Shoplifting

[quick308]

I dont know about you guys but i have noticed a fare few more thiefs around lately, yesterday i was at Woolworths and there was this lady around 70 years old, she walked in with a empty bag then, when she went to the checkout it was full. The workers there see her come in everyday and steal ****, but their's nothing they can do, because they cant make her open her bag. What are you ment to do in a situation like this, you call the cops and they turn up about an hour later, and by then they have got away. I was at a sports store once, and there's this guy stealing stuff, the store manager was ready for him this time, because he does it frequently. So they lock all the doors in the shop, and wait for the cops to arrive, 45 minutes later they still haven't arrived. Eventualy he escapes through the back door. Its so slack, you cant touch them because then you would be charged with assualt, so you gotta wait till the boys in blue can be bothered coming round. My sister works at Target and sees this happen all the time, very rarley anything gets done about it, makes me so angery.

Anyway just thought i'd ask about other peoples experiences, i really hate seeing injustice

 

[ashbox]

generally you would find instore security and point the lady out.

 

[TI3VOM]

Legally I'm pretty sure security can check her bag if they think she has been stealing. Just like police can do a body search on you if they believe you have a dangerous weapon.

 

[minux]

In Australia you can make a citizen arrest perfectly legally. For example if you see someone shove goods down their pants, you can prevent them from leaving the store as they alreayd have made a clear sign they intend to steal. If they are using bags, you wait until they leave the store as this has also shown the intent to not pay.

If a store has a sign stating they reserve the right to check bags, then the customer MUST oblige. The store worker however cannot touch any item in the bag. The laws do vary state to state, in SA(customers can refuse etc), you do not need a sign, in WA you do etc. It is one big cluster ****.

 

[azkwazere]

1. Would like to see some laws to back that up
2. The crim would just press chargers for whatever, assult maybe, then you get fined. Who would do it?

aZk.

In Australia you can make a citizen arrest perfectly legally. For example if you see someone shove goods down their pants, you can prevent them from leaving the store as they alreayd have made a clear sign they intend to steal. If they are using bags, you wait until they leave the store as this has also shown the intent to not pay.

If a store has a sign stating they reserve the right to check bags, then the customer MUST oblige. The store worker however cannot touch any item in the bag. The laws do vary state to state, in SA(customers can refuse etc), you do not need a sign, in WA you do etc. It is one big cluster ****.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

our old nightfill manager had an interesting way of dealing with them, grab them and push them up against a wall and start telling them to give the stock back...

You will notice most stores have signs saying it is a condition of entry that we can check bags, however we musnt touch anything in the bag otherwise they can claim we planted it.

Also, most staff wont bother as its not worth the total head**** of filling in reports about the incident, etc and if the person gets abusive or has a weapon its just not worth it to most staff to take the effort and risk injury or legal action for what they get paid.

 

[minux]

CITIZEN'S ARREST

Section 462A of the Crimes Act (Vic) provides that any person may use such force as is believed on reasonable grounds to be necessary to:

* prevent the commission, continuance or completion of an indictable offence; or
* lawfully arrest a person committing or suspected of committing any offence,

so long as the force is proportionate to the particular objective.

The arrest must always be lawful and thus an ordinary citizen must still abide by section 458. The arrestor must not only suspect a person of committing an offence but must find the person committing the offence, unless the arrestor is either:

* acting on the lawful instructions of a police officer; or
* arresting a person who is believed to be escaping from a lawful custody.

With Commonwealth offences, any person may arrest without warrant a suspect if they reasonably believe that the suspect is committing, or has just committed, an indictable offence, and that the case is not one that can be properly dealt with by police sending the suspect a summons to attend at court. The person who makes the arrest must hand the suspect over to police as soon as practicable (s.3Z Crimes Act (Cth)).

A "citizen's arrest" is any arrest by a person other than a police officer or under a warrant to arrest. Therefore, an arrest by a security guard, store detective or other such person is a citizen's arrest and must comply with the requirements of a citizen's arrest.

Taken from ARREST

 

[Demonica]

I really hate people that steal. Selfish bunch of pricks. We're the ones that end up paying for it since the shops have to cover their losses so they raise prices.

 

[Tim Smtih]

In Australia you can make a citizen arrest perfectly legally.

I know what you are saying and please continue to quote legal sources as this is great information to have on hand, but i think that most people don't wish to cop a blade between the fourth and fifth ribs if they can avoid it. Stores have insurance don't they? One of the best things you can do that doesn't involve spear tackling the perpetrator is to get a good look at them and give an accurate description to the police.

 

[Troy711]

our old nightfill manager had an interesting way of dealing with them, grab them and push them up against a wall and start telling them to give the stock back...

You will notice most stores have signs saying it is a condition of entry that we can check bags, however we musnt touch anything in the bag otherwise they can claim we planted it.

Also, most staff wont bother as its not worth the total head**** of filling in reports about the incident, etc and if the person gets abusive or has a weapon its just not worth it to most staff to take the effort and risk injury or legal action for what they get paid.

Service 100?