CEO Security Is on the Rise. What Does It Take to Keep Company Leaders Safe?

As public scrutiny, social unrest, and cyber threats escalate, executive protection is no longer reserved for just the Fortune 100. Companies are quietly investing in physical and digital security to safeguard their leadership against everything from stalkers to swatting. The role of the Chief Security Officer is shifting from behind-the-scenes to boardroom essential.

Inc.

The Top 10 Legal Risks Impacting the Value of a Retail Brand

Retailers aren’t just battling theft—they’re also navigating an increasingly complex minefield of legal risks that can tank brand value. From data privacy missteps and ESG disclosures to employee misclassification and ADA violations, today’s liabilities are often hidden in the fine print. Proactive legal strategy isn’t optional anymore—it’s a critical asset.

Retail TouchPoints

This Week in Retail: New inflation and retail sales numbers

June’s retail sales cooled under the pressure of inflation and consumer uncertainty, signaling potential turbulence for the back half of the year. Grocers and e-commerce held steady, but discretionary categories continued to struggle. With new CPI numbers and tariff noise looming, retailers are bracing for a bumpy Q3.

Retail Brew

Mob ransacks Long Beach convenience store during street takeover

A late-night street takeover in Long Beach spiraled into chaos as a mob stormed a convenience store, smashing glass and looting shelves in minutes. Shocking video footage shows dozens pouring in as overwhelmed employees took cover. The incident is part of a growing trend of organized flash mob-style retail crime.

KTLA5

The great retail reset: what’s behind the wave of store closures

Beneath the headlines about a “retail apocalypse” lies a deeper transformation—one where brands are trimming physical footprints not to shrink, but to evolve. Store closures reflect a pivot toward experiential, digital-first models that better align with today’s shoppers. It’s not the end of retail, but the reinvention of it.

Retail Insight Network

Scott McBride Testifies Before Congress

Scott McBride, Chief Global Asset Protection Officer, CSO, for American Eagle, testified on behalf of National Retail Federation today at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Organized Retail Crime. Looking forward to you telling retail's story and the need for Congress to pass CORCA.

Hearing link

NRF Hearing Statement 

NRF Company Letter Supporting CORCA.

From the National Retail Federation:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing today on the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. This marks a meaningful opportunity to move this critical bill one step closer to a vote in Congress. 

Take one minute to act:
Urge your members of Congress to cosponsor the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act and help move this vital legislation forward.

Together, we can fight back against organized retail crime and protect the businesses that power our economy. 

Tell Congress to Act by clicking here.

Skeleton Keys: Unlocking the Integrity Problem No One in LP Wants to Talk About

Ryan Bauss

Vice President

Calibration Group

He ordered the steak. Wagyu. Medium rare. Glass of cabernet (excellent vintage). Dropped a one-liner about “being the conscience of the company,” and then, without skipping a beat, walked out without paying. Said the vendor had it covered. 

On the way out, he pocketed the steak knife. Not just any knife… a Wüsthof. High-end, forged, German steel. The kind of knife you notice when it’s missing.

That’s when it hit me: The guy responsible for setting the ethical standard just walked out with a $500 dinner and a stolen item. 

“Perks of the role,” he laughed. And everyone at the table laughed. Of course they did.

When you become a senior leader, your jokes get funnier. But this wasn’t a joke.

He’s not a bad guy. I’m sure he believes what he said and probably thinks he’s brought so much business to that restaurant over the years that he’s already "paid" for the knife. In loss prevention, we like to think of ourselves as the ethical compass of retail, the gatekeepers of integrity. Those who are brave enough to say no when others say yes. We are the protectors of honesty in the chaos of shrink and safety.

But here’s the uncomfortable part: a lot of the people charged with upholding integrity aren’t practicing it themselves. No one talks about that at the conferences. You hear it at the bar afterward.

You hear it when someone jokes about an “accidental” meal that slipped onto a vendor tab. Or when someone mentions the RFP that just happened to go to a buddy’s company. Or the vendor who shipped free equipment to a regional manager’s house to “demo”. Gear that somehow never made it to the paying customer.

It’s quieter than theft. Polished. Smoothed over by titles and relationships. But it’s unethical all the same, rotting the industry from the inside out.

I’ve seen expense reports where the math didn’t add up, well… because it wasn’t supposed to. I’ve watched floor walkers get terminated for taking a soda while management, three levels above them, signs-off on comped hotel upgrades. I’ve seen "zero tolerance" policies applied selectively, carefully, and politically.

And the problem isn’t just that it happens. It’s that everyone knows. EVERYONE.

We whisper names in hallways. We warn each other about whom to avoid. We joke about the ones who “play the game.” But rarely, if ever, does anyone actually say it out loud. This industry has a credibility problem.

Not the kind that makes headlines. The kind that makes good people cynical. The kind that teaches new leaders to follow the behavior that gets rewarded, not the values that get printed on corporate walls.

And it’s contagious.

Because when integrity becomes optional for the top, it becomes negotiable for everyone else.

We like to pretend there’s a divide between our personal and professional lives. The notion that we can be one person at home and another at work, as if character and ethics can be turned on and off like a light switch, is just an excuse for avoiding the truth. But that’s not how integrity works.

I once heard an LP executive brag about buying a high-end pressure washer, using it over the weekend to clean their driveway, then returning it to the store for a full refund - box resealed, receipt in hand. “Hey, it’s their policy,” they said, as if the loophole somehow made it less dishonest.

This is someone who trains others on return fraud.

If you wouldn’t tolerate it from a customer, why is it acceptable from yourself? Or worse - from someone you look up to?

There’s no such thing as “just personal” when your job is to model integrity. It’s not about where the behavior happens. It’s about who you are when nobody’s keeping score.

