LPRC - CrimeScience – The Weekly Review – Episode 197

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

This week our host discusses the latest in LPRC news, research, visitors, and events! In this episode, our host discusses the LPRC Team presenting at three different conferences in one week, Real-Time Crime Center developments, an update on LPRC's SaferPlaces Initiatives, LPRC Kickoff registration and preparation, the continued growth and changes of the LPRC labs, and so much more. Listen in to stay updated on hot topics in the industry and more!

Hi everyone, and welcome to Crime Science. In this podcast, we explore the science of crime and the practical application of this science for loss prevention and asset protection practitioners, as well as other professionals. Welcome everybody to another episode of Crime Science, the podcast, the latest in our weekly update series and talk just a little bit about what's going on around the LPRC that hopefully affects everybody around the world to a certain extent. And I just returned from my first trip of the week out to Las Vegas, Nevada. AXIS, one of our members, one of the most active supporters and members of the LPRC

research and the LPRC community had their first ever casino security gathering, similar to their 12 now retail advisory meetings as well. And so I was lucky enough to be a part of this forum, just like our team was involved in the retail leadership forum as well up in Louisville earlier this year. So great crowd of casino security directors, they oversee security and then what they call surveillance

and where they have an extensive amount of camera coverages throughout the casinos, entry, exit points, obviously over the gaming tables and slot machines and all the things that go on with gaming. So the surveillance team pays particular attention to the gaming areas and they look for threats and issues, but also those that might be gaming the system, might be cheating or otherwise trying to take advantage of the casino. There is of course, like in many areas now of industry, leveraging computer vision with ever better cameras

and lenses and placement strategies and facial recognition feature matching with the human in the loop to confirm or verify that this might be a person of interest that's already been violent or disruptive or has been cheating in the facility, it might provide some sort of threat to the people in the organization that they can earlier and more definitively recognize those people. So I learned a whole lot about their strategy and

their tactics and their operational efforts that they make in those areas. There were efforts that they make in those areas. There were American Indian or tribal gaming people. There were regular some of the big casino names that we all know. Other hotels that might have some gaming in them from all over the country there. So it was a pretty neat show out. I learned a ton. We talked a lot about what we're doing at the LPRC and at the University of Florida safer places lab team as far as developing operational frameworks.

I saw a lot of note taking and a lot of requests for slides on the bow tie and double bow tie. And then we also had, so they figured out ways and they asked me to walk with them through in very good detail up and down the single and double bow tie. Okay, what can we do? How do we best do it? And think through before, during, and after crime events. So it was a really exciting opportunity and I was grateful to have that opportunity to get together.

We've had a lot of great calls. We had our week, or excuse me, our monthly Innovate Advisory Panel call today, where we're working with 36 retailers and 16 solution partners month in, month out, plus in National Retail Federation, going through our strategy, our tactics, what we've learned, what that means,

and then what they would like to do going forward, how they'd like to participate. So a whole lot of discussion around that going on this week. We had some of our team out there deployed, in addition to me being out there with the Casino Security Group, we had Dr. Corey Lowe, our Director of Research out, and he was working with the nextACS group, the National Association of

Convenience Stores. They had their first loss prevention asset protection meeting. Corey was on a panel and got to speak to the group, spend a lot of one-on-one time out there. We worked closely with all of the retail associations in North America, including NACS. They've got unique challenges and issues as we all know. So, and then we also, with the International Council of Shopping Centers or ICSC, we had Dr. Christina Bertland, one of our research scientists out there,

working on a panel and going through prime prevention through environmental design and other issues and how to leverage the Bowtie, the Seegit Fear effort risk reward frameworks in the shopping center environment, whether it's open or enclosed centers. So we're grateful again to have such powerful and motivated partners and groups of retailers. And in this case, shopping center, security directors to work with around the country. So a great week there. More of our sensors have been deployed out across

the Gainesville EcoScape on the west side with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, two different ops, special ops on the east side with the Gainesville Police Department. One of our team, one of our research project coordinators, Josh Bush, was adjusting with Sergeant Farah and others from GPD special operations to try and reposition the sensor to maybe make more high value targeted arrests and things like that. Gun violence is the key there.

