Medical Student Caught Shoplifting

I was devastated when I was caught. I had been shoplifting for some time now, the things I have took are always small, but I guess it has become some addiction...I just turned 21...

I was going to pay for what I took, I even had the money ready for it, but I couldnt help it, I saw an opportunity to take it without paying and I so I did... I felt very guilty when I left the store, I mentally said to myself that I would never do it again and that it was wrong.

I almost made it out of the shopping centre when this man approached me and told me he was a security worker for the store and told me to come back to teh store with him. I was very calm with it all evne though I knew I was in alot of trouble. I asked if I could stand there for 5 mins to collect myself, but he was threatening me saying if I dont follow him he can get people to drag me back so I followed him. I even made small talk with him, as if nothing had happened, which was very very weird... i know.

I felt very embarrassed and deeply ashamed as I knew people who worked there knew what I was. When we got to the back room, he gotten more ruder, and asked for ID, I gave him my bus pass because it didnt have my full name, it had only my first initial and my surname, I choosed not to give him my student ID in case he contact my school. And I believed the bus pass company would not openly give out my details as it would be a breach of confidentiality (and if the police was involved, of course it would be a different matter). Several things were running through my mind, I was at first reluctant to give out my ID because I know they would have power over me, be able to track me down, and I was afraid of that. I knew what I did was wrong, and it was very spontaneous, and it was my first offence. The guy looked very smug abotu getting my ID, and said to his workmate '' dont worry she wont run away, we got her ID'' and I thought that was unnecessary as I was being extremely complying. I suspected the guy took my bus pass and photocopied it. He asked if I had any other ID on me, but I said no.

I asked if there was another alternative way in dealing with the situation, but all I received was threats of calling the cops if I was wasting his time... in fact throughout the confrontation he had threatened many times, I knew this was a psychological thing. I doubt they would call the cops over what I had stolen, as they seem surprised that I only took 15 dollars worth of stuff. But the guy kept storming out of the room saying he is going to call the cops everytime I asked a question to see what I am allowed to do. He didnt tell me what was happening, and what would happen, or what the options were.

He asked for my details... and I gave false details.... I dont know if this is a good idea anymore, because I gave a road name that is very close to where I live... and I gave my birth date correctly. I only stole around 15 dollars. When he said I need to pay for the items, I said no I dont want them anymore. And he was enraged again and stormed out of the room saying he is calling the cops. He didnt leave any time for me to change my mind. Whenhe returend I said ''If I knew I had no choice, then I would have paid up, you should have stated clearly that I had no choice'' His workmate quoted what I said earlier on, which was ''I was intending to pay'', and I explained I didnt want to purchase it because it would remind me of hte incident...

I offered to pay, and I asked if the guy can cancel the call to the police, and he said he could but he wont, cos he gave me a choice and I said no to paying... at that point when I kept asking him if he could cancel the call, he kept blanking me, or he would wink at me and not say anything, I felthe was playing a psychological game on me, cos I knew he didnt really call the police, but part of me also worried that he did. And I felt he was pushing me to make me beg him... or he wanted me to start crying...

I think I would have cried... but as I am a clinical student, I have gained alot of confidence over a great deal of situations, and I have learnt to control myself in situations were your stress level is high... so I didnt cry... but I couldnt help feeling the guy wanted to mentally torture me and play with my mind to the point I break...
this was really annoying and unncessary, as I was being co-operative!

We heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and he said they are here... and it wasnt the police, it was another security worker... I was told to pay and they let me go... they told me I was banned from all the branches of their store, and I was banned for the day from the centre... and that they trust I know my way out...

They took my picture too, my friend work in one of the branch of the store, and I am worried she might find out. I wanted to confide with my bf or my bestfreind, but I am the type of person who do not like hearing what I have done aloud... I need to prepare myself for a period of tiem before I can speak of it...

I am from the UK, I am guessing the details are for... spotting me in store if I do trespass... and if I commit the crime again in their store they can use the details to charge me...

but on your first offence, and if what you had taken was not expensive... do they still press charges against you? what are the details for? Would they try and find way of tracking me down? They did not mention about pressing charges when I left the store....
and they did make me pay for the items, and they took away the recepit so I cannot return the items...

Sorry for writing so much down...

are they even allowed to take a photo of you (in the store)? I couldnt help noticing that they were threatening to call the cops if I didnt do this or that... so I am suspecting I could have with held informaiton and details... but at the price of risking getting the police involved... this is very smart way of forcing someone to co operate...

Quote:

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Quoting sushie

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are they even allowed to take a photo of you (in the store)? I couldnt help noticing that they were threatening to call the cops if I didnt do this or that... so I am suspecting I could have with held informaiton and details... but at the price of risking getting the police involved... this is very smart way of forcing someone to co operate...

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I'm not sure about the U.K., but typically in the U.S. (laws vary by state) they can take your picture, threaten to call the police, and call the police and detain you while they wait for th epolice to arrive.

If they take down your details and take a picture of you, is it for distributing to other branches of the stores for the security department? So that they can spot you if you are trepassing their premises?

If they take down your details, would they provide it to the police?

If they do not mention about taking the matter to court, it means they wont take it to court right?

I gave false details, and they mentioned nothing about hearing from any attorney... so does that mean I am only banned?

If you take a small amount, they dont usually resort to police arrests right?

Can someone tell me what the details are for? Thank you!

I been reading other posts, and noticed alot of mentioning of 'Civil demands', does this apply to UK?

If the store intend on contacting you, would they tell you before they release you? Would they mention about notifying you of a civil demand?

They told me that I can leave, and told me I was banned from the centre for a day, and that I was banned from their stores. But they did not mention anything else....

