” to everyone. Of course, you don’t want to let anybody down. If you’re like most, you will want to prove yourself to be a truly

revolution has transformed how we work together. It’s not going away.

And in the midst of a global pandemic, it’s making everything that much more complicated.

I wrote my latest book, The Art of Being Indispensable at Work: Win Influence, Beat Overcommitment, and Get the Right Things Done, to help people navigate the difficult new realities of the high-collaboration workplace. I never intended it to be a guidebook for navigating job security in a post-pandemic world. I never could have imagined it. But what I’m hearing from my own clients every day is that the practices in this book

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you can take control and ownership of—you—while simultaneously dealing with so many factors outside of your control.

Now this doesn’t mean you should isolate yourself from your colleagues in an effort to regain control and focus. Rather, the key to becoming truly indispensable is adopting a service mindset. And it’s more important now than ever.

You cannot control what others want from you, need from you, or ask of you. No matter how much you may try to push them away, the reality is their own work requires collaboration too. If one person decides they aren't JULY–AUGUST 2020

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It’s about how to take control and ownership of the only thing you can take control and ownership of—you—while simultaneously dealing with so many factors outside of your control.

indispensable, go-to person, even under pressure. You’ll often be asked to go the extra mile. But the challenge is to do all this while avoiding overcommitment and burnout.

Now, that may seem impossible.

Especially today in a workplace culture where overcommitment is so often rewarded and encouraged, establishing boundaries and being choosy about the projects you accept can feel like going down the path to certain career death.

But what if I told you I’ve seen people do exactly that—establish boundaries around their time and mindfully choose which projects they accept—without sacrificing their jobs or careers? And

BECOMING YOUR WORKPLACE’S GO-TO PERSON what if I told you these people were considered the “go-to people” in their organizations?

What Makes Someone an Indispensable, Go-to Person?

Everywhere I go, I’m always looking for the real “go-to people.”

In our ongoing workplace research at RainmakerThinking, I try to ask everybody: Who are your go-to people? And why?

Go-to people are the ones other people want to go to, over and over again. They are the people—at all levels—who show up on those

The Tech Expert

You might think the indispensable person is the technical expert who has a relative monopoly on vital skills for key tasks and responsibilities. Of course, your ability to do your job is of the utmost importance. But that’s just the price of entry. Hard skills will get you hired, but they rarely will set you apart from your peers, at least for very long—especially these days.

I’ve seen a zillion cases where an employee is, by far, the most technically skilled at doing their job, and maybe even the best at getting important aspects of the job done, but they are still nobody’s

wants to work with that guy. In fact, most people would much rather work with someone who is not necessarily the most technically competent but who takes personal responsibility for his role and what he can do to make the situation better now.

The Yes Man

You might think the indispensable person is the one who always says yes, yes, yes to any request or proposition.

But I’ve seen hundreds of cases where the person who says yes, yes, yes, to please you up front, isn’t able to deliver on the backend. Their overpromising causes you more problems than you

Flamingo Images / Shutterstock.com

Every good no is about freeing you up for a better yes.

Yes is where all the action is. Yes is your chance to add value and build the relationship.

“go-to” lists the most consistently over time. They are the employees most trusted by the most colleagues to help them meet their needs at work on time, on spec, in a manner that strengthens their relationship (or at least doesn’t weaken it too much).

I’ve been studying these go-to people for decades now. What do they have in common? Go-to people come in every variety, at every level, in organizations of all shapes and sizes, in every industry. There are as many different styles and stories as there are go-to people. And there are many wannabes and plenty of impostors.

first choice of somebody to go to, much less somebody to grant more responsibility or resources or authority. This is usually due to a gap in how that person relates to others, the management of themselves, or their workload.

Sometimes the technical expert or know-it-all is convinced he’s more qualified than everyone else and spends much of his time blaming and complaining about all the things that are wrong in the company, the management of it, the process, and personnel. He is so “qualified” that the only thing he can focus on are all the things out of his control. Nobody LP MAGAZINE

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had to begin with. And I’ve seen hundreds of cases of people who say yes, yes, yes who are honorable, responsible, and capable but become overcommitted and, therefore, start juggling too many competing priorities and inevitably start dropping the balls and getting burnt out and overbooked.

Most people prefer to work with somebody who makes promises they can keep over somebody who promises the world but doesn’t deliver.

The Rule Breaker

You might think the indispensable person is someone who will do an end run around the chain of command and

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BECOMING YOUR WORKPLACE’S GO-TO PERSON

standard operating procedures—or even the rules—for you. But that rarely ends up going very well for very long. Most people would prefer to steer clear of trouble with the boss.

Who True Go-to People Are

You might think it’s the people who work hardest, but it’s not. It is the people who work smartest.

You might think it is the person who is the most creative, but it’s not.

It is the person who masters the best practices and repeatable solutions.

who focuses on one thing at a time and has a relentless focus on next steps and finishes what they start.

You might think it is the person who is the best at personal rapport building and internal politics. But it’s not. It is the person who is best at continuously improving the working side—not the personal or political sides—of working relationships. It’s about getting better and better at working together.

The real go-to person is the one who focuses on building real relationship power for the long-term,

always overwhelmed and juggling competing priorities.

