Gren: We said to ourselves that all analog markets will be digital one day. And we said, “Okay, but what’s the purpose of our camera?” And everyone said, “Well, it must be surveillance.” And I said, “No, no, it’s not surveillance; [if] it’s one frame every 17 seconds, we’re not going to make it into that industry.” I had a deal with the board: if we could sell 10,000 cameras for the first two years, we’d create a division. We surpassed that goal with good margin. So I said, “If we really want to make this big, we need to invest in our own custom chips, because we need 30 frames per second.” … I convinced my partner at the time that we should invest a significant portion of the company’s cash into doing the first chipset. So we created … the ARTPEC One, our compression chip, which made it possible to do 30 frames a second. And once that chip was completed, we managed to launch a product that was really on par with what the video security industry needed. And that year, we were growing more than 300 percent thanks to the full frame rate.

Listen to the full podcast online.  — By Amanda Reed, SDM Staff Editor //

55%

The company also said the article “falsely twisted” the words of a ShotSpotter forensic expert to suggest its accuracy rates are the product of their marketing or sales departments. According to the company, ShotSpotter’s accuracy rate of 97 percent has been confirmed through an independent audit by the statistical and economics firm, Edgeworth Analytics. The 97 percent accuracy rate includes a 0.5 percent false positive rate and any false negatives.

Regarding the forensic report, the company said, “It is a court-admissible analysis of a gunfire incident. Our expert forensic analysts spend on average eight hours per incident to compile a court-admissible report using specialized tools that differ from those used for alerts. These reports are 100 percent exact on rounds fired, timing, sequence, and location of shots fired — something they can testify to in court under oath.”

ShotSpotter said the detailed forensic report is never altered because it is a completely separate process from the alerts.

“Forensic analysis may uncover additional information relative to a real-time alert such as more rounds fired or an updated timing or location upon more thorough investigation by forensic analysis,” the company continued. “We respond to requests to further investigate an incident for a forensic report only to provide the facts that we can determine and not to fit a predetermined narrative. This is about being diligent and providing the appropriate evidence and insights in the evidentiary chain of custody and nothing more. The idea that ShotSpotter ‘alters’ or ‘fabricates’ evidence in any way is an outrageous lie and would be a criminal offense. We follow the facts.”

According to the company, it invests a great deal to train police departments on how to use the technology and how to develop a policy around its use within each department. It also shares best practices from the 120 cities using ShotSpotter. In addition, ShotSpotter rigorously trains and tests every individual reviewing real-time gunfire incidents at the company to ensure they perform at a level consistent with the company’s quality objectives.

“ShotSpotter’s Incident Review Center (IRC) adds an additional step of human review after machine classification,” a spokesperson for the company said. “The IRC consists of two 24/7 facilities, one in Newark, Calif., and the other in Washington, D.C. Both are staffed by highly trained reviewers who play back the audio from multiple sensors, analyze the waveforms and use additional tools to determine if the sound is a gunshot or a non-gunshot.”

ShotSpotter said the VICE article is “a sad distraction from the issue at hand: addressing gun violence to keep our communities safe.”

“In recent weeks, shootings have surged in many parts of the country, robbing us of American lives,” the company said. “ShotSpotter is a tool for helping law enforcement put a stop to this senseless violence and break the cycle of the normalization of gun violence in our communities. We will not tolerate our company being maligned and will vigorously defend our work in making communities safer for all.” — By Amanda Reed, SDM Staff Editor //

According to the complaint, Motorola Solutions alleges that Verkada has relied on and incorporated intellectual property owned by Avigilon since its founding.

“For example, after receiving criticism from the industry that its systems lacked many of the analytics features that Avigilon pioneered, including Appearance Search, Verkada incorporated the same functionality in its own ‘People Analytics,’” the complaint reads. “Just like Avigilon’s earlier developed and patented Appearance Search technology, Verkada’s allegedly ‘game changing’ People Analytics is ‘built on AI’ and enables users to search and filter based on several different appearance attributes, ‘including gender traits, clothing color, and even a person’s face.’”

Additionally, Motorola claims Verkada’s use of a hybrid edge computing architecture that extracts metadata from video and Verkada’s firmware update functionality take from Avigilon’s innovations.

“At Motorola Solutions, we have invested extensively to deliver cutting edge video security and analytics solutions to our customers around the world and across industries,” a company spokesperson said when asked for comment. “On behalf of our customers, shareholders, employees, partners and other stakeholders, we will continue to defend our intellectual property and investments in innovation.”