So we're also working on some bike theft research, believe it or not, with the University of Florida PD. UFPD is a vital partner and offers a whole lot of areas for us to research and for us to help them solve specific issues. But these projects, all that I'm mentioning in the community are analogs. They help us. They're examples. They're ways that we can all learn the SARA process and deploy that scan and find a critical high priority issue. The A and SARA being now

let's analyze and understand the issue in great depth, who, what, when, where, why, and how. understand the issue in great depth, who, what, when, where, why, and how. Leveraging mapping, leveraging interviews, observations, camera footage, data, crime data, everything that you can get your hands on. Then come up with a more precise response, which is the R, a precision focused, very thoughtful response in different ways.

And then the last A being assessed, how well did it work? How well did we execute? So that's an opportunity with each of these deployments to learn how to best do this, to generate learnings with the technologies, the sensors and platforms, and also with you all, the community of 100 research, excuse me, a community of 100 retail corporations

and 160 solution partners, associations and beyond. So a little bit about what we're up to, more and more technologies coming in the labs. The activation lab has been reconfigured to allow us to have more sales floor space and to simulate a restroom lab, a porch, residential porch lab for that last mile delivery issues,

to have a front end lab area with self and staffed checkout areas and solution sets. So we moved with CAGES 4. We moved the CAGES IV. We moved the CAGE that serves as our server area and secure storage area to the back corner to allow for this, to allow for more space for research and development. We are moving in on 500 solutions in our lab complex here.

More going on with the FUSIS by Axon as we enter more and more of the sensors and create more capabilities there that can be used by a retailer, groups of retailers, a law enforcement agency, groups of law enforcement agencies, and of course, combined groups of all the above. Good planning going on with Scottsdale Police Department's Real-Time crime center. Chris Hinninson and the team, they have pulled together a group of most of the law enforcement agencies in that Phoenix area

that have real-time crime centers to learn to fuse them together and to fuse everybody with the retail stores in the area. So we're excited and honored to be included as the research partners for such a fantastic initiative. And it fits in nicely with all the things we're doing in the Gainesville research area, the Port St. Lucie, Florida area, Atlanta,

Detroit right now, doing a great project up there with LVT mobile protective units and a whole group of retailers working on a randomized controlled trial, placing these units and measuring reported crime online chatter and a whole lot of other measurables before and after the placement of the units as an augmentation to access one that we worked on again in Paducah, Conductee. And so we're excited to do that type of project as well. So what's going on in the labs, what's going on in stores, what's going on in parking lots, what's going on online,

and in these vast areas are all exciting and we're trying to paint a complete picture. And I really want to highlight as we phase out here right now on this episode, but all the research to practice R2P report briefs that this team is putting out. We're at five to six per month on top of other reports coming out. So all of these projects are generating. Hopefully go to work easy to digest and take action on R2P Research to Practice briefs for you guys.

We send them out by email to our members. We put them in our Knowledge Center that's keyword searchable. We also put a link to them in our weekly Connect e-newsletter. And finally, every week we're putting them out on LinkedIn and on X that also have links so that all of our members can take advantage of these easy to use reports and you'll see also in our six working groups they'll be putting them out and providing links. So we're looking forward to our upcoming events in January 15th up there in New York City in Manhattan in the Hudson Yards, beautiful Hudson Yards facility sponsored by AT&T Business.

We're going to be hosting what we expect. We've got 126 people already registered. We're expecting a capacity crowd of about 200 or just over 200. That's what we got last year in the kickoff event. This year though, the content we're taking to the next level. And when I say we, I mean Cory and all that he's put together and all the fantastic amount of content. Kickoff used to be us getting together and all hanging out and talking and then doing some planning and then putting out a little

bit of information now and again. But now it is a for real big time event. So just go to lpresearch.org to learn more and to register for kickoff. Hopefully you can get a seat pretty quickly here secured. Also, of course, polishing up, even though we're ready for LPRC integrate 2025 and impact 2025, this will be our 20th Impact Conference. And again, March 24th through 26th in Gainesville

at the University of Florida. So we're looking forward to that and expecting a record crowd there as well. So with no further ado, I'm gonna thank everybody for hopefully listening in, please like, share, rate, pass the word on about LPRC, about crime science, the podcast. So please stay safe and stay in touch. Thanks for listening to the Crime Science Podcast presented by the Loss Prevention Research Council.

If you enjoyed today's episode, you can find more Crime science episodes and valuable information at lpresearch.org. The content provided in the Crime Science Podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal, financial, or other advice. Views expressed by guests of the Crime Science Podcast are those of the authors and do not reflect the opinions or positions of the Lost Prevention Research Council.