Flash Mobs increasingly Being Used to Commit Acts of Violence and Crime

I have discussed with several people the potential for the use of the “Flash Mob” for nefarious purposes in the past. I believe that we will also see a continuing progression of their use for violent and other criminal activities that will have an impact on business and society itself if some of our other forecasts prove to be correct.  

As we have seen over the course of the last year Flash Mobs have turned violent or have been used to carry out violence and other crimes. They have been an issue in various cities particularly in Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Paul as well as several others.

Flash mobs have also been targeting retailers to commit brazen acts of intimidation and theft. Everything from convince stores, to Macy’s, CVS and most recently Sears have been targets of these type of Flash Mobs.

If you are a retailer especially with a presence in a mall the Flash Mob should be something that concerns you. Be sure to discuss this with your employees and consider adding this to your list of risk exposures and work with your security personnel so they are also aware of the issue.

We are also concerned about the potential for other groups to use Flash Mobs for more violent acts, including terrorist attacks.

Below are some video’s showing some of these Flash Mobs in action.



BREAKING NEWS: Al-Qaeda Founder and Leader Osama Bin Laden is Dead

BREAKING: In case you have not heard - The US is in possession of Bin Laden's body, the reports say. President Barack Obama is due to make a statement shortly. Al-Qaeda also announced their spring offensive will launch today.

He was allegedly killed about a week ago, it was a ground operation and he was killed by a bomb or missile in a mansion inside of Islamabad, Pakistan.

The United States is in possession of the body, and DNA tests CONFIRM it is him.

Governments around the world are announcing a heightened security posture sue to his announced death and it is know that Al-Qaeda has announced in the past that they are in possession of a nuclear bomb hidden inside of Europe and that if Bin-Laden is ever killed or captured they will detonate it. 

The Contingency Planning & Management Conference CPM 2011 - May 9-11

The Contingency Planning & Management Conference (CPM 2011) - http://contingencyplanning.com) is coming up May 9-11 in Las Vegas. It offers a 5-track program taught by leading faculty in small, classroom settings.

If you've never attended before, CPM 2011 is the only conference where business continuity, risk management, disaster recovery and emergency response professionals can learn from and network with top industry experts and collaborate face-to-face with their peers.

PLUS CPM 2011 attendees get an exclusive discount to see the hit musical Jersey Boys on May 10th at the Palazzo: http://tiny.cc/CPMJerseyBoys

Interested in attending? Register for CPM 2011 at http://tiny.cc/CPM2011Reg.

Also, Reader of Disaster Preparedness Blog can register using code: NW1C08 when registering for the conference. This code is good until Monday, April 18, 2011 - so Hurry!

As recent events from Japan to Portugal to the Middle East have demonstrated, you can't over-think contingency, emergency business planning or disaster recovery in an increasingly interconnected world. CPM 2011 will bring together experts for advanced-level education on today's hot topics – including sessions such as "Dependencies and Interdependencies: Will Your Business Recover?" and "Cloud Computing - Ready Or Not It's Here." You can learn more about tracks, sessions, and speakers at http://tiny.cc/CPM2011Trks.

Toyota Announces They Will Shut Down North American Factories

Facing a parts shortage due to last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Toyota announced earlier today that they will likely shut North American factories.

The shutdown is said to be temporary, but also unknown is for how long the shutdown will last, and will affect about 25,000 workers here in the United States. All of which depends on how quickly the Japanese auto parts makers can get back to business.

Honda Motor Co. and Subaru of America also stated they would slow U.S. production to conserve parts as well.

Production of certain parts are not expected to resume for at least 30 days in a company memo to dealers and added, "Both the number of affected parts and length of production stoppage may increase."

The disaster in Japan, although exceptional in scope and size is an example how vulnerable our supply chains are. In our globalized world, everything is tied together and companies MUST do a better job at redistributing the risk of their supply chains, and it needs to happen quickly.

Large scale regional natural disasters are also tied to the globalized economy and this one will likely impact the overall recovery of the American economy which will further impacting the global economy yet again.  

Ironically, in the January copy of Reinsurance Magazine the article – World Cannot Take Another Crisis Global Leaders Warned and it points to the need to “solve future global risks before they become crises” and that “Twentieth century systems are failing to manage 21^st century risks.” More can and should be done to manage our risks.

Weather Service Predicts Busy 2011 Hurricane Season

The National Weather Service is predicting 15 tropical storms, eight hurricanes, and three major hurricanes for the 2011 hurricane season which is from June 1, through November 30, 2011.

Colorado State University, which also makes predictions every year, is predicting an even busier season with 17 named storms which include nine hurricanes and five major hurricanes.

Both predictions are calling for an above average hurricane season. Also, visit e-transit.org with Landfall Probabilities.