Operational playbook
A 42-store national apparel retailer operating in both Ontario and Quebec was losing 3.1% of sales to shrink — predominantly organized-retail-crime crews working cross-store patterns. Previous vendor patchwork offered uniformed guards but no intelligence, no apprehension SOP and no documented recoveries.
Request a proposalShrink had doubled year-over-year. Merchandising saw the same suspect vehicle at three stores in 48 hours but had no way to share the photo. Stores were afraid of apprehensions because previous vendor agents had made unsafe detentions and the retailer's legal team had filed two matters. We needed to rebuild LP credibility while actually reducing shrink.
A written apprehension SOP aligned with Criminal Code s.494 (citizen's arrest) that restricts action to specific grounds, mandates de-escalation-first, and prohibits pursuit into the parking lot. Every LP agent certifies to the SOP before first shift.
Visible uniformed presence at entry (deterrence) plus plain-clothes agents on the floor (interdiction). Mix tuned per store based on shrink analytics and foot-traffic pattern.
Weekly intel bulletin shared across all 42 stores with suspect photos, vehicle plates, known MO and successful recovery notes. Integrated with the retailer's internal LP system and regional RCC network.
Every apprehension produces a package: CCTV clips, agent narrative, SKU list with values, witness statements, and police file reference — sufficient for Crown prosecution.
LP report that ties recoveries and deterrence back to store-level shrink numbers so the CFO can see ROI, not just incident counts.
Yes. We hold Ontario PSISA and Quebec BSP agency licences and deploy province-appropriate licensed agents under a single master service agreement, single point of contact, unified reporting and consolidated analytics.
Uniformed agents deter; plain-clothes agents interdict. A best-practice mix varies by store — high-shrink flagships often run both, smaller stores run uniformed only.
Every apprehension must satisfy the published SOP (which restricts action to Criminal Code s.494 grounds). When any element of the SOP is not met, the agent disengages and documents. We track near-misses and recalibrate training quarterly.
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