Lawsuits Against Retailers

When do you file a suit against a shoplifter? Or should you?  Is detaining a suspect in your store believed to be shoplifting the proper procedure? The number of complaints and lawsuits against retailers continues inexorably, and the demand for alternative solutions to protect your business against shoplifters, or any loss prevention issues continues to be a priority for any retail business.
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Lawsuits against Retailers: The Expert’s Role

Contemporary loss prevention policies and procedures is a direct consequence of the so-called “litigation explosion” that dates back to the early to mid-1980s. Time was when a head-long pursuit through the parking lot and across heavily-trafficked public roadways was a way of life. To many it was exhilarating and the resultant capture of a shoplifter was rewarding.

However, I recall with clarity the case of two teenage brothers who were pursued by supermarket employees for the theft of a couple of candy bars and a 16 oz. can of beer. The two were struck and killed by an auto in the middle lanes of a nearby freeway. The subsequent lawsuit was punishing. It’s fair to identify that very case as the beginning of the end of hot pursuits in the retail industry.

Subsequently, other practices, heretofore invoking mild reprimands, became socially and legally unacceptable and everyday practices, such as wrestling a suspect to the ground and gaining control with an arm-lock, became suspect, again, magnified by lawsuits. Shoplifters died, invariably followed by a lawsuit resulting in the awarding of damages. Awards sent corporate policymakers, guided by their own legal counsel, back to the drawing boards.

The Litigation Process

Despite the greatly altered face and character of loss prevention today, complaints against retailers continue on, albeit not at the same pace of yesteryears, but continue none-the-less. Lawsuits driven by a loss prevention act or omission requires an “expert” to assess the event and educate the judicial community, which includes a jury, on justification or lack thereof of the act or event.

For example, was the forceful holding of a suspect to the ground, who then died due to positional asphyxia or a heart attack, reasonable or not? Such tragedies have been litigated time after time and experts, depending on the totality of circumstances, have opposing opinions.

Camera models that can help improve security in 2014

Many small business leaders have likely made new resolutions for improving themselves and their businesses in 2014, and security measures can play a big role in these means. Whether it means adding or improving cameras and alarms on hand, bolstering their means can be a big boost to improving functionality.

One new advance in camera technology comes from Samsung, according to Engadget. The latest SmartCam from the company works by recording 1080p video directly to an internal SD card. While that prevents it from benefiting from the potential of cloud-based information storage, compression efforts allow the company to only need about 30 percent of the bandwidth other cameras would require, reducing data sizes while still offering owners the ability to remotely watch live video.

Both of these models can be connected using WiFi, can connect to Android or iOS devices using two apps and have low-light video quality, ensuring most situations can be covered. In particular, there are two models of the camera, and the outdoor one can have a range of 50 feet. That outdoor model can also withstand plenty of weather-based damage without risking its power supply or WiFi module, which would remain inside at all times.

Shoplifter’s lawsuit against store owner underway

Should a store owner who shot a shoplifter have to pay for the injuries he caused? According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, that is what an El Paso County jury is trying to decide as the civil suit against Chang Ho Yi got underway this week.

In October 2010, Bryson Dewberry reportedly stole a bottle of vodka from Yi’s Colorado Springs liquor store, Austin Bluff’s Liquor. Yi chased Dewberry from the store and shot him in the face at point blank range as he attempted to get into a getaway car, the Gazette reported. The bullet struck then-22 year old Dewberry in the jaw and also hit a passenger in his car in the leg.

Now Dewberry’s attorneys state that the young man, who had aspired to be a rapper, suffers from a speech impediment. Dewberry is suing Yi for ongoing medical expenses as well as pain and suffering, loss of work, and loss of future business opportunities. According to an earlier report from KDVR when the lawsuit was filed in December 2012, Dewberry also claims that Yi’s actions were negligent and reckless and that Dewberry posed no physical threat that would warrant him being shot.