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Best Buy Invaded By Blue Shirt Improv Artists
deviantphil writes "About 80 Improv Everywhere agents invaded their local Best Buy store wearing blue shirts and Khakis. Eventually they were asked to leave, but not before capturing some great photos and video." From the article: "Security guards and managers started talking to each other frantically on their walkie-talkies and headsets. 'Thomas Crown Affair! Thomas Crown Affair!,' one employee shouted. They were worried that were using our fake uniforms to stage some type of elaborate heist. 'I want every available employee out on the floor RIGHT NOW!'" Their inspired cellphone symphony from this February is also well worth checking out.
http://www.improveverywhere.com.nyud.net:8080/miss ion_view.php?mission_id=57
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Links to more info on the Best Buy incident here.
They never impersonated employees - RTFA! They only wore blue shirts, and never once claimed to work at Best Buy. Futhermore, they each left when asked to do so, even though the manager chose to call police before even asking them to leave. As they might have said in Office Space, "She's got upper management material written all over her." Excellent, excellent interpersonal skills.
Whether a place is a commercial establishment has has less to do with who can be barred entry than do the laws of that jurisdiction (with the exceptions you name).
;))
In New Jersey, for instance, you can't bar people arbitrarily from an open-to-the-public retail establishment without pretty strong reason; in Nevada, you can. (I know those two states in particular from examples in property law class, can't speak to others
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
At least it's traditional. Best Buy is reported to have had customers arrested for trying to claim an advertised price and in one case for paying with legal tender.
There does not seem to be a clear comprehensive policy, but the general tone is the same:
i ce/emerman/911.htm
/ whentocall.htm
Don't hesitate to call 911. The 911 system was created to make it easy to request police, fire or medical response.
http://www.ci.bloomington.mn.us/cityhall/dept/pol
If the public safety situation seems urgent and has the potential of escalating by not making the telephone call, call 9-1-1. The 9-1-1 professional will determine whether the call should be processed via 9-1-1, or whether the caller should be referred to another number or agency as appropriate.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/ecd_index.asp?id=14063
Any activity that seems unusual for your neighbourhood during the day or the night.
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/police/blockwatch
From those, and many more - it seems like anytime the presence of an officer is required in a timely fashion, calling 911 would be appropriate. Tresspass, especially criminal trespass and not just civil tresspass (which maybe the only kind of tresspass in some states) probably qualifies as needing an officer to respond.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
In California, If a security person detains you, you can Sue, and will probably win.
/*DISCLAIMER
Of course you have to ask to leave, and they imply that you can't ask.
This is not legal advice. You are not a client. I'm not even an attorney. If you want legal advice, contact an attorney admitted to your jurisdiction's bar. What I am saying here is probably 100% wrong and if you do anything in reliance upon it, you are a blithering idiot who deserves whatever bad shit is very likely to befall you.
DISCLAIMER*/
Okay, now that that's out of the way . . .
Parent is correct. Anytime a police officer or security rental cop make someone feel as though they're not free to leave, then legally that person is detained. It's a subjective standard based upon what a reasonable person in that situation would feel. In other words, "he wasn't detained, he was free to go" when the subject was in a tiny office with three beefy guards standing in front of the door, doesn't cut it. Now, most states have merchant protection statutes which allow the detention of a person for the purpose of determining whether or not they have secreted merchandise. They only apply if the detention is done reasonably and and for a reasonable length of time. Practically speaking, if you're going that route, you damn well better be prepared to say what merchandise was taken, where it was taken from, where it's hidden, and how you know all of this. "I thought I saw him take X" won't work. Here, there was no reason to suspect that any of these people had taken anything, so no detention was warranted.
It gets better. Detention for more than 30 minutes turns into a de facto arrest, at which point the arrestor had better be praying it turns out to be legit. If not, i.e., it turns out that said arrest was without probable cause, the arrestee can sue the cop/guard personally (and spouse if in a community property state), the guard's employer, and possibly the store on a negligent hiring/retention theory. The plaintiff will probably stand to collect a settlement big enough to interest any number of attorneys in taking the case on contingency.
As for the ignoramus, diversity-hire store manager with the four-foot caboose (what we in the Army used to call a "Delta November" or "the NUF"), claiming her civil rights are violated by being videotaped, bullshit. It's a public place, she has no reasonable expectation of privacy. Now, the store has a right to set rules on its property against videotaping or photography, but its sole recourse is to tell the person to leave. If they refuse, that's trespass and they can be arrested for it.
Bottom line, all they did was throw a monkey wrench in the works of the Wal-Mart of electronics stores. Nothing illegal about that.
If you knew anything about modern feminism, you would know there is a lot about having heaps of sex, and not admonishing men. Sounds like you are talking about the feminists of the 1970s, not the modern ones, where there was some of the attitude you are referring to. But even then, it was only a vocal minority. To think that feminists are running the world is ridiculous. Furthermore, to think that the creators of shows like Family Guy are feminist are utterly absurd. They make fun of men and women. They ridicule everybody. Comedy is about laughing at yourself, not portraying yourself as some kind of perfect person. The flaws they reflect upon in those shows have a definite grain of truth, and are also based on stereotypes.
Maybe you just need to understand comedy.
... and then they built the supercollider.
But there is an exemption to this. Trespass can only be charged when the person on the property has had ample notice that he or she isn't welcome there. Trespass can be pressed if you break in, go through or around a sign that says 'no tresspassers', into a private house, etc... When you operate a public storefront, permission is assumed for the entire public during your business hours.
For a store to kick people out during business hours, the people have to be formally notified that they're no longer welcome, whether this be by verbal or written notice is up to the owner or his representative(the manager or employees).
If you withdraw your permission, the person you're kicking out is still allowed to collect his or her possessions and leave in an orderly fashion (IE not running, but not lingering).
I don't read AC A human right
A person working at a printing press is a manual laborer - and considering that the bottom rollers run at something like 400 RPM, you don't want an around-the-neck tie anywhere near that. Granted, the torque's not that great, but... I once saw the results of someone trying to unwrap a roller while the machine was still running. The machine literally wrapped his arm around the roller twice. Spiral fracture from elbow to wrist. Never seen anything like that before.
Spelling, grammar, punctuation? We need something that checks logic.