In fact, the biggest mistake people make in trying to be indispensable is trying to do all that. It is a setup for failure and burnout. That’s how one succumbs to what I call “overcommitment syndrome” and later “siege mentality,” which makes you a definite “NOT-go-to person,” at least until you bounce back.

What do true go-to people—those who stand the test of time—really have in common? They have a special

Or you might think it’s the person who is really good at getting what they need from people. But, no, it is the person who is good at helping others get their needs met.

You might think it is the person who is good at influencing others so as to get what they need out of them. But, no, it’s the person who is consistently building influence with others by helping them get their needs met.

You might think it is the person who is great at juggling competing priorities. But it’s not. It is the person

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by focusing on helping other people get their needs met. It’s all about making themselves incredibly valuable to others.

Indispensable Doesn’t Mean Burnt Out

Maybe you are worried that it is impossible to do all this without destroying your health and happiness.

But the good news is that being indispensable doesn’t have to mean being quadruple-booked all the time, never taking vacations, always being under-slept and overtired, JULY–AUGUST 2020

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They are the people—at all levels—who show up on those “go-to” lists the most consistently over time. They are the employees most trusted by the most colleagues to help them meet their needs at work on time, on spec, in a manner that strengthens their relationship (or at least doesn’t weaken it too much).

way of thinking about collaboration and conducting themselves in workplace relationships.

The thinking: they have a strong philosophical bias for service, which is precisely why they are not always available to everybody.

The conduct: they treat other people’s needs with great respect, so they do not make commitments they cannot keep.

True go-to people are relentless about ensuring communication alignment through structured dialogue in all of their key working relationships.

BECOMING YOUR WORKPLACE’S GO-TO PERSON

They evaluate every opportunity—great and small—with real due diligence.

They know what they can and cannot do; what they may or must not do; what they should or should not do.

They know when NO may not be necessary, but it’s also not time for a YES. They know how to say, “Maybe, but not yet,” and “Maybe, but go back and fine-tune your ask.” When the time is right to make a commitment, go-to people know it is critical, when they say YES, to define exactly who is going to do what, why, when, where, and how.

They know people are their #1 asset, so they invest in relationships.

They don’t let people down. They lift people up. And that’s why others want to lift them up too. No wonder people want to go to them over and over and over again.

The more valuable you make yourself to others, the more they will truly want to work with you,

want to make good use of your time, want to do things for you too, and truly want you to succeed.

When you have that, then you have real influence, the power other people give you because of the working relationships you’ve built.

The Credo of the Go-to Person

If you try to do everything for everybody, you’ll end up doing nothing for anybody. So how do you make yourself a go-to person—one of the true indispensables who stand the test of time? What makes it seem impossible is also the key to the solution. You must first fight and beat overcommitment syndrome.

There is no single credo of the go-to person that I have yet come across. But I’ve done my best to learn from those go-to people I have met and created my own.

Understand the peculiar mathematics of real influence. Gain real influence by building a reputation on serving others in ways that matter.

That way, when you inevitably need something from them, they’ll be much more likely to want to work with you, make good use of your time, and contribute to your successful outcomes.

Lead from wherever you are.

Start always from what’s required and what’s allowed. Align yourself and your people up and down the chain of command. You have to go vertical before you can go sideways or diagonal. Then drive alignment with everyone involved through regular, ongoing, structured communication.

Know when to say no and how to say yes. You cannot do everything, so you need to do the right things for the right reasons. Take other people’s needs seriously by tuning in to every

Connect With Your Crew Let your audience choose their preferred platform to increase awareness and participation. At LPM Media Group, our mobile and digital solutions move meaningful connections from possibility to reality.

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BECOMING YOUR WORKPLACE’S GO-TO PERSON ask and giving it your real due diligence. Every good no is about freeing you up for a better yes. Yes is where all the action is. Yes is your chance to add value and build the relationship. Don’t waste it! Every yes deserves a plan of action and focused execution.

Work smart. Sure, but what does it mean? It means not trying to only work in your area of passion and strength because that’s just not realistic. It means, whatever you

elephant? One bite at a time. Yes. But remember that for every bite, you need time to chew and swallow. Bite, chew, swallow. How much of the elephant can you eat in each sitting?

Get better and better at working together. Complications are bound to arise. Things might not necessarily go according to plan (no matter how well you plan). Resist the urge to point fingers and blame. And remember to light a big fire under every thank you. Make it a habit to

Invest in relationships. That’s how you build real influence, the power you have when other people want you to succeed because you help them succeed. And upward the spiral goes.

It is the way of the go-to person. I call it go-to-ism. Who knows? Maybe it will become a movement.

Connection is the key. Don’t allow the uncertainty to close you off. Don’t put up your defenses. We all need one another, now more than ever. Build authentic working relationships based

do, professionalize it. That means learning best practices and repeatable solutions and creating job aids so that anything you do becomes one of your “specialties.”

Finish what you start. Of course, your to-do list is ever growing and never ending. The key is not learning how to juggle better. If you are always juggling, eventually, you’re bound to drop the ball. How do you become the person who gets things done?

Break work into smaller chunks and make your “do not disturb” zones larger. That’s it. Smaller chunks of work and bigger chunks of focused execution time. How do you eat an

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celebrate every single contribution, do after-action reviews about how to improve together (instead of pointing fingers), and look around the corner together to plan ahead and make the next opportunity to work together go even better.

