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Retail Theft Detectors and False Alarms?
NichardRixon asks: "All too often I set off the 'shoplifter alarm' when leaving a major department store in my area, after purchasing OTC medicine. Even though I make a point of watching the cashier 'clear' the boxes, it is evidently an imprecise process. As often as not the alarm goes off as I leave, and the security person wants to look through my bag and compare what's found with my reciept. People passing by give me the evil eye, evidently assuming that I've been caught stealing.
This has happened so so many times that my new policy is to refuse to stop for the search, telling the gaurd that they will have to tackle me, and of course they just let me go.
Shouldn't stores be required to use more reliable equipment?" What's worse is that there are many retailers that are just plain apathetic to the alarm. What's the point of having these detectors if all they are is continuing source of false alarms? What good will they be when they catch a real theft in progress and no one reacts properly because of their questionable history?
"It happened to my wife the other day, however, and she felt as though she had no choice but to wait several minutes, embarassingly on display to other shoppers, for the arrival of the manager.
I was wondering if other Slashdot readers have been having similar experiences and if so, how they deal with them."
I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I was told that a store can't do anything to you without actually seeing you take something. So that's probably why the guards let you go. Otherwise, why have cameras at all... it would be cheaper to tag everything and let it get sorted out at the door.
Also, from what I've been told, it's best to act as if nothing happened. Shoplifters get away with their crime more often than not because they just keep walking and they can be in their car by the time the guard get to them.
I agree that you should complain, repeatedly, and in writing to the management/owners. However, at the same point, at no time did I agree to be held against my will and/or searched simply because some buzzer and a flashing light went off while I was exiting the store. If the store feels that I have shoplifted, they are perfectly free to either place my under citizen's arrest, or more likely, call the police and report it. However, since they will be able to provide no proof (I guarantee I didn't steal anything) and very little in the way of evidence, I highly doubt the police will even respond.
Do you have a FOB for your car? For whatever reason certain key FOB's set these things off. I wonder if it's your keys and not the OTC medicine that is setting it off.
This is very old news so I'm not worried about the ramifications of releasing this knowledge, nevertheless I shall be anonymous...
1) Go to Wal-Mart
2) Walk up to the electronics check out desk or automotive counter desk and pull a plastic bag off of the rack.
3) Walk into the games section and pull out one (1) copy of Trivial Persuit
4) Place Trivial Persuit in bag.
5) Walk out of store.
5b) If woman is checking receipts, walk out with larger crowd of people and let them get snagged as you walk by. Ignore anyone saying "Sir.. sir.."
6) Get struck by lightning. Wal-Mart is on God's side, so you must assume that the converse it true.
Direct away from face when opening.
At one point in time I kept setting off the alarm in Target every time I went through it, althought I never stopped. Anyway, I finally discovered a anti-theft device in a secret flap of the new wallet that I had purchased. I had even checked several times but didn't find it until I nearly tore the wallet apart. It was basically a piece of paper with some tracing on it, not one of those fat plastic ones, so you can't even feel the bulk of it.
I've set them off occasionally, and have even gotten so I can anticipate it. It has almost always been the cashier not deactivating something. A couple of times, the deactivator just didn't work. I now just keep on walking too. Especially in the really big stores, they don't seem to be sure just *which* detector is going off, so I just act like I never heard anything. Never had anyone come after me, either.
Everything I've ever read, typified by this and this, state that, yes, the store can detain you if you've been in their store, but if they turn out to be wrong, they're utterly hosed.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
That depends on state law. If I see you commit a felony, in most states I can arrest you and detain you until the police arrive. Many states authorize merchants to detain suspected shoplifters. Usually this requires that a store employee witnesses the crime, not just because a buzzer went off. See here.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I'm going to call bullshit. Maybe this happened, but it isn't as simple or innocent as you make it out to be.
1. If you weren't booked, you probably don't have an arrest record for the incident.
2. In any case, in order for it to be a "felony arrest" you would have to have been arrested and charged with Theft in the First Degree or some other felony, which you weren't. (I cited an Oregon statute because in a later post you mentioned that it was a Fred Meyer's in one of Oregon's larger towns - I'd be willing to bet it's Eugene.)
3. Even if you do have an arrest record for this incident, it'd be simple to get it expunged if you were never booked and/or prosecuted due to lack of evidence. I can only think of a few reasons that "it's not likely [you'll] succeed". One is because you have other arrests where you were booked and possibly convicted that you didn't mention in your story. It's also possible you gave the cops a hard time (yelling things like "fuck you - I didn't do anything!" over and over again... which I personally witnessed an actual shoplifter yell while he was being arrested, right after I watched them retrieve the stolen merchandise from down his pants). Giving cops a hard time makes them write little notes in their notebook about how you resisted arrest. If you didn't do anything, resisting arrest is just flat out stupid.
My guess is that you are not telling the whole truth (or whole story) here. An off-duty cop in the parking lot would have no way of knowing if a store employee told you just to keep walking, unless you didn't just "walk out". Also, most Fred Meyer's stores I've ever seen have two sets of doors at each entrance. The security scanner is on inside, so there are two sets of doors between it and the outside. How did the cop hear the alarm?
I bet you exited the store while store employees were following you out trying to get you to stop, which they can do in Eugene, among other cities in Oregon. It is also likely your demeanor left much to be desired (given that we are talking about Oregon), and the combination of things gave the officer probable cause. There is no such thing as an off-duty cop when there is reason for him/her to believe a crime is being committed.
If you had just casually walked out and nobody was chasing you and asking you to stop, then I find your scenario highly unlikely.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.