Day three of the 2016 Restaurant Loss Prevention and Security Association (RLPSA) conference in San Antonio started with a talk by Buck Hamilton, protective security advisor with the Department of Homeland Security. Hamilton pointed out that restaurants are not a new soft target, but that they have always been so. He acknowledged the difficulty of protecting and defending a number of restaurant locations but urged attendees to ensure that each location is always working with closely with local law enforcement, fire and emergency management teams.
Hamilton also emphasized the need to plan at the state and federal level for special events and openings—and underscored the fact that the plan itself may not be as important as the act of planning and preparing. Employees must be ready to respond when and if the plan changes, he cautioned.
The final session of the conference, RLPSA Live!, took place after Hamilton’s presentation. RLPSA Live! is always a crowd favorite and was moderated yesterday by Kevin McMenimen, COO of LP Magazine. The interactive panel session was all about technology that you can’t live without. Here are some of technologies called out by those present as “must-haves”:
- Smart safes, for decreased time in the office and more time out on the floor with customers.
- Video management solutions, to synchronize POS transactions, gather data and perform exception-based reporting
- Apps and mobile technology that allow people to perform their jobs effectively, even while on the go and traveling
Following the panel session, the closing remarks wrapped up the final day of the 2016 RLPSA Conference. Be on the lookout for information about next year’s event, which will take place July 30-August 2, 2017, at the M Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Read about Day 3 of last year’s conference or check out our recaps of Day One and Day Two of the 2016 event.
Image courtesy of visitsanantonio.com.
