Can a Security Guard Physically Restrain a Minor for Shoplifting

Not knowing who is stopping you or grabbing at you...that can be scary. I wish all LP were trained to identify themselves as such and have an ID to prove it, even just a name tag with photo that says "(Name), (Store Name) Loss Prevention".

5'0" against two people two taller, stronger, men....and you have no idea who they are....and you are cornered against your car and can't even get in it....it's frightening.

The short answer: Yes. They can grab them. It is a MYTH of epic proportions that retail loss prevention cannot put their hands on criminal suspects. Some companies, as a matter of their own policy and not law, might put limitations on doing so, but even in such a case that only amounts to a company policy, not law.

It's always amusing when people say that they didn't know who they were being stopped by. First of all, cases of people impersonating either private security people or the police in order to assault someone are rare.

However, you know what's so rare so as to be almost statistically impossible? That an impersonator would JUST HAPPEN to pick as a victim someone who ACTUALLY DID just steal from the store.

If you commit a crime, and someone comes up to you telling you that they are with the police or store loss prevention, or whatever, since you know that you just did something that would get that type of attention, you can safely bet that they probably are who they say they are. And usually people saying that they "didn't know" are just trying to make up a story to cover up why they took off on them.

I remember a time that I had to stop a young woman for shoplifting and for some reason, I happened to not have my badge and ID that day. I went out and stopped her. She was obviously looking for a reason to not cooperate or a way to "get out of it," so she said "Can I see your badge? I'm not going anywhere with you if I don't see a badge." I said "You know what, I happen to not have it. What we can do is stand out here on the sidewalk in this busy parking lot where you know you're safe because there's lots of witnesses and I'll call the police and have them send a marked police unit over with a uniformed police officer. Then you know who you are dealing with and we can all resolve this from there." She declined my offer and said "Oh, I'm sure you are who you say you are" and accompanied me back into the store.

Oh, and the only time loss prevention typically grabs people without even ID'ing themselves immediately is when the suspects begin to run immediately upon loss prevention approaching. Did that happen here?

Quote:

---

Quoting PandorasBox

---

I wish all LP were trained to identify themselves as such and have an ID to prove it, even just a name tag with photo that says "(Name), (Store Name) Loss Prevention".

---

Most large companies do train their LP folks to identify themselves and do provide some form of identification, normally a badge. This won't necessarily be the case with smaller organizations and sometimes gets missed with the larger ones.

Quote:

---

Quoting free9man

---

Most large companies do train their LP folks to identify themselves and do provide some form of identification, normally a badge. This won't necessarily be the case with smaller organizations and sometimes gets missed with the larger ones.

---

Yes, although I don't think it often gets "missed."

The last time someone claimed (rightfully) that I didn't ID myself, that individual and her two co-defendants had dropped the merchandise and taken off running upon merely seeing me walking towards them while still in the store but at the doors. At that point, the chase was on. They had a pretty good idea what was going on, having just loaded up bags with over $3,000 in merchandise up.

I have a problem with them taking away their phones and not allowing them to call their parents. The police allow minors to call their parents (or will notify the parents themselves), are LPO's held to a lesser standard?

I think because phones give them a chance to call potentially someone with a weapon.

Quote:

---

Quoting llworking

---

I have a problem with them taking away their phones and not allowing them to call their parents. The police allow minors to call their parents (or will notify the parents themselves), are LPO's held to a lesser standard?

---

First of all, we are only hearing one side - partially second hand - of the story. So we don't know for sure that that is what happened.

Second of all, they do not have a right to immediately contact their parents on their own terms. Their phones can and should be taken from them upon being brought to the processing office. It is common for loss prevention to complete preliminary paperwork before calling parents.

Any parent who will drop their kid off at the mall and let them wander around for hours shouldn't have an issue with them being detained for 15 -20 minutes before a call is made home.

As for the police, it's pretty much identical to what I said above. The police don't typically call parents from the side of the road, or the mall, or wherever the kid is arrested. They arrest them, bring them in, do some processing, then call. And all of that is easily 20 + minutes in most cases.

Quote:

---

Quoting llworking

---

I have a problem with them taking away their phones and not allowing them to call their parents. The police allow minors to call their parents (or will notify the parents themselves), are LPO's held to a lesser standard?

---

More like a different standard and it varies by company. I have worked for some that require cell phones be collected and some that don't. I worked for a major retailer whose policy on contacting juvenile's parents was: Only if it is dark out and it may not be safe for them to leave on their own power or if we were prosecuting. Junior stole a pack of Yu-gi-oh cards? Process 'em and kick 'em lose.

I know in my case, they even confiscated my purse, my cell phone, and even my jacket. Searched my purse, even looking at my credit cards and counting every penny I had on me. Wnted to try to charge me with theft of a lipstick, I was atleast able to point out - it's quite well used, and I never even went to the Cosmetics Department...

You can thank the people who lie to us all day long, about everything for that.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people will say " These two items I took, but those are mine," when we SAW them take all of them.