Promote go-to-ism in your organization…or keep it a secret… but you won’t be able to because people will notice. Be a go-to person. People will notice. Find go-to people wherever you need them by being an amazing customer and being the best at helping people help you.

And build up new people whenever you have the chance. Invest in people.

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Dikushin Dmitry / Shutterstock.com

They know people are their #1 asset, so they invest in relationships.

They don’t let people down.

They lift people up. And that’s why others want to lift them up too. No wonder people want to go to them over and over and over again.

on a service mindset steeped in real authority. That’s how to ensure we all get through this together and generate momentum for great things to come.

BRUCE TULGAN is the best-selling author of It’s Okay to Be the Boss and the CEO of RainmakerThinking, the management research, consulting, and training firm he founded in 1993. All of his work is based on twenty‑seven years of intensive workplace interviews and has been featured in thousands of news stories around the world. Bruce’s newest book, The Art of Being Indispensable at Work, is available from Harvard Business Review Press wherever books are sold. You can follow Bruce on Twitter @BruceTulgan or visit his website at rainmakerthinking.com.

EVIDENCE-BASED LP

Making Judgments Only on Behavioral Cues Or Actions

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etailers in the late 1970s started to realize they needed more-focused people and property protection, and chains started changing security departments to loss prevention. As time went on, practitioners began moving from a “catch more thieves to win” attrition model to a more proactive stance. I’ve written before that deterrence doesn’t often work, and we’re all working away to improve ways to convince offenders not to launch an attack. But many more determined or distracted thieves refuse to be dissuaded from initiating damaging and dangerous crime attempts.

So many retailers continue to reluctantly apprehend undeterred offenders to try and establish some negative consequences, discourage future theft, and recover property.

LP practitioners need to be morally and legally balanced and be more efficient by focusing detention efforts (starting with the requisite observation) on those exhibiting the most theft-action behaviors and most likely to cause the most harm to others or their possessions.

Dr. Hayes is director of the Loss Prevention Research Council and coordinator of the Loss Prevention Research Team at the University of Florida. He can be reached at 321-303-6193 or via email at rhayes@lpresearch.org. © 2020 Loss Prevention Research Council

bad relationships, bad meals, and bad encounters. Violent crime (rape, abuse, and homicide) investigators profile or note crime and crime scene clues that might indicate premeditation or a situational, opportunistic attack. The type of encounter, the attack versus discovery site, and other behavioral indicators might signal offender experience, motive, and level of organization. Similarly, victim exposure and routine or special activities (victimology) can help explain who might have encountered them, including offenders and witnesses.

In a store-theft scenario, quick situational evaluation

We focus on actual behaviors or activities, not thoughts or biological, genetic, or cultural characteristics.

Professional LP practitioners never profile appearance.

Behavior and Crime

Human beings often signal their intentions and next moves through utterances, social media postings, people interactions, and spatial movements. Actions can provide clues and cues that a person is considering, preparing to, or currently victimizing someone or their possessions. Human actions can also generate legal evidence of an intentional criminal act.

So we focus on actual behaviors or activities, not thoughts or biological, genetic, or cultural characteristics.

Professional LP practitioners never profile appearance; we use evidence-informed observation to detect a possible crime in progress, including clusters of contextual cues appearing to articulate a narrative, a logical hypothesis. The clustered cues appear linked, related, progressive, and indicate that an individual or individuals may be preparing to remove another’s property without permission, to defraud or intimidate someone, and/or to attack another person.

should also be behaviorally based and, eventually, evidence based. Our team looks for and conducts relevant research to inform this process (science to practice).

In this column, it seemed appropriate to feature a little more thought on enhancing thief detection and surveillance processes since national data show in-store theft continues at very high levels. Humans committing criminal acts not only give off cues as we discussed, but also may be dangerous since criminal offenders don’t normally want to be caught, could have violent histories, could be armed, and may be impaired by drugs, alcohol, or mental illness.

In-Store Theft behavior

Part of describing problems to solve them involves the “what, why, and how” of theft activity. Theft video footage, interviewed offenders, witnesses, and victims, and field-testing different conditions all guide best practice.

The idea is to systematically identify logical human theft behavioral indicators. We want to distinguish deviant action cues from innocuous or simply strange activity. What we’ve learned so far is that no single behavior, such as looking around, signals preparation to steal. It could signal the

Whom Do We Watch, and How Do We Respond?

I’ve discussed this important topic before and was asked to revisit it now. We detect possible deviant behavior by noting clusters of behavioral and other cues in a distinct context. Humans assess places and other people to avoid LP MAGAZINE

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individual is looking for a companion, sales help, or a restroom, for example.

Rather, we always look for a group of behavioral and enabling cues, like looking around at much more than the merchandise, standing very close to and maybe hunching over a fixture filled with small, known high-loss items with hands down and a shopping bag in hand. These behaviors could prompt an employee to more closely watch that individual since we have a cluster of contextual cues.

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Types of Cues

The scientific method means using logic (what, why, and how questions) and rigorous observation to better understand issues and evaluate solutions. When deciding who we might surveil to reduce theft losses and violence, we can categorize pre- and post-theft behavioral cues into theft actions and stress reactions, as well as enabling movements and tools.

