法律英语：66 Store Security Part 2

by Michael W. Flynn

First, a disclaimer: Although I am an attorney, the legal information in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed¹ to practice in your jurisdiction². Further, I do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener.

Today’s episode is an expansion on last week’s episode regarding searches by security guards at retail³ stores. Several listeners, including Richard from Texas, Matt, and Robert asked me to specifically address the underlying⁴ legality of a security guard’s search. Matt wrote:

Do you have the right to simply pass by without inspection⁵? Would doing so alone be grounds for you to be detained for shoplifting, and what about the electronic alarm, are you required to obey it? All this of course concerning people who are not shoplifting; obviously I wouldn't expect you to give advice for would-be shoplifters. But seriously, these checks and alarms are pretty annoying for us law abiding⁶ citizens simply to be told to smile and politely “take it” over something that may not be legal/required.
The short answer is that merchants do, in fact, have the right to search and detain you if they have sufficient reasons to believe that you have shoplifted. However, with regard to Matt’s question: Yes, if you are just leaving the store after a routine shopping trip, you generally have the right to exit a store without inspection. If a security guard at Best Buy asks to see your receipt, you have two options. You may voluntarily agree to be searched. Alternatively, you may say no and simply walk by. The guard must have some reason to believe you stole something before he can search you and refusing to allow the guard to check your bag is not a good enough reason on its own. There must be something more.

To accommodate the competing policies of controlling theft and freedom from harassing⁷ searches, most states have enacted⁸ “shoplifting statutes⁹.” These statutes vary from state to state, but generally operate to allow merchants to search a customer where they have a reasonable ground to do so. Once the merchant has reasonable grounds to search, the merchant may conduct a search with reasonable force, and for a reasonable amount of time to determine whether the suspected shoplifter has indeed stolen something or not.

You might find subjecting to the search annoying, but your refusal to comply with a security guard can have much more annoying consequences. The quick and dirty tip is to politely and calmly cooperate with the guard, and if you feel that a store’s search policy is too invasive, take your business elsewhere.

With regard to the issue of reasonable grounds to search, a merchant can rely on various pieces of evidence. If an employee actually sees a customer put an item in their pocket or bag and walk out, then a merchant has pretty strong reason to believe that the customer has stolen something. But merchants can also detain and search you on less obvious grounds. A merchant can stop you if another customer tells a guard that you stole something. A guard can ask you to return to a store if you walk through an electronic gate that beeps at you, indicating that something you are carrying has an active anti-theft device attached to it. You are not necessarily required to stop once the alarm beeps, but if a guard asks you to come back to submit to a short search, the guard has the legal right to do so under the shoplifting statutes in most states.

Once the merchant has grounds to search you, then the merchant may conduct a search in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable amount of time. What constitutes a reasonable search or a reasonable time depends heavily on the facts of the situation. For example, a court in Louisiana held that a merchant acted reasonably when it detained a customer for 25 minutes in a back room and emptied her purse and pockets of her jacket after an antitheft alarm went off. By contrast, a court in Mississippi held that a store acted unreasonably¹⁰ where an assistant store manager grabbed a customer whom he suspected of shoplifting by the arm, and demanded that she pay for the deodorant¹¹ that she had hidden in a paper bag that she was carrying, all of this occurring on some steps inside the store front and in front of all the sales people and customers in the store. The court emphasized that, although controlling theft was important to the store, that this kind of rude and embarrassing conduct would not be tolerated.

Some listeners wrote that it offends them when a merchant searches them. But, it is important to note that a store actually has a quasi-duty to try to search your bags once they suspect you of shoplifting because simply detaining you without trying to determine whether you actually did steal something constitutes an unreasonable¹² detention¹³.

If a search is held to be unreasonable, then you might be able to recover under the legal theories I mentioned in my last episode. The shoplifting statutes operate to insulate a store from liability when it conducts searches reasonably.

Last, Robert correctly pointed¹⁴ out that private clubs such as Costco require you to submit to searches as part of your membership agreement. In a private club setting, you are generally bound by any conditions you agree to, from paying annual dues to submitting to searches.

Thank you for listening to Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful¹⁵ Life. Be sure to check out all the excellent QDnow podcasts at....................

You can send questions and comments to.................or call them in to the voicemail line at 206-202-4LAW. Please note that doing so will not create an attorney-client relationship and will be used for the purposes of this podcast only.

Legal Lad's theme music is "No Good Layabout" by Kevin MacLeod.

 

1 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

2 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

5 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

6 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

7 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

8 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 statutes   

成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程

参考例句：

• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Each agency is also restricted by the particular statutes governing its activities. 各个机构的行为也受具体法令限制。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 unreasonably   

adv. 不合理地

参考例句：

• He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄，无事生非，平庸刻薄的人。
• Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。

11 deodorant   

adj.除臭的；n.除臭剂

参考例句：

• She applies deodorant to her armpits after she showers.沐浴后，她在腋下涂上除臭剂。
• Spray deodorant and keep the silk garments dry before dressing.在穿衣之前，洒涂防臭剂并保持干燥。

12 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

13 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。