I keep thinking about that steak dinner. About the easy confidence in his voice when he said we were the conscience. He believed it. And maybe that’s the most dangerous part of all. Because when the people who bend the rules also believe they’re the ones protecting them… what’s left to protect?

In this industry, integrity is a value. It’s also a branding strategy stamped on our resumes, woven into our SOPs, and uttered at every team meeting. However, more times than we’d like to admit, it’s all theater.

There’s a key we all carry in this industry. It opens the doors others can’t. To footage. To decisions. To influence. It’s supposed to be used to secure things. But some are using it to unlock closets they’d rather keep shut.

And the longer we pretend those skeletons aren’t there, the louder they’ll rattle. But there’s a truth no one wants to admit:

The closet is not locked. It never was. We just got really good at closing the door and turning up the music. And maybe it’s time we stop pretending we can solve shrink while we ignore the quiet moral decay inside our own ranks. Maybe the next audit shouldn’t be of store inventory – But of ourselves. Our decisions. Our silences. Our circles.

Because the next generation of LP leaders are watching. And they’re not just taking notes on investigations and case closures. They’re learning what gets tolerated. What gets ignored. And who gets promoted.

So here’s your invitation. No! Your dare: Open the damn door.

Air out the decay. Name the behavior. Challenge the culture that says integrity is something you enforce, not something you live by. Because if you're not brave enough to call out the skeletons, you don’t deserve the keys.

Welcome to Against the Grain. And we’re just getting started.

Whether you're clapping or cringing, don’t keep it to yourself. Let’s hear it at comments@ talklpnews.com

Louis Vuitton UK Latest Retailer Hit by Data Breach

The British outpost of luxury brand giant LVMH has become the latest UK retailer to suffer a serious security breach, after it began notifying customers that their personal data may have been compromised.

Louis Vuitton UK said it became aware of the breach on July 2, according to screenshots of the customer notification shared on X (formerly Twitter).

Infosecurity Magazine

San Francisco Walgreens manager convicted of assault in shoplifter attack

A Walgreens manager in San Francisco’s Castro district was convicted of assault after punching and kicking a suspected shoplifter during a March 19 incident.

Prosecutors said the manager used excessive force, including punching the man with keys between his knuckles—actions deemed unjustified despite the ongoing retail theft crisis.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 15.

FOX2 News

Incivility at the workplace, an unavoidable red flag

B&FT Online

Beyond the Cart: What Pushout Theft Data Is Trying to Tell You

For decades, retailers have measured loss prevention success by the amount of merchandise recovered after a theft. But the true cost of pushout theft (a method of shoplifting where a bad actor steals using the retailer’s provided shopping cart) has outgrown this limited perspective. It’s no longer a string of isolated incidents – it’s a widespread, multi-layered crisis impacting everything from safety to store ops.

 And Gatekeeper Systems is at the forefront, not only addressing the problem, but defining the future of how we understand and respond to it.

Gatekeeper Systems’ solutions shift the industry from reactive loss prevention to proactive, intelligence-led strategies. While others track what’s already gone, Gatekeeper captures what’s happening now, turning every pushout attempt into a source of strategic insight. By combining our patented Purchek® technology with integrated analytics, FaceFirst biometric identification, and managed investigative services, we’re not just stopping theft – we’re mapping the operational patterns behind it. This positions retailers to act faster, staff smarter, and anticipate threats before they escalate. In other words, Gatekeeper Systems is redefining what it means to be truly loss-resistant in today’s retail environment.

The Pushout Theft Problem is Bigger Than Most Realize

The latest 2024 Pushout Theft Annual Snapshot, published by the Pushout Theft News Center, exposes a concerning reality...

Store employee in Warren says he was shot at as he swept parking lot

An employee of a Warren store told police someone took a shot at him Thursday morning.

Officers were called about 8:40 a.m. to the store in the 2800 block of Parkman Road, where the man said he was sweeping the parking lot when he heard what sounded like a firecracker, followed by something banging against an ice machine.

The man looked and saw a bullet fragment on the ground, reports said. He also saw a vehicle leaving the parking lot of a store next door.

WKBN27 News

Target’s new self checkout rules target theft, punish customers

Retailers want self-checkout to work because it saves them money. They may not come out and say that, and some may pretend it’s about giving customers what they want, but the reality is that it’s a cost-saving move.

The problem, and it’s a big one, is that self-checkout leads to increased theft.

Some of that is unintentional, as people honestly try to scan something and it does not scan properly.

TheStreet

The Great OSHA Reboot: What’s Behind the Regulatory Rush?

OSHA recently proposed 26 regulatory changes in a single day, signaling a major shift toward deregulation in workplace safety.

The updates include removing certain medical evaluations, dropping COVID-19 reporting rules, and narrowing enforcement of inherently risky jobs.

While some see this as cutting red tape, others warn it could weaken protections and place more responsibility on employers to self-govern safety standards.

TalkLPnews

Director of Internal Security - Miami Dolphins

The Director, Internal Security is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing all safety and security plans for 24/7 facility security. This position will work closely with security and operations colleagues, local law enforcement and contracted security agencies to ensure a safe environment for all staff and guests.

Cryptocurrency Payment process in Retail - Transition to a "New Normal"

Minnesota Employers Must Comply With Expanded Meal and Rest Break Requirements Beginning in January 2026

Minnesota’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave program requires employers to provide paid leave benefits or maintain an equivalent plan, with payroll reporting and tax withholding obligations starting by December 2025.

Employers are not allowed to require employees to use existing sick, vacation, or personal time before accessing paid leave and may coordinate it with FMLA or other qualifying leaves.

JD Supra