Theft actions include head and hand position ratios, travel speed and direction, body distance and angles to displays, signaling, diversions, and tests (to put us off or to see if we’re watching), and reactions to the stress of deviance such as flushing and grooming gestures. Enabling cues include carrying large or foil-lined bags, theft tools like cutters, get-away cars, and false receipts.

Again, these cues should appear in clusters, seemingly linked, and the context of the situation should add power to the overall prediction. The offender’s motive, such as stealing for self-use versus to convert the items to cash or for nonsensical reasons, may also drive the accuracy of an employee’s forecast of whether someone they’re observing is likely to steal or not since professional thieves often go directly to selected, readily concealed and fenced items and rapidly conceal large numbers, for example.

Physical-Enabling Cues

Vehicle plates missing or covered Display-theft tools (magnets, cutters, foil, picks) ■ Enabling large or foil-lined bags ■ Baby strollers and other conveyances ■ Baggy clothing (possible special pockets or elastic bands) ■ ■

Context Cues

Proximity to merchandise, especially known high-loss or otherwise craved products ■ Hovering in secluded areas ■ How the potential offender arrived ■ Who the potential offender’s colleagues are ■

LPRC to Retailing Digital Connections

Busy in-store retail people are tasked with so many restocking, clean-up, service, and reporting duties that they need to be trained to safely offer service to and/or report suspected shoplifters. They, like the LP operative, should be using a set of logical, evidence-based cue clusters to possibly distinguish the likely buyer from the stealer. Below is a suggested cue listing that can be used to conduct in-house studies for training. This list is just a start, and individual behavior can vary widely.

An abundance of pandemic information is available out there from a variety of sources. The Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) is working every day to curate LP-focused, actionable information for you and your teams. The LPRC CrimeScience podcast is uploading two to four new episodes weekly featuring practitioners, scientists, and industry and medical experts providing concise ideas and updates. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts. Our team is also updating the LPRC COVID-19 and Rioting landing pages daily with new resource links and studies.

Visit lpresearch.org/covid-19-resources.

Behavioral Cues

2020 LPRC IMPACT and STRATEGY@

Behavioral Detection and Prioritization (BDP) and Contextual Cue Clusters

Outside the store: ■ Parks their vehicle in the fire lane ■ Backs in their vehicle with one person left in the driver’s seat ■ Picks up store receipts from the ground

This year’s LPRC IMPACT conference is a full go for October 4–6, as is the third year of STRATEGY@ for the most senior asset protection and loss prevention leaders.

The big difference is that both will be digital using new virtual conference platforms but may still include on- or near-campus components depending on safety and travel conditions near that time. Please reach out to us at operations@lpresearch.org with any of your questions or suggestions.

Inside the store: ■ Circling the store floor, especially multiple times ■ Searching for items in a quick but focused way

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Counter-reconnaissance actions, head mostly up, “scoping” Ignoring price, style, brand, and quality ■ Moving with selected items to more remote store areas ■ Avoiding eye contact ■ Holding cash or credit card in hand ■ Possibly working with others ■ Entering with a group of people then quickly spreading out ■ Creating a diversion or confusion ■ Marking items for others ■ Signaling to others ■ Blocking others from cameras or other people ■ Removing packaging, tags, anti-theft devices, hangers ■ Concealing items ■ Displaying situational, reactionary stress, such as pacing, rapid breathing, visible blood vessel pulse, yawning, stretching, grooming, flushing, repeated nervous-sounding coughing, or sniffing ■

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ASK THE EXPERT

How Retailers Can Use Computer Vision to Adapt to Changing Times

Interview withTom Meehan, CFI Meehan is chief strategy officer and chief information security officer for CONTROLTEK. In his dual role, he leads the company’s solutions development strategy and retail-specific strategic initiatives, while championing information security technologies and protocols for CONTROLTEK and its partners. He is an LP expert in cyber security, retail technology, and information technology. He currently serves as Innovation Team Chair with the Loss Prevention Research Council, retail technology editor at LP Magazine, and cohost of the LPRC podcast .

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oss Prevention professionals have been faced with the robust job to combat shrink, discourage theft, increase efficiency, improve performance, lower costs, support safety…and the list goes on. The coronavirus pandemic has sped up these challenges and threats exponentially, while presenting the added layer of health safety to the mix.

In the turbulence of this change, keeping up to date is a constant challenge, and digital technologies have frequently been discussed and continue to be the answer as future-proof options for retailers. One of the most widely discussed technologies is artificial intelligence (AI), and one of the forms of AI most easily applicable to the retail environment is computer vision.

What is computer vision and how does it work?

Computer vision is an emerging technology that enables retailers to harness the power of video to automate the process of identifying threats in real time, leading to quicker and better decisions. In simple terms, it is defined as a field of artificial intelligence that replicates the complexity of the human vision system to enable computers to “see” and understand the visual world. Using content from digital images, videos, and deep-learning models, computer algorithms mimic the way human vision acquires, processes, analyzes, and understands visual information to identify and classify objects.

There are several types of computer vision features used in different ways, but simply put, when a computer is supplied with images, it uses algorithms to analyze for distinctions such as shapes, colors, borders, distance between shapes, and other patterns to identify a profile of what the picture means. When these algorithms are complete, the computer will theoretically be able to use this learned data to find other images that match that profile.

