If there’s one thing a city can be guaranteed when it’s awarded an Olympic bid it’s that it will be haunted by controversy over security preparations from the minute it gets the nod until the last athlete has left the stadium.

Just weeks before the Canadian Society for Industrial Security (the “other CSIS”) was to hold its annual general meeting it was unclear whether anyone was going to step up to take on the role of president. Graham Ospreay had held the position for three consecutive terms during a time when others at CSIS had bailed on the organization following the mysterious departure of executive director Gord Pinder.

When we sat down to talk about retail organized crime (ROC) with the group of loss prevention professionals you see on the cover of this issue, they came armed with tales of highly sophisticated financial crimes: credit card and debit fraud, slick cheque forging operations, organized shoplifting and gift card fraud.

If there’s one thing a city can be guaranteed when it’s awarded an Olympic bid it’s that it will be haunted by controversy over security preparations from the minute it gets the nod until the last athlete has left the stadium.

When Halima Muse, a Muslim woman and employee of Garda working as a security screener at Pearson Airport decided she was no longer comfortable with the uniform she had worn for the last five years, she decided to make one of her own. She created an ankle-length skirt using material she felt matched the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) uniform. The problem? Yes, it was much longer than the CATSA issued knee-length skirt, but was not CATSA-approved. Muse, who is responsible for screening passengers and luggage, was suspended in late August for wearing the homemade garment.