mall security staff

[Marshall]

What authority do un-armed mall security people have? What can they require a shopper to do or refrain from doing? Can they make arrests?

[Kimble]

What authority do un-armed mall security people have? What can they require a shopper to do or refrain from doing? Can they make arrests?

In my experience, they often have the authority of you and every other non-sworn civilian, but think they have the power of God :rolleyes: . That's just from my personal experience, though.

[scott715us]

I was a mall security officer for about 9 mos in 1995. The only folks that can (and should) stop a "shoplifter" are the employees of the store that the theft occurred in. They can call mall security officers for assistance (manpower really), but mall security officers do not know the circumstances behind the theft and should not attempt a stop. Obviously for good reason, if a mall security officer stops a possible thief and the person does not have the merchandise, then they can sue for false arrest, defamation, etc. That's why it is up to the store owner to conduct the stop.

Mall officers do not have any authority other than to walk around in uniform and be a visible presence and assist retail stores when necessary. I also worked loss prevention at a large retail store in a mall and if I felt the thief was going to give me any trouble, I would ask for their assistance while attempting to detain the individual. Fortunately, when I worked LP, most of them were ok guys and hung back during my initial contact with the shoplifter.

Over the years I have seen some goof balls, but it's like most professions, low pay, crappy hours, you are going to get a few asshats that ruin it for the rest of them that are decent. Some of the younger ones that want to get into LE pick up the job and just really need some guidance from the right people. I don't pre-judge them, but from talking with one for a few minutes, you can generally get a good idea if they're an idiot or squared away.

[mcsap]

In my state a store employee or his "agent" has the authority to detain in a reason able manner a shoplifter. Is a mall guard an agent of a particular store ? That is a good question that I can't answer. I know the Target store near me has their own uniformed security so of course they can detain.

Otherwise, they have no authority above that which a citizen has to "arrest".

[Ranger__101]

They do not have much authority. If in their policies it says they have the authority of the property owners they may ask people to leave and notify them they have been trespassed.

If the person refuses to leave or returns while the trespass is valid, they can be detailed and turned over to the local police if the state they are in has citizens arrest authority.

[ChesCopPodz]

VA allows detention for shoplifting by agents of the store. Like mcsap said, who is technically an agent of the store? I cannot answer that 100%.

[scott715us]

In my area, mall security officers could detain for crimes against the mall, mainly trespassing. As far as "agents" of the store, it positively had to be an employee of that particular retail store (gap, bath & body, banana republic, macy's, etc). I worked at Hecht's. We were plain-clothes loss prevention and conducted civil arrests on shoplifters and employees who stole. We would hold them (and handcuff if necessary) until a police officer arrived. We had an unarmed state security license and handcuff training.

Many large retailers (Walmart, Sears, Target, Lowe's Hardware) have plain-clothes LP that mainly do internal theft/audits, but would occasionally nail shoplifters. If anyone has been in the business, they know that internal theft blows away any damage a regular shoplifter could ever do.

[txinvestigator1]

In Texas they can arrest to prevent the consequences of theft.

The Texas Business Practices Act and Code of Criminal Procedure each give authority

[michiganstud]

In Michigan, security officers do not have any law enforcement authority. I used to work mall security. The most we could do was evict shoppers from the premice or ban them for a period of time. We would assist store owners with shoplifters. We could only assist them, we couldn't detain.

If kids were messing around we would "ask" them to leave. If they didn't comply we would have to call the police (that rarely happened because once it was stated the persons usually left).

Shoplifters and fighters were photo'd and banned from the mall for a period of time. Usually a year. Occasionally we would call for PD to arrest or ticket people for tresspass if they violated the ban.

Security officers do have felony arrest powers, just like any other citizen, and I exercised that during a fight. Two girls were fighting and one pulled a knife. I came up behind her and took her down and cuffed her. It was the only time in a 5 year period where a security officer made a felony arrest. I was totally justified, although a bit stupid for doing so in reflection afterward. It was a rough mall.

There are also 8 facilities in Michigan that are called "security police". Under Michigan act 330, those who are certified and trained may make misdemeanor arrests and write tickets for tresspass, etc. They can carry batons and pepper spray.