In october 2022, the michigan state police (MSP) and the michigan attorney generals office (miag) created the focused organized retail crimes enforcement team (task force)

The Department of State Police Michigan (Michigan State Police, MSP) received a $323,365 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the Economic, High-Tech, and Cyber Crime Prevention program (CFDA 16.752). The grant funding will support the Focused Organized Retail Crimes Enforcement Task Force, a joint initiative between MSP and the Michigan Attorney General's Office, to investigate and respond to large-scale organized retail crime and intellectual property crime activities in Michigan.

Key activities to be funded include sworn officer overtime for investigations, training, software and equipment procurement, and educational outreach programs. MSP will collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the Portland (Oregon) Bureau Police and Michigan State University, to develop a comprehensive enforcement and community education program focused on intellectual property crime prevention. The grant period runs from Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2026.

The Michigan Department of Attorney General also received a $X sub-award under this grant to provide investigative support for three personnel dedicated to intellectual property crime cases on the Task Force.

Task force investigators pursued large scale organized retail crime (ORC) groups that primarily targeted retail outlets in large urban centers in the state of michigan. As the task force evolved IT began to encounter large scale intellectual property crime (IPC) in early 2023, the task force began to work closely with three federal law enforcement agency (LEA) partners: the federal bureau of investigation (FBI), the united states postal inspection service (uspis), and homeland security investigations (HSI). Working collaboratively with HSI, FBI, and the uspis, the task force is seeking federal grant funds from the intellectual property crime enforcement program to fund sworn overtime investigations, training, software, equipment, and educational opportunities. The task force intends to work directly with the portland (oregon) bureau police (BOP) and michigan state university to research and develop a health & safety IPC enforcement and community outreach education program, which aims to highlight the task forces holistic approach to the prevention of IPC through public education and outreach.