In response to the complaint, a Verkada spokesperson said that the company values and respects intellectual property. However, in this case, Verkada does not believe the lawsuit has merit and the company “[plans] to vigorously defend our rights and technologies."

“It is not surprising to see this type of litigation, which is commonly faced by many successful technology companies — particularly those pushing the boundaries of what has historically been offered in a product category,” the spokesperson said. “Verkada was founded to reimagine our industry and deliver to customers cutting edge, integrated hardware and software that is easy-to-use and highly scalable. This fresh take on a traditional space disrupted established players who have not been able to match the same type of seamless experience that has helped us grow. In the meantime, our focus will continue to be on serving our customers and designing, building and shipping the market leading and innovative products that customers love.” — By Amanda Reed, SDM Staff Editor //

The proposed settlement calls for a payment of $55 million in resolution of claims asserted against Resideo and all other defendants. Approximately $39 million is expected to be funded with proceeds from available insurance. Resideo recorded a $16 million expense in its second quarter 2021 financial results to account for the portion of the settlement it expects to fund. Including the impact of the settlement, Resideo’s GAAP operating profit is expected to be $121 million for the second quarter of 2021.

The settlement remains subject to final documentation and approval by the court and is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions to effectiveness. A final non-appealable closure of the litigation is expected towards the end of 2021. //

DeLozier has worked with ScanSource for more than 20 years as both a partner and a supplier. DeLozier will be focused on leading the evolution of the company’s strategy. In support of this, he will oversee the development of innovative programs and tools to allow for enhanced partner insights, cross-sell and upsell opportunities.

As ScanSource president, Sorrentino will oversee all aspects of the North America hardware business, including sales, supplier relationships and operations. He will also be instrumental in guiding the continued alignment of the ScanSource hardware and POS Portal businesses. Sorrentino will continue to drive the company’s strategy of enabling partners to add cloud, connectivity and SaaS solutions as they move to a recurring revenue business practice.

Prior to his new role, Sorrentino served as president, North America sales, where he was responsible for the sales strategy of ScanSource’s North American specialty business. He has also served in other strategic leadership roles at ScanSource, including co-president, U.S. and Canada; co-president, Worldwide Barcode, Networking and Security; and president and vice president of sales for ScanSource Networking and Security. In these roles, he provided strategic vision and leadership, while building and executing on growth initiatives and partner opportunities. Most recently, DeLozier served as senior vice president, global channel sales.

DeLozier succeeds Mark Morgan, who has been named president of global business strategy for ScanSource. //

In the 2021 scholarship program — open to employees of SIA member companies and SIA student members — each honoree will be awarded $10,000 to use toward continuing education and professional development courses, conferences or webinars, SIA program offerings, repayment of student loan debt and/or other education or academic pursuits.

“Through efforts like the SIA Women in Security Forum and this unique scholarship program, SIA is proud to help cultivate a diverse workforce and empower students and professionals to thrive in the security industry,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “We congratulate the 2021 recipients of the SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship and look forward to supporting their future successes in the industry.”

The winners for the 2021 SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship are:

• Carrie Caldwell, technical trainer, Axis Communications.

• Melanie Goldberg, senior intelligence analyst, Global Rescue.

• Samantha Hubner, student, Tufts University.

• Elizabeth Kropp, marketing and sales intern, SAGE Integration.

• Tiffany Rojas, human resource business partner, Stanley Security.

• Jaya Singh, student, University of Leicester.

The 2021 SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship honorees were selected with the help of SIA’s Women in Security Forum Scholarship Subcommittee: Subcommittee Chair Martha Entwistle, communications manager, Eagle Eye Networks; Rebecca Bayne, president, Bayne Consulting & Search Inc.; Kevin Friedman, president, Maize Marketing; Dhira Gregory, director of marketing and communications, National Capital Region Security Forum; Cameron Javdani, president, SoundSecure; Min Kyriannis, CEO and co-founder, Amyna Systems Inc.; Andrew Lanning, co-founder, Integrated Security Technologies; Stephanie Mayes, vice president, Americas sales, Synectics; and Elaine Palome, director of human resources, Americas, Axis Communications.

“This year’s class of scholarship awardees is an inspiring, accomplished group of security industry professionals and students, and the SIA Women in Security Forum is thrilled to help each honoree reach their education and professional development goals through this program,” said SIA Women in Security Forum Chair Kasia Hanson. “We also thank the scholarship committee and its leadership — including Chair Martha Entwistle — for their dedication to the SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship program and their diligent work in evaluating the 2021 scholarship applications.” //