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Tag: private security services

  • San Francisco security guard will not be charged in fatal shooting of suspected Walgreens shoplifter | CNN

    San Francisco security guard will not be charged in fatal shooting of suspected Walgreens shoplifter | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The security guard who shot and killed a suspected shoplifter at a Walgreens in downtown San Francisco last month will not face criminal charges, the district attorney’s office announced Monday, saying the shooter acted in self-defense.

    The district attorney’s office under Brooke Jenkins released surveillance video and a written report Monday regarding Michael Anthony’s fatal shooting of Banko Brown on April 27.

    According to the report, the guard said Brown had repeatedly threatened to stab him prior to the shooting. Police did not find a knife in Brown’s possession, the report states, but prosecutors still determined his fear was reasonable.

    “Given the totality of the circumstances, including the threat that Anthony believed, and could reasonably believe, the evidence shows that Brown’s shooting was not a criminal act because Anthony acted in lawful self-defense,” the report states. “Thus, Anthony is not criminally liable for the death of Brown.”

    The San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week sent a letter asking District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to release the surveillance video showing the shooting after no charges were brought against the guard during the 72 hours he was in custody.

    The surveillance camera video released Monday shows Brown attempting to leave the store before being stopped by the security guard, identified by police as Anthony. Brown then shoves the guard, leading to a physical altercation.

    Brown is held on the ground by the guard but released after about a minute, the video shows. Brown starts to leave but appears to turn around and move toward the guard, who then shoots him, the video shows.

    The killing and lack of charges has led to protests in San Francisco connected to broader debates over crime, poverty, homelessness and criminal justice in the Northern California city.

    San Francisco has seen a marked exodus of middle class residents since the Covid-19 pandemic, and a series of brazen property crimes and rampant public drug use has created a sense of disorder, as CNN explored in the recent special, “What happened to San Francisco?”

    One such incident was a daytime theft at a Walgreens store in 2021 captured on video in which a suspect casually grabbed items from shelves, tossed them into a black bag and left the store, brushing past the store’s security guard and several onlookers. Walgreens said at the time this “blatant retail theft” was an ongoing problem at its stores, although a company executive said earlier this year “maybe we cried too much” about the issue.

    As part of the backlash, the progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin was recalled by a 55% vote last year. Jenkins was appointed to replace him and pledged to “restore accountability and consequences to our criminal justice system,” saying this was a moment to “take back our streets.”

    Surveillance camera video shows a portion of the encounter involving Banko Brown, left, and security guard Michael Anthony before Anthony fatally shot Banko.

    In his videotaped interview with police, the guard said Brown repeatedly threatened to stab him during the fight.

    “I felt like I was in danger. I felt like I was going to be stabbed,” Anthony said.

    According to the district attorney’s report, Brown was a transgender man. Anthony, using incorrect pronouns, further described his mental state the moment Brown moved toward him.

    “And I didn’t know what she was planning on doing, but, uh … turns out her intention was to … try to spit at me and by that reaction by her turning around and advancing towards me … that’s when I lifted it (motions with hands) and then shot once.”

    The district attorney’s report notes that self-defense applies when a person has a reasonable belief they are in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily harm.

    “There is no evidence to contradict that Anthony’s fear was honest,” the report states.

    However, John Burris, an attorney representing Brown’s family, said he will move forward with filing a lawsuit in the case soon.

    “I’ve seen the tape and looked it over pretty closely and I believe this shooting death was unjustified,” he told CNN.

    “The family is very disturbed that no prosecution has taken place, particularly the father and the mother, and they would like the matter to be sent to the attorney general’s office for review.”

    San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said he is asking the state attorney general and the US Department of Justice to review the case. He told CNN affiliate KGO he was troubled by the video.

    “There’s distance between them, Banko Brown is unarmed, Banko Brown is outside of the store,” he said.

    Walgreens issued a statement offering its condolences to Brown’s family.

    “The safety of our patients, customers and team members is our top priority, and violence of any kind will not be tolerated in our stores,” the company said. “We take this matter seriously and are cooperating with local authorities.”

