How far can a personal search go?

I'm wondering how far a store employee or security guard can go with out a warrant? Can they make you take off your clothes, can they just search your pockets?

NOONE can do a cavity search without a warrant, however I don't think that's what you're talking about here. During our training we are trained that we can go as far as a pat down, however we NEVER have gone that far. We ask the person to empty their pockets and if they give us problems we have a metal detector wand and if that doesn't work we will call the local PD to do the search. It's better for us to take the liability out of our hands because the PD knows the limits better. I would say that they do not have the right to MAKE you take your clothes off. If a shoplifter has changed clothes in the dressing room and are now wearing the stolen merchandise, they can ASK you to change in a restroom where there is privacy...The key word there is ASK. Most of time we ASK people to do things for us we never tell them to. Now if they take it as an order that they can't disregard then that's their own problem, but if they don't do what we ask of them we'll just call the PD to do it.

Most LP's are allowed to conduct a pat down for saftey reasons. I would NEVER let a lifter empty their own pockets, we once had an agent stabbed because of that. We also never have lifters strip. If you are wearing clothing underneath your own, it is an automatic call to the police. But each company is different.

I'm with caught you, never, never let a SL put their hands in his/her pockets. I have done a weapons search for 'safety reasons' on women's purses only with permission, if they refuse I move the purse away from them and let the cops do it. Also a basic pat down is wise, males only (for me). I have and still do take males behind closed doors to recover clothing under theirs, with females I get a female associate and a female manager to go behind closed doors to recover items. I also tell the female SL, "You need to co-operate, if this manager or associate simply calls out my name I don't care what state of undress you are in I'm coming in the room and if you are causing a problem you go on the floor in cuffs!"