A two-day conference hosted by Peel Regional Police has put new muscle behind the fight against organized retail crime, with the service announcing its Break and Enter, Auto and Retail (BEAR) unit will expand across Peel Region in 2027.
The conference ran from Oct. 6 to 7 and brought together nearly 60 police services, retailers, industry experts, government officials and community partners focused on what has become one of the country's leading conversations on the issue, according to Peel Regional Police.
The central message from the event was that organized retail crime has grown beyond a problem for store owners alone. Police described it as a serious public safety concern for the communities where the thefts happen.
Not just shoplifting
According to Peel Regional Police, what is often dismissed as simple shoplifting has changed into a sophisticated criminal operation. Organized networks run these thefts across jurisdictional lines, target multiple retailers, and turn stolen goods into significant profits.
That scale, police said, means enforcement alone cannot solve the problem. It takes collaboration, intelligence sharing, innovation and a unified response from police, retailers and government working toward the same goal of safer communities.
Two days of strategy-sharing
Over the two days, attendees exchanged ideas, explored emerging trends, shared investigative strategies and discussed practical solutions to disrupt offenders and strengthen partnerships, Peel Regional Police said.
The service said the event highlighted the value of putting people who see different sides of the issue in the same room — investigators, store operators, industry analysts and officials — because they all share the goal of reducing the crime that drives up costs and risk in local commercial areas.
The strong turnout, police noted, reflects a growing recognition that organized retail crime does not respect boundaries, and neither should the partnerships needed to stop it.
New commitments for Peel
Alongside the conference, Peel Regional Police announced several ongoing commitments aimed at getting ahead of retail theft networks operating in Mississauga and Brampton.
The BEAR unit, which investigates break and enters, auto theft and retail crime, will expand across Peel Region in 2027, according to Peel Regional Police. The service also pledged to continue its retail blitzes and to renew its partnership with the Retail Council of Canada.
Police said the relationships built and lessons shared at the conference will continue to inform the collective effort to disrupt organized retail crime, protect businesses and improve community safety in the places the service covers.
For Mississauga shoppers and business owners, the message from police headquarters is that theft ring activity in local stores is being treated as organized crime — with more dedicated enforcement on the way in the years ahead.
