Great Lakes Wire

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, top executives from leading Michigan retailers, and members of the FORCE Team convened today for a roundtable discussion on combatting organized retail crime. The meeting highlighted the partnership between the first-in-the-nation unit and retail businesses and discussed building on the early successes of the FORCE Team as it marks its first year of operations. Representatives from Kroger, Meijer, Ulta Beauty, and Walmart joined Attorney General Nessel in Lansing to commend the unit’s achievements.

“Organized Retail Crime is a criminal enterprise that goes far beyond petty shoplifting,” Nessel stated. “It steals millions of dollars from Michigan businesses and consumers. The FORCE Team has shown great success in its first year, through partnerships with retail companies and many local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, stopping these organized crime rings in their tracks and bringing them to justice.”

The FORCE Team and the Organized Retail Crime Unit were established in January 2023 by the Attorney General to target criminal organizations that steal products from retailers to repackage and sell for profit. Since its inception, the FORCE team has charged 59 defendants in 33 cases contributing over $20 million in losses to Michigan retail businesses. To date, the unit has recovered more than $10 million in retail products, seized nearly $2 million in cash, secured 17 convictions, and ordered more than $4.5 million in restitution.

“In its first year, the FORCE team has emerged as a national example of how fostering strong relationships between prosecutors, community partners, and law enforcement agencies can be incredibly successful,” Nessel said. “This unique unit has not only tackled loss prevention head-on but also prevented similar theft patterns from reoccurring. This groundbreaking approach has yielded significant results.”

Two assistant attorneys general serve on the FORCE Team full-time alongside special agents within the Department of Attorney General and Michigan State Police detectives to investigate and prosecute these crimes. The unit also collaborates with the FBI’s Detroit Fraud and Financial Crimes Task Force and the Postal Inspection Service.

“Large-scale retail crimes are not one-off opportunistic incidents," said Col. James F. Grady II, director of MSP. "The criminals committing them are putting innocent store employees and our communities in danger as well as increasing prices for consumers."

Today's roundtable included representatives from major retail partners Kroger, Meijer, Ulta Beauty, and Walmart.

"As we work to ensure safety...it’s never been more important for retailers to work collaboratively against this increasing threat,” said Paul Jaeckle of Meijer.

“Addressing organized retail crime is a critical priority...we’re grateful to Attorney General Nessel,” added Dan Petrousek of Ulta Beauty.

“Walmart is proud...this FORCE team partnership is helping achieve our goal," noted Edward Henkel of Walmart.

The FORCE Team is dedicated to working collaboratively with retailers and local law enforcement agencies to combat organized retail crime.