I am worried. If you give false information to the store, it is not really 'deception' is it? Because they are not the police?

The picture is usually to evidence that they actually caught you shoplifting, and not somebody using your name and/or ID. Whether or not they bring in the police depends largely on store policy, not the amount stolen. Giving a store false details makes it more likely that they will attempt to prosecute (assuming that they can figure out who you are).

Civil demands are authorized by statute in many U.S. states. I don't know if the U.K. has a similar law.

Would the store likely to mention that they would contact you if they were? How would the store track you down? And wouldnt they assume that alot of people give them false details? If they were going to fine you, the LP officer would mention it right?

How do I find out about their store policy?

When you say 'prosecute' is that to be sent to prison?

Would the store bother to do all these things, if they already made you pay for what you took? I am guessing it would cost alot for them to hire a lawyer or get the paperwork done... would they bother for someone who was caught first time? The security man was being very intimidating, and I would expect him to tell me if I was expecting more to come... but he didnt mention anything else...


I just found some info on current UK store policy:

Store security cameras and under cover security guards are everywhere and if you’re caught, there are serious implications. You can be kept at the shop until the police arrive, but store staff can’t search you without your permission.

For shoplifting there’s usually a fine and/or community service, but it al depends how many times you’ve done it and on the value of the goods you’ve taken. If the Police arrest you, you’ll have it put on a criminal record.

http://www.canllaw-online.com/fe/law...3&nodeidl3=870

I am an LP agent at a retail store in the U.S. I am not a legal expert by any means, but i do have expierence with this subject.

First of all it was a big mistake to give false information! Our policy is to call the police anytime that we catch someone lying to us. Some LP departments will even check your information using a similar program the police use to verify information, so you could easily be caught giving false information. Most likely they are not goign to call the cops(unless it's an excessive amount of stolen merchandise) so nothing would go on your record, however if you are caught giving false information and they do call the police it will be on your record, plus you're looking at more fines and more court fees.

Most of the actions that you discribed the LP officer taking when yal were inside or outside the office seemed a little odd and unprofessional. Remember though I'm in the US not UK, so things could be handled differently. Eitherway, I do not believe anything he did was illegal.

The "details" that my company gets from shoplifters is used: 1)to ensure that they do not come back on our property for as long as the trespasing notice is valid and 2) to send them what's called a civil demand(this right is given to retail locations by a US law/act could be different in UK). This civil demand is used to pay for our department sense we have to have a department to retrieve the merchandise, we have to have some way to fund it.

If they were going to prosecute you, they would have called the police when you were still in the office. I highly doubt they would prosecute you afterwards. Also it's not worth prosecuting for $15
the court fees and lawer fees would surpass the benifits. Even if you were to be prosecuted most likely you would recieve some sort of fine or community service, depending on the judge. I know in the US you can not go to prison on $15 worth of stolen merchandise. I can bet it's the same for the UK.

You shouldn't have to worry about this anymore, just stay away from the location for the amount of time they said and of course don't do it again and you will not have to worry about dealing with them again or any criminal charges

Remember I'm not a legal expert, I just have some experience in this field.

Thanks, I regret what I did alot. I am going to keep away from shops for a while, until I can control myself. Thanks for responding!

I am from the UK:

I took £20, 2 hats, which is around 15 US dollars.

What would happen if they find out I gave false details?
Would they try and track me down to find out my true identity?
And would they try and send me a fine (would they usually mention if they are going to send me a letter or a fine that I have to pay? - because the security guy didnt mention anything else apart from making me pay for the items I took, and taking away the receipt so I could not return the items, all he mention was that I was banned)
If they tried to send me a fine, but the letter did not send and bounced back, what actions would they take? Taking into account that I did pay for what I took, so thereby they recovered their losses, and earned money from what I took.
Is it a common thing to do in the USA, to make the offender pay for what they took and still press charges or send a civil demand?

I am positive the security man didnt check my details when I gave it, so I do not think he did a check to see if what I was giving was correct.
He did ask me why I took the products, and my response was because I saw the opportunity, and perhaps I was being greedy. And I told him I learnt my lesson. Depending on your response, do they decide what actions to take?
I am not sure of the store policy in UK. But I was given the impression I was just banned, and no other action was going to be taken.

I started shoplifting around 4 years ago, the first time I took something wsa because I saw the opportunity. Someone had left a necklace in the changing room, and I thought I wouldnt get caught taking it. So I took it. After then...my mind was more tuned when spotting an opportunity... it was like an autonomic response... you do not intend to focus on it, but your mind sieves it out for you.... gradually the incidents became more frequent... you could say I am showing signs of becoming addicted... when you get addicted your mind becomes too bogged down about how to get away with it rather then you shouldnt do it and should try and find some self control...

I have learnt my lesson, it isnt worth it...

I highly doubt that they would try to persue anything further esecially considering the amount. Thier job is Loss Prevention, and that's exactly what they did they prevented a loss. They do not care so much about pressing criminal charges on the shoplifters as much as they care about getting their merchandise back. The reason that we issue civil demands in the US is so that the company can afford to run this department. It wouldn't be fair for the company to have to find funding from other sources to be able to retrieve the merchandise. If that was the case the company would actually be loosing money. I do not know about the laws in the UK, so i cannot tell you if there is even something like a civil demand that exist in the UK. In the US it is not a common practice for the LP department to have the shoplifter pay for the items that were stolen. We would just take the merchandise away and the lawers would send them the civil demand later. Sense you gave them false information (which i'm suprised you got away with, because it is extremely easy to tell when someone is lying despite how good they believe they are at it), you shouldn't have to worry about htem finding you...it's not worth it to track you down over $15 especially sense you have already paid for the items...