How can a retailer use computer vision?

Though computer vision has a lot of potential applications that haven’t been fully discovered, for retailers the solutions already exist.

Facial recognition technology is a form of computer vision that has been tested and proven in retail. It is particularly useful in helping retailers detect shoplifters and alert when known bad actors enter stores. A cloud-based computer vision platform even allows retailers to access information across multiple locations.

Computer vision technology can also provide traffic and behavior analytics by using real-time, accurate visitor counts and classification, so retailers can understand customer traffic by knowing a customer’s path through the store, where they spend time, and how much time is spent there. Powerful, deep-learning LP MAGAZINE

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technology allows retailers to know the behaviors and demographics for optimized marketing, sales, and rewards program effectiveness.

How can computer vision help retailers with challenges presented by COVID-19?

Because of its endless potential, computer vision technology can be adapted to address current challenges, such as the pandemic.

Computer vision features that have been adjusted in response to COVID-19 challenges include temperature screening, mask compliance, and occupancy verification. Thermal imaging, originally intended to detect intense heat for early indication of fire, can be used to screen temperature and detect elevated body temperature of individuals entering a facility. Mask detection to identify a person as a robbery threat can be adapted to detect a face mask for health compliance. Facial recognition can determine unique customer counts for occupancy verification allowing retailers to stay within social distancing guidelines.

What are your thoughts on the accuracy of thermal imaging?

You must ensure you have the correct camera or imager and have a clear understanding of its ability and limitations. Thermal imaging that is widely available isn’t medical grade. It simply uses the sensor to detect body temperature. Like any noncontact temperature screening, there are many variables one must consider, such as ambient temperature, abnormal body temperature related to the environment, distance, and the weather. So, yes, this technology can detect an elevated body temperature, but it’s just one way of helping to keep your customers and employees safe.

How can someone integrate computer vision technology into an existing loss prevention strategy?

Like most AI solutions, computer vision is what you make of it. Investing in computer vision solutions on a smaller scale won’t prevent you from expanding its use in the future, and its future-proof design means you can integrate computer vision as your retail loss prevention methods change.

CONTROLTEK’s solution CMatch AI is scalable with the ability to operate as a standalone, plug-and-play device or as a cloud solution to save information for enterprise-level monitoring. The automation of CMatch AI eliminates the need for human interaction to support public health and safety, reducing labor costs and providing real-time information. CMatch AI helps retailers reopen stores safely and streamline compliance with new COVID-19 policies, while remaining adaptable for what changes may come.

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SOLUTIONS SHOWCASE CHECKPOINT

Returning to Pre-Pandemic Consumer Confidence

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“Across the world, the shopping experience we have grown to know is dramatically changing. Retailers that implement new processes that demonstrate they’re keeping people safe will undoubtedly be seen favorably by shoppers.”

– Phil Fisher, Director Product Management, Checkpoint

Photographee.eu / AdobeStock.com

p to 40 percent of online clothing and footwear sales made during lockdown will be returned. How will your business ensure returned merchandise is quarantined for the correct period of time and promptly made available for sale again?

We can all agree that the basic trip to your favorite retailer will not be the same post-pandemic. As stores reopen and we return to the new “normal,” consumers need to feel confident that their purchases and returns are safe.

Checkpoint’s new Inventory Quarantine solution provides retailers with an easy real-time tool. The IQ software uniquely identifies returned items, initiating a virtual “quarantine clock.”

Once activated, the items remain in the retailer’s designated “safe area” until the assigned quarantine period is over, then a push notification with exact time stamp is sent informing that the item(s) are safe for resale.

Easy-to-Implement SaaS Solution ■ Automatically

assigns returned items from the retailer’s fulfillment centers, stores, or fitting rooms into quarantine for a set duration.

■ Drives push notifications to staff when the quarantine period is over, so stock can be returned to inventory as soon as safely possible.

Advantages

Benefits

■ Safeguard

employees and customers by ensuring items have been quarantined for the recommended duration of time.

■ Employees have limited contact with returned products.

■ Boost customer confidence by having robust processes in place.

■ Technology

agnostic: works for a stand-alone system or integrated.

■ Automated solution guarantees accuracy of quarantine time and reduces labor.

■ Retailers have the ability to locate merchandise efficiently with a full view of all stock locations, preventing out of stocks or over stocks.

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SOLUTIONS SHOWCASE THINKLP

The Formula for Success in Loss Prevention Writing Your Loss Prevention Success Story

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n his book The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success, physics professor Albert-László Barabási penned the equation for success: S (success) equals r (the potential value of an idea) multiplied by Q (the ability to execute on the idea). Thus, success equals the potential value of an idea times the ability to execute on that idea.

(ORC) groups, allowing you to more easily gather evidence and build cases.

■ Utilize prescriptive analytics and exception reporting to turn analytics into action. Loading point-of-sale, returns, e-commerce, inventory, gift card, HR, time, and other data into an exception-reporting and prescriptive-analytics tool is a great way to identify potential sources of loss. The ThinkLP platform allows our client-partners to plug their existing exception-reporting software into ThinkLP, or choose to use the ThinkLP loss prevention analytics platform right within ThinkLP to accomplish the same objectives. Either way, the intelligence gathered from the identification of these issues is an important driver to reducing loss.

