Question for the lawyers re:checking out at stores

MIKE

I STOP ALWAYS, I FEEL SORRY FOR THE 75 YR OLD RETIRED WORKER CHASING ME........

 

This happened to me. I was at WalMart early in the morning to buy a few CDs. At the register, the cashier couldn't scan/ negate the sensor and told me it would set off the alarm. When I went through the sensors, it set it off. The guys were startled that it went off. I walked towards them, handed them the bag/ receipt, and told them what the cashier told me. That was it. They didn't ask to search me. And no, I would not have allowed them to.

 

Thank you - best post. All these other wimpy-wussy "just let them see it" responses have just eeked me to no end.

 

I didn't read all the posts but it seems that there is a question about the "legality" of clerks "searching" ones possessions upon leaving a store. Simply stated the laws for search & seizure don't apply to private citizens ie: store clerks (private security officers too). The constitution (4th ammendment) is for govermental intrusions.
But there is nothing to preclude one from refusal unless there is a "waiver" upon entering an establishment. Much the same way we waive our rights at an airport.

 

That happens to me a few times a year. When it does, I'll let the door person see which item set it off. For some reason, the door people like busting clerks that do not demagnetize items at the register. I guess they are so bored, that is excitement for them!

 

Yeah, That's all we would have needed, punch her in the stomach and have her barf up all her Poke into my cart!

BLEEEECCCHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

While my family was buying a new computer, I got Crazy Taxi 2, and with all the stuff in my cart, like 3 boxes including a printer, Best Buy thought they checked everything, and let us go, the alarm thing rang, but they just told us to continue, and while my dad checked the reciept, he said they didnt charge us for crazy taxi.

 

But do you have to allow them to search your bags when the alarm sounds?

 

In the case of an alarm trip, yes. That is high probably cause to call the police, quite different than the exit receipt checks.

 

But is it the fault of the store if you are indeed a paying customer? What are the legal grounds?

If you are in a restaurant, you cannot chase a customer out to his car if he or she dine-and-dashed.

 

You follow them to their car and get their plate #. Defrauding an Innkeeper is a very serious offense.

 

1. Here in Canada {unless a law changed recently} those metal detectors at the door and the "greeters" are deterrents. You can keep on walking. If someone catches up to you, tell them to call the police if they think some was shop lifting. If they touch you, call the police yourself and report the assault.

2. When it comes to an actual security guard, he must see you take and hold the item which you stole all the while no losing site of you for a second. If he does, the police won't arrest anyone based on the work of a security guard. If the officer asks you to open the bag etc., you don't have to. If he asks for the receipt, you don't have to comply. Now if you've done nothing wrong, you should always comply just to keep things simple but me, it depends on my mood.

3. As far as my area is concerned a security guard can fill out paperwork which is basically a PPA. Protection of Property Act. This is mostly for people who have been caught and they don't want to bother with the police.

4. If someone stops you from leaving a store, make sure they touch you. Try to walk around them and if they do touch you, call the police immediately.

 

I think it's an irritation because it makes me stop again before exiting and I also think it makes the store seem as though it does not trust its patrons. I haven't had this done in a long time, fortunately.

 

So if I posted a sign that read "Anyone entering the store can have their legs broken if I so chose"?

I think not.

A store manager can't make laws, he can't enforce laws. If he wants bags to be checked, he can have his employees ask. Anything more than that and he/ she might be walking a fine line.

And in Canada they don't have the right to check anything. If you used a stolen credit card and they somehow found out just after you picked up your items, they can't touch you. The can call the police and report that you most likely aren't the true card holder but they can't arrest you or investigate the credit card issue.

If someone opens your purse, bag or pants pocket without your consent, that's a problem for them and you don't have to put up with it.

 

Store polocy has nothing to do with the law.

What if a store policy was to "not serve Jewish people"? Uhhh problem!

 

You have a point, it might make the day harder or just more frustrating for the checker but most people wouldn't care.

 

The detectors are only used as a deterrent in Canada, there is no law stating that they can be used in a court to justify searching a person or their belongings. {Unless something has change recently}

 

In Texas the essential elements of false imprisonment are: (1) willful detention; (2) without consent; and (3) without authority of law. The “authority of law” provided to stores in Texas is found in Civil Practice & Remedies Code Section 124.001 which provides that “a person who reasonably believes that another has stolen or is attempting to steal property is privileged to detain that person in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable time to investigate ownership of the property.” Therefore, I would argue that Frys has no authority to detain you without your consent as they have no reasonable belief that you have stolen something. However, if the security sensor sets off an alarm they would have a reasonable belief that you were stealing something. Nevertheless, if you proved that they constantly had false alarms you might have an argument for false imprisonment if you could make a convincing case that their belief was not reasonable in light of the number of false alarms.
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Managing a locally owned store may cause me to be somewhat biased, but I hate the receipt checking practice. Costco/Sam's doesn't bother me as they have no security sensors at the exit, I can understand the necessity. That said, I would never think of asking one of my customers to show me their receipt upon exit. I don't know how your stores are oriented, but at the Wal-Mart that this seems to happen most often, the door checker is about 15feet from the register, at Best Buy...maybe 20.

Paco Underhill's "Why We Buy" states that in their studies of consumer behavior, buyers were willing to be inconvenienced and perhaps even pay more if they felt wanted. The big retail stores seem to be moving the opposite direction.

- Christopher

 

Guys. . . .It all depends on where you live. Here in Louisiana, merchants have a RIGHT to stop you and detain you for up to 60 minutes, unless it is reasonable to retain you longer, where the merchant has reasonable cause to believe a crime has been committed. . . BY STATUTE: La. Code of Criminal Procedure article 215. Just for funnzies. . .read the opinion of our Supreme Court regarding a couple of buggers who were trying to cap some bets at Harrah's Casino. . .http://www.lasc.org/opinions/97c1086.opn.pdf

 

I like the practice.

I would also like to see stores given the permission to physically abuse any shoplifters over the age of 18.

 

Wanna have some fun ?

Go shopping with a friend at a store where they do this, both of you buy stuff and pay for it separately, then, before you get to the 'security' guard, swap receipts.

Let me know how it turns out.

 

That's idiotic.

 

Thanks for the clarification Lloyd. I was watching this thread and thinking... FRYS!