NCJ Number
182233
Date Published
1999
Length
165 pages
Annotation
Shoplifting is the single largest crime affecting U.S. retail merchants, with annual losses over $21 billion, and complicating the situation is the fact that individuals apprehending for shoplifting may sue stores for damages resulting from their apprehension and detention.
Abstract
In response to the shoplifting problem, States have enacted retail merchant protection statutes and civil recovery laws that allow retailers to deal more effectively with the problem. Retail merchant protection statutes give retail merchants the right to apprehend and detain individuals suspected of shoplifting, while enjoying a conditional privilege of civil liability immunity. Despite the officer of civil liability immunity, retail merchants still lose civil lawsuits with alarming regularity. The author aims to help retail store executives better understand shoplifting's enormous financial hazards to their businesses. Case examples are used to show executives and managers can and cannot do in their efforts to apprehend, detain, and prosecute shoplifters. Advice is also provided on how to use civil recovery laws, with legal cases and legal alternatives cited. References and tables