Leaders inherently understand this formula. Economics is the study of scarce resource allocation. Business management ultimately is the decision process in allocating scarce resources for the production of goods or services. Loss prevention leaders live the success formula every single day because shrink and risk problems are so great, resources are so few, and the constant interplay between these two factors drive everything.

When we analyze the success formula more closely, the question becomes: how can you maximize the potential value of an idea and maximize the ability of the organization to execute on that idea? Expanding on that question, it becomes: how can you maximize the sum total of the potential value of all ideas and maximize the ability of the organization to execute on as many ideas as possible? Let’s explore each component of the formula to help skyrocket the success of our teams.

How Can You Maximize the Sum Total of the Potential Value of All Ideas?

There are two components to maximizing the sum total of the potential value of all ideas: increase the number of ideas and maximize the value of each individual idea.

Examples of how we can do this in the practice of loss prevention include: ■ Get incident reports from as many sources as possible. Incident reports are a great source of intelligence. The easier it is for the widest range of people to submit, the more comprehensive your intelligence picture becomes. ThinkLP’s platform provides a dozen ways to capture incidents, which can be configured to your exact business ideas.

■ Use case linking and machine learning to unlock bigger issues and hidden links. Using a combination of automated machine-learning algorithms and visual case-link reporting allows you to connect the dots and create a treasure trove of links within incident reports.

These crime-linking diagrams can be a powerful way to identify serial criminals and organized retail crime LP MAGAZINE

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Leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to point you to problem areas. This is truly revolutionary: ThinkLP AI-driven data discovery analyzes your data in minutes, surfaces deep insights, and recommends ways to improve outcomes. Our objective is simple: augment every loss prevention team with a powerful and automated AI-driven data-analysis tool. Knowing every team operates differently, the machine learning built into this tool is truly remarkable. If you already have data scientists or business intelligence analysts on your team, the ThinkLP AI data-discovery tool will augment your existing team, but if you’re one of the countless teams who don’t have in-house data analysts, this will supercharge your efforts.

■ Work closely with peers and vendors to ideate on sources of loss. The greatest aspect of our industry is ■

JULY–AUGUST 2020

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that we’re all in this together, we speak with peers in other organizations, share ideas, brainstorm together, and share results of our findings. Whether we’re collaborating through the Loss Prevention Research Council or utilizing the great work done on the Total Retail Loss framework, the trick is putting ideas into practice rapidly, and that’s where the ThinkLP platform shines.

Generating ideas of potential sources of loss within an organization is typically not difficult as most practitioners would be more limited by resource constraints than a lack of good loss-reduction ideas, which brings us to the other component of our success formula.

How Can You Increase the Ability of the Organization to Execute on as Many Ideas as Possible?

information, in a user-friendly manner, augmented with recommendations from artificial intelligence and analytics, the stage is set to accelerate team performance.

Getting Started Is the Most Important Thing

There’s a saying: “execution eats strategy for breakfast.”

Let’s explore a few ways the ThinkLP enterprise loss prevention intelligence software platform can help create and sustain execution excellence within your organization: ■ Consolidate all your data into one central intelligence platform. Having the data described above along with other information sources all combined into a central intelligence platform is a dream come true for LP professionals. Most organizations operate on numerous platforms with siloed information, and the ThinkLP central data hub revolutionizes the way departments operate.

■ Monitor store execution and compliance using an intelligent auditing tool. Most organizations conduct some type of audit or assessment to gauge compliance with corporate standards and obtain an on-the-ground read of what’s happening. The ThinkLP intelligent audit software utilizes knowledge gleaned from your central intelligence platform to target the right compliance controls in the right place at the right time, coordinate follow-up, and distribute reports automatically.

■ Automate your business processes using a business process automation tool. Every team has dozens or even hundreds of processes both inside their department and those that need to be coordinated with other teams such as operations, HR, legal, safety, internal audit, and more. Visually mapping and automating complex business processes inside ThinkLP helps keep everyone on the same page. The collaboration and insights can help marshal resources while saving an enormous amount of time and energy.

■ Mobile-enable your team with an awesome mobile app. With the exception of this pandemic, we are mobile most of the time, and being able to have all of your information in the ThinkLP mobile app, with all the workflow automation and data visualization capabilities that it includes, is invaluable to operating a modern, mobile, effective team.

■ Use ThinkLP to help build a culture of excellence.

With every team member able to access their

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Mark Twain has been credited as saying, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” A mind-boggling number of major components make up the capabilities of the ThinkLP loss prevention platform, and we’ve made it incredibly affordable for teams of every size to launch ThinkLP. Each organization is leveraging a combination of these components on their own journey of success, innovating new ways of using ThinkLP to solve unique and fascinating business challenges. They all have one thing in common: they got started.

According to Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Peter Drucker, one of the most influential thinkers and authors on management in the twentieth century, and Warren Bennis said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

When we dovetail Drucker’s quote with the success formula, we see perfect alignment.

As leaders, it has never been more important to set the stage and provide the strategy, direction, and tools necessary to enable our teams to achieve success. At ThinkLP, we are humbled and honored to be cocreating the world’s most advanced loss prevention software platform with truly amazing client-partners. We’re encouraged by and applaud all the leaders and teams who, in the face of unprecedented circumstances, pandemic, recession, and headwinds, are diligently writing their own loss prevention success stories.

