Quote:
Originally Posted by morantis
They are store employees and not law enforcement in any way, so therefore they can't even touch a person even if they watch them pick something up and walk out the door. They can't bar the exit, that's illegal, so the best they could do is get the tag number. But, he says that nine times out of ten when they approach the person they might argue, but rarely have the sense to just keep on walking.
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I assume you are from the States. There is something like citizen's arrest in many countries, as well as the US.
"A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official.[1] In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval Britain and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers."
So I guess your friend just wants to avoid the hassle - which may be wise, considering small sums ...
In my country of residence the police will show up for .50 Cents worth of stolen goods if the shoplifter can't/won't identify themselves.