Canada's Senate is considering Bill C-26 The Citizen's Arrest and Self-defence Act, passed by parliament in early May and it will impact the retail Loss Prevention industry There isn’t much doubt that this will be signed into law very shortly, but along with it has come a tirade of comments from the security industry on what they seem to think it means. This is a game changer in the Canadian security industry and can impact retailers as well. Bill C-26 does NOT broaden the powers of arrest of security guards or loss prevention officers to make their powers similar to those of a peace officer under section 495 by permitting an arrest on reasonable grounds at some point later. The amendment does alter the time period within which a security guard can make an arrest. It lengthens it from "immediately" to "a reasonable time after." This is a dangerous development for risk managers and a severe tightening of policies and procedures is now necessary to avoid any unlawful detentions/arrests and the legal backlash along with it. So what is the definition of a "reasonable time later?" Common sense should tell you the answer. This is a must read for all Canadian retailers and U.S. retailers with stores in Canada because now the gray area is wide open. (Source canadiansecuritymag.com)


Toronto's Eaton Center food court shooter incident June 2nd that left 1 killed and 7 injured, showed that the Mall guards were well trained and responded accordingly. Mike Burgess, who provides training to the Eaton Centre security force, says they handled the June 2 shooting incident like professionals. The police were complimentary of their work. (Source canadiansecuritymag.com)