CASE FILE #1: SHOPLIFTER CONFESSION

I RECEIVED THIS EMAIL FROM A FORMER SHOPLIFTER WHO WANTED HIS CASE DISECTED:

Hi Jeff,
Thanks again for your time and any feedback. Ok, I am 33 years of age and my friend Tina is 20. We were at a small but very expensive clothing store on an early Sunday morning. On that particular day there were two sales people (2 twenty-something women) present, and one elderly cashier. We each put about $600 worth of clothing (each) in our bags and proceeded to walk out. The alarm goes off as we leave the store. We expected that to happen. We did not expect that one of the sales people was a security worker. She comes out of the store and says: "Hi. I am store security and I saw both of you take the clothing and walk out. Please come back into the store so we can discuss this." I stop in my tracks to explain. Tina stops as well. But Tina is like: "You're not a security worker." The woman was wearing a business suit. She immediately pulls out a security badge. "Brian, give me your keys and i'll get the car started. You take care of the receipts." (Tina, was hoping that I would at some point make a break for it, and she would drive us away). The security worker responds: "No, I need both of you to stay until this is resolved." Tina is frustrated. And she says: "We have the receipts. But we have an appointment to make." Now, at this point, the security worker is getting a little angry. She says: "If you have the receipts then where are they? Besides, I saw you both take the clothing without paying. Let's all walk back into the store to clear this up." Tina is still arguing with the security worker. The security worker then turns to me and asks me: "Are you going to cooperate sir?" I answer "yes." Then hand the bag over to me as well as your keys and wallet. I was so nervous (I guess the security worker could tell) about getting arrested. I do as she says. (Do you think this was necessary on her part?) She puts the keys and wallet in her pocket and says: "Now you can have a seat on the curb." Tina appears to be moving to make a run for it (even though it stinks for her because the security was not in possession of my keys). It is just then that we see an officer walking up to us. She is not an actual police officer. But one of those traffic officers who are unarmed and carry handcuffs. Nevertheless, they are in some way connected to the police (do you have any idea what their function is?). She was apparently working across the street from the store at the time and saw what was happening. Tina and I had seen her when we were first entering the parking lot. She was helping some kids cross the street. She arrives and looks to be no older than 22. The security worker says: "Hey Denise can you assist in a detain for felony theft?" The traffic worker appears to not have been faced with this kind of situation before. She says to the security worker: "Hold on, I need to get permission from my supervisor." She pulls out her radio and talks into it. Tina is like: "Felony? I don't think so." (We had never been arrested before and did not plan on this being the first). She starts to walk away. The security worker goes after her. The security worker says to the traffic worker: "Cuff him and put him in the security car." The traffic worker was listening at the time to her radio. She nods and says: "I'm cleared to help." She walks up to where I'm sitting and says: "Ok, can you stand up and turn around and put your hands behind your back." As I mentioned, I did not plan on this being my first time incarcerated. So I stand up in a very slow way. I hesitate in doing what she asked. But she swiftly moves in and tells me to spread my legs and put my hands behind my back. (I had a feeling that this older guy - me - was not going to win a foot race against her-an officer who is 10 years younger and in shape). She says: "Come on, I don't have all day." Why all the police procedure stuff? She proceeds to cuff me. She then escorts me to the security vehicle and places me in. The security worker was just placing Tina in when the traffic worker and I got there. Tina was easily apprehended because she had no where to run -without a car. She stops in her tracks and gives up. (I remember thinking at the time: 'Even though this is a small town in Illinois. They don't full around here when it comes to shoplifting). The security worker asks me: "Did you guys take the clothing without paying? I answer yes. I am thinking this could lead to conviction and incarceration. So I tell her - in hoping that my honesty will lead to a better break. I ask her: "But didn't I give the stuff back. Aren't I cooperating?" The security worker answers: "You only gave it back after I ordered you to." The traffic officer gets on her radio to call the police. I ask the security worker: "Will there be a chance that we will be let go without the police getting involved?" She answers: "No sir. I am just doing my job. That's what happens sir when you break the law." Tina and I are both screwed. Before the police arrive (about 15 minutes later) the security worker tells both of us that the store prosecutes every shoplifter to the fullest extent. Since we tried to run (but both didn't get far at all)they also asked for an additional charge of trying to flee a crime scene. And they got it. When the police arrived the security worker and traffic worker high fived each other. They seemed very happy to have detained us. I sat in jail for two whole months and then received 3 years of probation, along with a felony on my record for the rest of my life. In your opinion, did the security worker and traffic worker have to use handcuffs? Also: Was the traffic officer authorized to detain? Did they act professionally? Thanks for the time.