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LP MAGAZINE

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JULY–AUGUST 2020

Combat Shrinkage 61

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Ernesto Contreras, LPC is now a

zone AP manager at 7-Eleven.

Chris Haye, CFI, LPC and Steve D McKinney, CFI

are now regional AP specialists at Advance Auto Parts.

Amazon announced the following promotions and new hires: Antonio Van Hise, LPC, senior program manager, LP operations; Rovi David, senior program manager of physical security; Samuel Cherry Jr., regional LP manager; Matthew Robinett, CCSP,

regional manager of logistics LP; Patrick Sturmhöfel, regional manager of security and LP (Germany); Bobby Halliburton, physical security program manager; Kenny Douglas, LPC, fraud prevention manager; Dusko Tadic, senior physical security program manager; Michael Ong, senior investigations specialist, web services; Danny Miller, investigations specialist, logistics investigations; Tsuyoshi Kasuya, regional SLP manager (Japan); Jeff Marlow, senior manager, physical security programs; Lucy Fenner, investigations manager EMEA (United Kingdom); 62

and Katie Stevens, LPC, investigations manager.

Scott McBride

was promoted to chief global AP officer and CSO at American Eagle Outfitters.

Joseph Biffar, CFE, CFI was promoted

to senior director, AP, facilities, and HQ operations at Chico’s FAS. J. Matthew Wolfe is now

senior manager of corporate AP at Chipotle Mexican Grill.

William Stokes and Patrick Parris, LPC

were promoted to territory AP managers at American Freight Furniture and Mattress.

Kelly Hansen is now

a district AP leader at CVS Health.

Marcos Cunha is

Matthew Rice, David Hucks, and Rory Rutherford-Gordon

are now zone LP managers at Bealls.

Phil Morley is

now national LP manager at Bunnings (New Zealand).

now director of risk management and LP at DIA Group (Brazil).

Leo Anguiano, LPC

has joined Dollar Tree as the VP of AP. Alicia Domingos

Lewis Godwin is

now a district LP manager at Burlington Stores.

was promoted to senior manager, global programs, and Ines Driesen was promoted to global regulatory specialist (Ireland) at eBay.

Jen Zeng is now

Michael Jensen is

senior integrity and compliance officer at Cainiao Network (China).

David Gaspar is now

general protection supervisor at Casa Ley S.A. de C.V. (Mexico).

FaceFirst announced the following promotions and hew hires: Dara Riordan, chief operating officer; Dyan Clancy, VP of sales; and Dwayne Letcher Healy, VP of strategic partnerships.

Najla Almandeel

is now a field AP coordinator at Chalhoub Group (Saudi Arabia).

JULY–AUGUST 2020

now global security investigations and intelligence regional manager, EMEA (Ireland), at Facebook.

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LOSSPREVENTIONMEDIA.COM

Wissam Muhieddine

is now a pharmacy LP area leader at Giant Eagle.

Martin Deslauriers is

now a regional LP manager at Giant Tiger (Canada).

Vinícius Salamoni Silveira was

promoted to LP coordinator at Grupo Dimed (Brazil).

Dan Butler was

promoted to senior area LP manager at Harbor Freight Tools.

Maurizio Scrofani, LPC

was named director of global supply chain AP, and Selma Ozkal was promoted to multiunit AP manager at The Home Depot.

Nicolas LeColier

is now security director at Hopps Group (France).

Raymond Esposito

was promoted to president, LP and brand protection, at HS Brands International.

Chris Jackson is

now a regional LP manager at Little Caesar’s Pizza.

David Dreher, MS is

now manager of supply chain safety, environmental and AP, and Thomas Cesario is now a district AP manager at Lowe’s Companies.

Gary Kinsey, CFI was

Thays Dias was

Kleber Abreu is now

Hudson Gomes, MBA

promoted to senior investigations manager at Macy’s. internal auditor at Marfrig Global Foods (Brazil).

Jake Gillette LPC, PSP

is now a regional LP manager at Meijer Stores.

Chris Ortega was

promoted to director of DC LP and safety, and Ken Velasquez, CFI, SMIA was

promoted to zone LP manager (acting) at The Michaels Companies.

Nordstrom announced the following promotions and hew hires: Mike Triesch, senior director of business resiliency and safety; Stevenson Fils, area LP manager; and Patricia Adgar, regional investigator.

Simon Ford was

promoted to head of LP, and Angie Meldrum and Adam Lawson were promoted to area LP managers at The Range (United Kingdom).

investigations; and John B. Moore, ORC manager.

promoted to LP analyst at RD (Brazil).

is now responsible for business security and AP at Rede Globo (Brazil).

Shelley Gray was

promoted to director of LP at Reitmans (Canada).

Jeremy Bryant was

promoted to total loss lead, western Australia and south Australia at The Reject Shop.

Ross Stores announced the following promotions and hew hires: Jamie Campbell and Nick Jacobson, senior directors of organizational safety and security; Courtney Meek, director of LP operations; and Tunde Adekunle, director of investigations.

Cleonice Nunes de Moraes is now head

of LP at Semar Supermarkets (Brazil).

