Manitoba Justice Minister Cliff Cullen announced a new retail crime task force that will address issues surrounding retail crime and support the industry.

The task force was a recommendation of the Manitoba Retail Crime Round Table that was held in January. The symposium was hosted by six local business associations and involved more than 90 participants from 68 public and private-sector organizations.

“In the past three years, retailers have seen retail thefts increase by over 125 per cent, and violent crime targeted at businesses and employees is also on the rise,” said Cullen. “The Manitoba government is pleased to partner with the private sector to create this new task force, which will work collaboratively to address these issues and support retail communities throughout the province.”  

Representatives from police, Manitoba Justice, retailers including Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, security companies and the Retail Council of Canada are all participants in the task force.

John Graham, director of government relations (Prairie region), Retail Council of Canada said, “We are appreciative of this community response to addressing this issue and enthusiastically anticipating the impact the efforts of this task force will have on creating safer communities and stores.”

The province has also brought together law enforcement and justice officials to work on reducing the number of thefts and robberies from the retail sector in Manitoba. One of their initiatives is a joint project between Manitoba Justice and the Winnipeg Police Service knnown as Project Stop Lifting that targets chronic retail theft offenders.

Since July Project Stop Lifting has resulted in:

• 381 total offenders checked;
• 74 warrants executed (35 offenders detained, 39 released);
• 592 total charges laid;
• nine arrested offenders had 20 or more charges laid; and
• 365 total warrant enquiry checks carried out.

Members of the Retail Crime Task Force are:

• John Graham, director, government relations (Prairie region), Retail Council of Canada (co-chair);
• Shannon Martin, MLA, McPhillips (co-chair);
• Scott Kolody, associate deputy minister, Manitoba Justice;
• Michele Jules, executive director, Manitoba Prosecutions Service;
• Chief Supt. Rob Hill, RCMP;
• Deputy Chief Jeff Szyszkowski, Winnipeg Police Service;
• Bryan Payne, Commissionaires Manitoba;
• Damien Smith, district loss prevention officer, Rexall (national retailer);
• Brian Scharfstein, Canadian Footwear (small independent retailer);
• Shawn McGurk, director, corporate security and surveillance, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries;
• Scott Young, vice-president, Western Canada, Garda World (private security); and
• Dr. Rick Linden, professor, sociology and criminology, University of Manitoba (data expert/research advisor).

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