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THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIS EMAIL

Hi Brian-
Before I start ripping apart your story, let me just inform you that I am in no way authorized to offer you legal advice on anything. I am a store agent and I have some experience in shoplifting law, but by no means am I an expert. With that out of the way, let’s get started……. .
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First of all, Your story starts out with there being some question as to whether or not the woman was in fact a “security worker” or not…..So, in order to clear that up for you, I will just inform you that whether the woman was a security agent, manager, supervisor, or part time sales person, is actually irrelevant. In Illinois, the law says that a “merchant” who has reasonable grounds to believe that you shoplifted can detain you for a reasonable amount of time for the following reasons:

1) To request identification and/or to verify such identification
2) To surrender you to a police officer

A “merchant” is defined as any person who is employed by a retail store and that is what the law follows. In other words, as far as the law is concerned, there is no such thing as a “security worker”…..just a “merchant”--------a “security worker” is actually nothing more than an employee of a store who’s job is to protect the store. .

Next, you were asking about whether it was necessary or not for the security agent to confiscate your keys and wallet. My answer would be no. I have never confiscated anything from a shoplifter other than my merchandise. The only reasons I would have taking a shoplifter’s wallet would be to identify that person, or if I was conducting a search for weapons. If I took somebody’s wallet and put it in my pocket, then they could accuse me of stealing money from their wallet. As far as taking your keys away….I understand that the security agent was probably trying to keep you from running away and so by taking your keys she can prevent you from doing that. I personally, would never do that. .

Regarding the traffic officer that you were asking about, it is actually kind of hard for me to give you a straight answer as to what their function is. The reason is, is that different police departments employ different people with different job descriptions. For example, some departments have what they call C.S.O.’s (Community Service Officers). These officer’s generally have authority to make misdemeanor arrests, but again, that varies by department. If this officer was a CSO, then she might have received approval to make a felony arrest from her supervisor when she was on the radio. This officer might have been nothing more than a crossing guard with a vest that says “Police” on it. However, it is very hard to know for sure unless I know what kinds of employees that particular police department hires. My guess would be that she had received some authority to make an arrest; otherwise she wouldn’t be in possession of handcuffs. If you had decided to run from her, regardless of what her job function is in the police department, you probably would have received an extra charge of “evading a police officer”. .

As far as the use of handcuffs, that is a very hot topic. First of all, if it was I that was making the apprehension, I would not have handcuffed either one of you unless you assaulted me or took a swing at me. This comes down to store policy. Most companies have a policy that is similar to what I just stated. That is, if handcuffs are even allowed to be used, then they would only be used if the security agent has a reasonable belief that they are in imminent danger. However, it might also be the policy of the store to handcuff ALL shoplifting offenders for safety purposes. Or it might be policy to handcuff ALL shoplifters that are going to jail. The traffic officer is another story. Probably, since she works for the police department, she is required, for safety purposes, to handcuff a person that she is detaining. That would be my first guess regarding her. So, all in all, in my opinion, handcuffs were not necessary, however, they were probably both authorized to handcuff you and they obviously chose to do it. .

Finally, you asked my opinion on their professionalism. Reading your story, and assuming that everything happened as you stated it did, I would have to say that the security worker acted unprofessionally. As I stated above, I don’t agree with the security agent’s decision to take your keys and wallet. Also, as previously stated, I would probably not have handcuffed you. You said that the security agent made the comment to the traffic officer “hey Denise, can you assist in a detain for felony theft?” That comment is just asking for trouble. In your shoes, if I thought I was going down for a felony, I would be more likely to run or fight in order to escape. That comment to the traffic officer was very unprofessional. It is not the decision of a security agent as to whether this is a felony or a misdemeanor. It is the decision of the State’s Attorney. That comment tells me that the security agent is nothing more than a cop wanna-be. Also, another comment I heard in your story from the security officer was “that’s what happens when you break the law”. That comment is totally uncalled for. That security officer is not a law enforcer; they are a loss prevention agent and are responsible ONLY for protecting the assets of the store….not for enforcing the law. The final thing that struck me regarding the security officer’s professionalism was “the security worker and the traffic worker high fived each other”. I will be the first to admit that my partner’s and I have high fived each other when we caught big shoplifters. In fact, I will go as far as to say that we’ve bought each other lunch when we’ve caught big shoplifters. However, the shoplifters never saw us high five each other and they never knew that we had any gratification over arresting them. The fact that you saw the security worker and traffic worker high five each other shows me further that the security person acted unprofessionally.

Overall, as far as I can see in this story, everything that occurred was okay to occur legally, but I am quite disappointed in the professionalism that was used in this case. If that security officer were working for me, there would probably be some disciplinary issues that would have arisen on this matter. I am glad to see that you learned a valuable lesson through all this occurring and I wish you the best of luck with your future.

Sincerely,
Jeff
Owner/Webmaster of lpspy.com