• Study: New loss prevention tactics are needed to fight sweethearting

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    By 3VR Team   |   Tuesday Feb 28, 2012

    Who is retail’s biggest thief? According to a June 2011 survey by Florida State University and Michigan State University, the answer is actually employees, which account for 43.7% of total retail losses vs. 32.6% which come from shoplifting.

    As the numbers suggest, employee theft is a major priority for loss prevention professionals, and they currently deploy a host of strategies including intelligent video surveillance and analytics (check out 3VR’s analytics here) to prevent your most common form of employee theft where an employee steals and pockets the goods themselves.

  • Video Providing True Transparency

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    By 3VR Team   |   Thursday Feb 23, 2012

    Debates about video surveillance are usually fierce discussions. The biggest question is often whether video surveillance has the ability to be a force for good while still protecting the personal liberties that all of us hold so dear.

    But, often lost in the discussion is the ability for video to provide real transparency, making all of us an eyewitness.  Can video provide checks and balances on those with power?  The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police believe that may be the case.

    Following two fatal shootings in the past three years by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officers, BART recently purchased 160 new minicameras that can be affixed to sunglasses and record two hours of activity.  This real-world test may yield results that provide video surveillance detractors and proponents with an opportunity to agree.

  • UK Employs Biometrics for 2012 Olympics Security

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    By 3VR Team   |   Tuesday Feb 14, 2012

    olympic ringsLarge-scale, heavily populated events, like the Super Bowl and holiday travel in airports, are real-time stress tests for security, public safety and loss prevention protocols. Out of these events we are able to see where vulnerabilities and infringements occurred as well as put new solutions to the test.

    This year, as the United Kingdom prepares to host the 2012 Olympics, the UK Border Agency plans to put biometrics to the test by taking the biometric details of approximately 10,000 individuals who will be involved in the Olympic Games. Each profile will contain facial image scans and finger scans, all to be held in a digital record.

  • How US Bank is Using Humor to Promote Security Education

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    By 3VR Team   |   Thursday Feb 9, 2012

    Too often in the security industry messaging meant to inform the public on how to protect their information is fear based, intending to warn customers about the dangers of identity theft. US Bank has recently taken a very progressive and refreshingly positive approach to this issue by creating a series of YouTube videos about a character, Tami – a chronic oversharer (Security InfoWatch, 2012).

    Entertaining and funny, these videos are easily engaging and more likely to be watched and paid attention to than the harsher, more serious advertisements that rely on fear. While many of these more serious adverts and articles are truthful and informative, they are just not as much fun to watch or read.

    Here is one of US Bank’s Tami videos, hope you enjoy and benefit!

  • How Social Media Is Improving Public Safety

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    By 3VR Team   |   Tuesday Feb 7, 2012

    The rapid growth and evolution of online social media in the past few years is redefining many different industries and agencies. And none more so than law enforcement and public safety where many are beginning to see how social media can be an effective crowdsourcing tool as well as an outlet providing open communication with a vast online community.

  • A Security Camera Thief is Caught by the Stolen Security Camera

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    By 3VR Team   |   Thursday Feb 2, 2012

    Read no further, the story here is in the title, a thief, in Bakersfield, California was caught by a hospital security camera as he was stealing the camera. The surveillance camera was able to capture a full picture of the man’s face as he stole the camera to take home for his own use.

    The local police officers are attributing this crime to a crime wave in the area of thieves stealing cameras to install in their own homes. According to the local police detective, Scott Miller, many criminals will use security cameras in their homes in order to receive advance warning should the police show up at their house.

    The Bakersfield police haven’t been able to identify the thief yet, but the authorities have gone public with the photo (Huffington Post, 2012).