Introduction part 2

A recent discussion over a YouTube video got me pretty heated and I want to clear up a few more things real quick. First, I only speak from experience and my knowledge of the law as it pertains to loss prevention and private security in the state of Ohio. I do know that the vast majority of the United States have laws that echo those in Ohio, but since I have never worked in any of them, it would be irresponsible for me to speak out of school. In Ohio, as in many other states, there are "Merchant Protection statutes." These are the set of laws and ordinances under which loss prevention people operate and perform their duties. They give us our authority. Basically, they give any retailer or merchant, from the smallest convenience store to the largest billion dollar corporation, the right to protect their merchandise, their property, and their people. They allow merchants to either, by their own actions, or through the actions of someone they employ, detain someone suspected of theft or other dishonesty. In the state of Ohio, there are NO rules or laws that specifically limit or define what a merchant can or can not do in order to detain such a person. They simply say that a merchant may not use excessive or undue force to detain someone suspected of theft.

The debate that I had the other day pertained to a YouTube video of a Wal Mart asset protection officer physically detaining and handcuffing a young male suspected of shoplifting. At no time did the asset protection officer become excessive or abusive. He acted with professionalism and dignity throughout the ordeal. When he went to stop the suspect, the suspect turned and took a swing at the guy. He then turned to run but the asset protection officer restrained both of his arms, turned him towards a wall, and handcuffed him behind his back. He never tackled, struck, or shoved the suspect. One user began making comments that the Wal Mart employee had absolutely no right or authority to touch or physically detain the suspect. He began using words like "excessive force" etc. The simple fact is that this user was just flat out wrong. Whether or not a security agent has the authority to physically restrain a suspect depends more on the individual company's policies than it does state or local law. Many companies, especially the smaller specialty retailers, do have "no-touch/no-chase" policies. Larger retailers, however, such as Wal Mart, KMart, Target, etc. still allow for physical detentions and, in fact, send their people to training classes that equip them with the knowledge and skills to safely detain someone in a physical manner. To make a blanket statement that "none of these LP guys are allowed to touch someone" is simply ludicrous. I'm fairly certain that if this was the case, the large and law-suit-conscious corporations would not send their people to official training classes on how to break the law.

In the 7 years I've been doing this, I've worked an equal amount of time for companies that do and do not allow for physical contact when making an apprehension. During my entire tenure, I have only had to go "hands on" on a very few occasions. It almost always depends on your approach and how you speak to people.

I want to get all of this introduction stuff out of the way so that later on, as you're reading the stories, you're not saying to yourself "oh he's full of shit, he never would have been allowed to do that, etc."

So with all of this out of the way... now, enjoy.