CONTROLTEK wins LPRC award for SAM2CAM EAS technology

CONTROLTEK won the Advancements in EAS category at the 2026 LPRC Product Protection Summit, announced live at NRF PROTECT 2026. The win spotlights SAM2CAM™, a pedestal-mounted camera system designed to turn EAS alarms into visual evidence for faster retail investigations. Why it matters: - SAM2CAM is built to give retailers visual evidence at the exit, not just an alarm. - The system is designed to help asset protection teams identify suspects faster, review incidents more quickly, and build stronger case files. - CONTROLTEK’s win signals growing interest in tools that combine loss prevention hardware with evidence collection. What happened: - CONTROLTEK won the Advancements in EAS category at the 2026 Loss Prevention Research Council Product Protection Summit. - The award was announced live at NRF PROTECT 2026. - The winning product was SAM2CAM™, CONTROLTEK’s EAS pedestal system with a covert camera built in. The details: - SAM2CAM embeds a camera directly into an EAS pedestal. - The system captures a facial image at the moment of exit and links that image to the alarm event. - CONTROLTEK developed SAM2CAM in response to retailer feedback. - The company says retailers wanted better evidence, not more cameras. - The system can help retailers avoid adding separate camera hardware at entrances and exits. - CONTROLTEK says SAM2CAM helps teams reduce time spent searching through video footage. - The product is deployed by leading retailers across North America. - Retail partners have reported faster event review, less time spent locating evidence, and stronger support for investigations. - The Loss Prevention Research Council independently evaluated SAM2CAM. - LPRC research validated SAM2CAM’s ability to turn traditional EAS events into actionable investigative intelligence. Between the lines: - The award suggests loss prevention buyers are valuing systems that make existing store infrastructure do more work. - SAM2CAM reflects a broader shift toward point-of-exit evidence gathering rather than after-the-fact video review. - CONTROLTEK’s design approach centers on retailer feedback and real-world testing, which may help the company extend the product line. - That approach also led to SAMDCAM™, a door-mounted version for other store layouts, and SmartPost Z™, a platform that combines EAS, RFID, AI-powered video analytics, people counting, and item-level intelligence. What’s next: - CONTROLTEK said customer feedback will continue shaping the technology. - The company is also pushing adjacent products and a broader connected retail security portfolio. - More retailers may adopt similar integrated EAS and video-evidence systems as they look to improve investigations without adding overhead. The bottom line: - CONTROLTEK turned a standard EAS alarm into a camera-assisted evidence tool, and industry recognition now puts that approach in the spotlight. More information: CONTROLTEK’s portfolio of connected retail security solutions