Lisa LaBruno, esq.

was promoted to senior EVP of retail operations and innovation at the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).

Carlos Spindola is

now inventory management coordinator at Sequoia Logistics Solutions.

Justin Henkenberns, LPC, CFI was

promoted to director of asset and profit protection at RH.

Jeohvaa Rocha Olvera

Rite Aid announced the following promotions and hew hires: Charles Miller, LPC, divisional AP leader; Robert Corrado, LPC, senior manager of pharmacy investigations; Jason Davies CFI, CORCI, SMIA,

national manager of ORC and special

was promoted to deputy director of security and protection logistics at Soriana (Brazil).

Evyonnashaye Maura

was promoted to sales audit manager at Stage Stores.

Garret Watson

was promoted to regional AP field manager at Stein Mart.

Jodi Hinkle was

promoted to district AP manager at Target.

The TJX Companies announced the following promotions and hew hires: Karin McKenna, VP, LP director; Jill Rossi and Joseph Shea, investigations managers; Christle Floissac Lewis, ORC investigator; and Brian Burdick, national task force investigator analyst.

Carlos Gonzalez, LPC and Richard Fuehrer, LPC were promoted

to managers of AP and major crimes, and Jake Crank is now a district AP solutions manager at Walgreens.

Walmart announced the following promotions and hew hires: Adam Howard, global investigator III; Robert Bruns, compliance, AP, and safety operations manager; and Herbert Parada, market AP manager.

Chris De Tray CFE, CFI

is now director of environment health and safety, and Steve Korhummel

is now a regional AP and safety manager at Whole Foods Market.

To stay up-to-date on the latest career moves as they happen, sign up for LP Insider, the magazine’s daily e-newsletter, or visit the Professional Development page on the magazine’s website, LossPreventionMedia.com. Information for People on the Move is provided by the Loss Prevention Foundation, Loss Prevention Recruiters, Jennings Executive Recruiting, and readers like you. To inform us of a promotion or new hire, email us at peopleonthemove@LPportal.com.

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65

PARTING WORDS

Your Impact on Others Matters More than You Think

I

cannot remember the last time I did not say, “Thank you for your help. I appreciate you,” when someone helps me. As it turns out, my new friend Maria remembered it every time.

Maria works at an airport coffee shop. I have seen her for years as I travel often and regularly grab orange juice and a bagel before my morning flights. Most times it is Maria who helps me. I’ve always used the name on her name tag to thank her personally and make a little small talk while she is getting my order. Over the years, I have heard a little about her family, her crazy schedule at work, and other tidbits that, to be honest, meant little to me. I saw Maria, exchanged a few words, told her thank you, let her know she was appreciated, and was on with my day.

Last December, Maria told me she had something to give me for Christmas. I told her that while it was very kind, it was not necessary and thanked her for her generous thought. Shortly after that encounter, I did not see her again until late January. I did not think much of it, nor did I remember our last conversation, but I will never forget what she told me in January.

We really have no idea the impact we have on other people. Your actions matter. Thoughtfulness counts, and kindness goes a long way—sometimes across two states in the rain.

Maria always has a smile for me, but that time it seemed brighter. There was almost relief in her eyes as I approached the counter. “I am so happy to see you,” she said. “I have that gift for you.” She explained what she went through to get it.

As it turns out, Maria had been out sick the previous several weeks and was planning to quit her job but continued to work waiting to give me her gift. It was something that she was unable to find at a local store, but she found one online in an adjacent state and “put it in my GPS and drove to find it.” She explained, “It was raining, but this was what I wanted to find for you.” She brought

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Kevin McMenimen, LPC LPM Media Group

it to work and left it with airport security where it sat for weeks.

I was blown away. I had not seen Maria in over six weeks and had given her little thought. Yet here was this person who clearly thought of me, even driving across two states in the rain, and then enduring extended time working at a job she planned to quit. The thought that I’d had such impact on someone I didn’t even know, beyond my morning juice and bagel, was extremely humbling.

As she gave me the gift, I spent some time with my new friend and asked her why she went to so much trouble for a person she hardly knew. She said it was because I was always kind to her. In her work, she rarely came across anyone who was kind. In fact, more often than not people tended to be rude. Most were so focused on themselves that they didn’t smile or say thank you. Many even talked down to her because of her accent.

An immigrant from Albania, Maria came to this country legally with her husband to start a new life. When she arrived, she knew little English. She worked the morning shift, from 4:00 a.m. to noon, and listened to everyone she met to try to pick up the English language. She and her husband only had one car, so she had to wait until 4:00 p.m. for him to pick her up. She used that time to study English, but embarrassed to be seen by her coworkers, she sat outside hoping they would not see her. When she arrived at home, she had two children to raise, took care of the home, then went off to bed to get back to work.

I know all of this and more about Maria because that time I took more than a minute to smile and say thank you. How could I not? This person who was so thoughtful and kind to me deserved at least that, don’t you think?

How could you not want someone like this in your life, and how could you not be proud to call her a friend. This is the real gift from Maria. In fact, she and I remain friends and keep in touch, texting from time to time throughout the pandemic to check in on each other and our families.

We really have no idea the impact we have on other people. Your actions matter. Thoughtfulness counts, and kindness goes a long way—sometimes across two states in the rain.

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