Pro Tem Treat Hosts First Meeting of the Organized Retail Crime Task Force

Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, today hosted the first meeting of the Oklahoma Organized Retail Crime Task Force.

The Oklahoma Organized Retail Crime Task Force was created through Senate Bill 674. The task force will research and gather data from various entities serving on the task force to make informed recommendations to the legislature and governor to prevent and combat organized retail crime in Oklahoma.

“There is a nationwide problem with organized retail crime and Oklahoma is no exception,” Pro Tem Treat said. “Our task force has a unique makeup of business executives, from both large corporations and small businesses, law enforcement and companies involved in the supply chain to help guide our discussions. My goal is to figure out the scope of the problem, where we are lacking coordination and communication and what needs to change to help businesses stay and expand in Oklahoma. There may need to be a legislative fix, or better communication and cooperation from various entities on the ground or both. Through our meetings, we will hopefully work together to stop this growing problem and make Oklahoma a more business friendly state.”

The members of the task force named Home Depot’s lead organized retail crime investigator, Jamie Bourne, as the chairman and QuikTrip’s manager of public and government affairs, Michael Junk, as vice chairman.

The makeup of the other members of the task force are the following:

• Jared Furrh, Oklahoma City Police Department;
• Investigator Jamison Hirsch, Tulsa Police Department;
• Jim Griffith, CEO of OnCue;
• Regional Investigations Manager Robert Heck, Lowe’s;
• District Attorney Greg Mashburn, District Attorney for Cleveland, Garvin and McClain Counties;
• Captain Ron Kawano, Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office;
• Chief Wendall Franklin, Tulsa Police Department;
• Justin Wolf, Attorney General’s Office;
• Steven Potts, manager of Indian Nation Wholesale; and
• Jeff Reasor, representing the Oklahoma Grocers Association

Thursday’s meeting was organizational in nature. Plans for future meetings will be announced at a later date.

###