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  • 3 family members sentenced to life in the 2020 shooting death of a Family Dollar security guard over a face mask dispute | CNN

    3 family members sentenced to life in the 2020 shooting death of a Family Dollar security guard over a face mask dispute | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Three family members who were charged with murder in the shooting death of a Family Dollar security guard in Flint, Michigan, in May 2020 have been sentenced to life in prison, court records show.

    The security guard, Calvin Munerlyn, was shot after telling a customer she needed to wear a mask in the store, prosecutors have said. The altercation occurred when retail employees and customers were required by a state-wide executive order to wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

    Sharmel Lashe Teague, Larry Edward Teague and Ramonyea Travon Bishop were each convicted on murder and felony firearms charges in connection with the shooting, sentencing documents show. Larry Teague was also convicted of a habitual offender offense.

    Sharmel, 47, and Larry Teague, 47, are married, and Bishop, 26, is Sharmel’s son, according to the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office.

    A jury sentenced each of them to life in prison on the murder charge and two years in prison on the firearms charge, according to the sentencing document filed in Genesee County circuit court.

    Munerlyn got into an argument with Sharmel Teague after telling her daughter she needed to wear a mask in the store, police have said, citing surveillance footage.

    Though her daughter left the store, Sharmel Teague began yelling at the security guard “who then told her to leave the store and instructed a cashier not to serve her,” prosecutors said in 2020.

    Sharmel Teague left the Family Dollar. But about 20 minutes later, Bishop and Larry Teague arrived, prosecutors said. Larry Teague yelled at Munerlyn, saying the guard had disrespected his wife.

    Bishop then shot Munerlyn in the head, prosecutors said, and the security guard later died at a hospital.

    An attorney for Larry Teague had no comment on the sentencing when reached by CNN. CNN has also reached out to attorneys for Sharmel Teague and Bishop but has not heard back.

    Sharmel Teague’s daughter, Brya Bishop, was charged with tampering with evidence, lying to police investigating a violent crime and being an accessory after the fact to a felony, prosecutors said. She was sentenced in November to serve probation, state correction records show.

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  • ‘Maybe we cried too much’ over shoplifting, Walgreens executive says | CNN Business

    ‘Maybe we cried too much’ over shoplifting, Walgreens executive says | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Throughout the pandemic, major retailers have warned about surging theft and a rise in brazen shoplifting attempts. But a top Walgreens executive now says the freakout may have been overblown.

    “Maybe we cried too much last year” about merchandise losses, Walgreens finance chief James Kehoe acknowledged Thursday on an earnings call. The company’s rate of shrink — merchandise losses due to theft, fraud, damages, mis-scanned items and other errors — fell from 3.5% of total sales last year to around 2.5% during its latest quarter.

    Kehoe’s message is a notable shift from comments about theft from Walgreens and other retailers like Walmart and Target over the last nearly three years.

    Companies and retail industry groups have tried to draw attention to shoplifting and “organized retail crime” rings smashing windows and grabbing aisles full of merchandise off shelves, urging lawmakers to crack down. Incidents have certainly happened: Many political leaders and local and national news outlets, including CNN, have picked up on viral incidents of smash-and-grab robberies.

    So retailers took action. Some began locking up more products like deodorant and toothpaste, adding extra security guards and even shuttering stores.

    Last January, Walgreens

    (WBA)     said its shrink was up by more 50% from the year prior. The company blamed part of that spike on organized retail crime and closed five locations in the San Francisco area in 2021, claiming theft as the reason for their closure.

    “This is not petty theft,” Kehoe said last January. “These are gangs that actually go in and empty our stores of beauty products. And it’s a real issue.”

    But a year later, Kehoe said Thursday that the company added too much extra security in stores.

    “Probably we put in too much, and we might step back a little bit from that,” he said of security staffing. The company has found private security guards to be “largely ineffective” in deterring theft, so instead it’s putting in more police and law enforcement officers.

