What is the Effect of Shoplifting on a College Application

I am 17 and I live in New York City. I was detained for shoplifting at Kohls and was told that a letter would come in the mail, they called it a "civil demand". After tallying up the amount stolen, the management told me it was about $200 of stolen property. I am extremely worried that I will get a record. I am applying to college and I truly cannot afford to get a record.

I will pay the civil demand, but I was wondering what are the chances of getting a summons, and how often does Kohls bring their cases to court.

I live in New York, and my father was the one who signed a civil demand paper. Please I know I did something extremely wrong and stupid, and I will never ever do something like this again.

Also, I have not recievd anything in the mail yet. The incident occurred yesterday, and I am killing myself to know what will happen. I don't want to go to court because I cannot afford to with college around the corner. Please, I want to know what will happen to me now.

Also, they did not call the police. When I asked they responded that they do not call the police and that I would just be billed and banned from the store. But I read at other forums that its up to the company if they company wants to pursue civil action, or sue me.

I'm really just worried. I don't know what to do if I do have a record.

Did they tell you that they were reporting the incident to the police, or did they tell you that they were not going to do so? Odds are, they were being truthful in any such statement.

They did not mention the police at all. Only that it was up to the higher department. They just detained me. Looked through my belongings. I gave up everything right away and they said that I was being very compliant and calledbmy father to pick me up. I signed a trespassing form and took a survey on shoplifting. My father also signed something acknowledging that I would have to pay

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Quoting iashleywu

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I am 17 and I live in New York City. I was detained for shoplifting at Kohls and was told that a letter would come in the mail, they called it a "civil demand". After tallying up the amount stolen, the management told me it was about $200 of stolen property. I am extremely worried that I will get a record. I am applying to college and I truly cannot afford to get a record.

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Then you shouldn't have done it. If you can't afford to lose money, you shouldn't gamble.

It sounds like they are not going to prosecute you, but at 17, the police might not even be involved in shoplifting prosecutions. They aren't where I'm at. Loss Prevention here file directly with the juvenile court as the "charging agency," just like the police would.

Call the store. Ask for loss prevention. Ask them if they are prosecuting you or not. It's a simple question and they should be able to give you a straight answer. You have nothing to lose by asking.

I truly cannot afford to get a record.

The time to worry about this is before you commit a crime, not after. It is no longer within your control whether you end up with a criminal record or not. You may; you may not. But there's nothing you can do at this point other than to hire an attorney if you are charged.

No harm in following DD's suggestion. But frankly, I am quite tired of having shoplifters complain that they can't possibly get a record because it will have X negative affect on their jobs/college applications/lives etc. If you can't afford to have a record, you can't afford to shoplift. Grown up adults take responsibility for their actions; pouting children whine that they ought to be excused from penalty because it would be inconvenient.

Since it happened yesterday, will LP know if I am going to be prosecuted?

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So really, the only thing I can do is wait and see what I get in the mail? Since I won't know for sure what my future and holds for me?

How long do civil demands/summons usually take? And if I do get a summons, will it come attached to the civil demand?

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Quoting iashleywu

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Since it happened yesterday, will LP know if I am going to be prosecuted?

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So really, the only thing I can do is wait and see what I get in the mail? Since I won't know for sure what my future and holds for me?

How long do civil demands/summons usually take? And if I do get a summons, will it come attached to the civil demand?

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Yes, I would think they should. Just call.

No, civil and summons are two different things. They won't come together. Civil can take up to a month to come from Kohls. at least that was the case when I was with them 10 years ago or so.

Who would I have to call? When I was detained there were at least 6 people in the room. One who did the paper work, one who checked my belongings, one who called my parents, and then a lady who was just there. Do I just ask for the LP and explain to them my situation and worries?

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I know I did something beyond stupid. And I am already paying for it by constantly worrying. I'm just so deadly afraid that I messed up my life so bad and that I can't do anything to fix it. I'm 17, and I already feel like my life is over. Is there really nothing I can do to save my future?

There is nothing you can do now that will affect whether they prosecute or not. They're either going to, or they're not going to. Nothing you say or do at this point will influence it either way.

No, nothing you can say or do to change things.

To find out, just call and ask for "loss prevention," and say "hi, you, or one of your colleagues dealt with me yesterday. I'm still not sure whether you are prosecuting this case or not. Could you tell whether you are?"

Would anyone know the civils demand laws for new York? Like is there a limit to how much I can pay or is it really 2-5 times the attempted amount stolen.

Also at other forums advise not to pay the civil demand because it will not be for sure that if I pay I will not get prosecuted.

If I call and the LP says that I will not get prosecuted if I pay, but what if the LP just says its not in our hands. Then do I just wait and let faith take its course? I'm so scared of just waiting and not being able to do anything.

"What if." Why don't you make the phone call.

I'm not going to advise you to not pay the civil demand. It's not as though you are innocent. You are in fact guilty by your own admission and you should pay it since it is well deserved.

It's also not likely the civil demand is tied to prosecution. They are two separate things. Most companies, for fear of extortion claims, will not discuss paying civil in lieu of prosecution.

There is no guarantee that you will not be prosecuted if you pay the civil demand, that is true.

But there is likewise no guarantee that you will not be prosecuted if you don't pay. And at least in some jurisdictions and with some stores, the odds that you will be prosecuted goes up if you don't pay.

Umm so I called and the person to whom I was talking to spoke that I would get a letter in the mail with instructions on what will happen to me.

He kept on saying that I would be summoned but there would be no courts or police, only I would have to call to set up a payment plan.

But the thing is he kept on saying summons and not civil demand, but then he also said I wouldn't be going to court and that I would not be getting a criminal record.

The civil demand can seems unfair,you stole and be very thankful you were not arrested and fingerprinted. Then go to court a few times,hopefully avoid a record,maybe not. I would pay the fine and hope they don't peruse criminal issues. Why risk it,pay the demand and be done w/ it. A civil demand is separate from being charged criminally, occasional a store might pursue criminal charges if the person doesn't pay the demand. Also not paying may effect your credit.

I am going to pay the civil demand, I'm just praying that the company will not try to take the case to court. Thank you for all the information.

But my final question is whether or not new York had a limit on the amount of money that can be demanded from a civil demand

Yes. There is a limit on the amount of money that can be demanded in a civil demand.

If you want to know what it is, you can use Google as easily as any of us can. Get your entitled little hiney over to your favorite search engine and do some of the work yourself.