    Though Walgreens may have overblown the shoplifting threat over the last few years, it’s true that theft has always been a problem for retailers — and that it often spikes during recessions and other periods of economic hardship, when people are desperate and may feel the need to turn to petty crime to sustain themselves. What’s more, recent factors like shortstaffed stores and self-checkout can make it easier for thieves to steal.

    The National Retail Federation estimated that shrink cost retailers $94.5 billion in 2021, up from $61.7 billion in 2019 before the pandemic. Shoplifting often does not go reported to the police, but companies have said theft has worsened during the Covid crisis.

    “Along with other retailers, we’ve seen a significant increase in theft and organized retail crime across our business,” Target

    (TGT)     CEO Brian Cornell said in November.

    Walmart

    (WMT)     CEO Doug McMillon said last month on CNBC that “theft is an issue” and “higher than what it has historically been.” He warned stores could close if it continued.

    However, it’s not clear the numbers add up.

    For example, data released by the San Francisco Police Department does not support the explanation Walgreens gave that it was closing five stores because of organized retail theft, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2021.

    One of the shuttered stores that closed had only seven reported shoplifting incidents in 2021 and a total of 23 since 2018, according to the newspaper. Overall, the five stores that closed had fewer than two recorded shoplifting incidents a month on average since 2018.

    Similarly, a 2021 Los Angeles Times analysis of figures released by industry groups on losses due to organized retail crime found “there is reason to doubt the problem is anywhere near as large or widespread as they say.”

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  • World Cup security guard dies after ‘fall’ while on duty at the Lusail Stadium | CNN

    World Cup security guard dies after ‘fall’ while on duty at the Lusail Stadium | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Kenyan security guard who reportedly fell while on duty at Qatar’s Lusail Stadium has died in hospital, his family and officials have confirmed to CNN.

    His employer had notified the migrant worker’s family on Saturday that 24-year-old John Njue Kibue had fallen from the 8th floor of the stadium while on duty, his sister Ann Wanjiru said.

    “We don’t have the money to get justice for him, but we want to know what happened,” she told CNN.

    A medical certificate obtained by CNN shows he was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Hamad General Hospital in Doha. The document says Njue had a “severe head injury, facial fractures and pelvic fractures.”

    In a statement, the organizers of the World Cup – the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy – announced Kibue’s death.

    “We regret to announce that, despite the efforts of his medical team, he sadly passed away in hospital on Tuesday 13 December, after being in the intensive care unit for three days,” the statement added.

    “His next of kin have been informed. We send our sincere condolences to his family, colleagues and friends during this difficult time.”

    Earlier this week, the committee announced that Kibue suffered a serious fall while on duty.

    “Qatar’s tournament organisers are investigating the circumstances leading to the fall as a matter of urgency and will provide further information pending the outcome of the investigation, ” it said in its statement.

    “We will also ensure that his family receive all outstanding dues and monies owed.”

    He had been unconscious since Saturday and was connected to a machine to help him breathe, his medical records showed. A family member was informed on Monday morning of his death.

    But the security guard’s family says his Qatari employer, Al Sraiya Security Services, has not explained how he fell or any of the circumstances surrounding his death.

    “We want justice. We want to know what caused his death. They have never sent us a picture to show where he fell from or given us any other information,” his sister Wanjiru told CNN.

    CNN has contacted Al Sraiya Security Services for comment after the guard’s death and is yet to receive a response.

    In a statement to CNN, the Kenyan embassy in Qatar said it was aware of the matter and “undertaking necessary consular assistance whilst awaiting official communication from Qatar’s Supreme Committee and competent authorities.”

    The guard’s family says he moved to Qatar last November for a contract with Al Sraiya Security Services.

    A WhatsApp message seen by CNN was sent to his colleagues at other World Cup stadiums soliciting for contributions.

    “He came here to support his family back home but by bad luck his dreams came to an end today,” it reads in part. “Let’s do something for our beloved comrade.”

    He is the second migrant worker reported dead since the tournament began in the Gulf nation after another was reportedly killed in an accident at a resort used by Saudi Arabia during the group stages.

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