Can I refuse to have security personnel search my bag if I turn off the alarm when leaving a store? DEAN DUNHAM answers
I set off the alarm as I left a department store even though I hadn’t bought anything.
The security at the door insisted on searching my shopping bags. I was furious. Could I have refused?
RG, via email.
Dean Dunham replies: Security personnel have limited powers compared to police and can generally only enforce store policies, such as denying entry or asking you to leave if you refuse to comply with a search request.
Security can only take limited steps in connection with a possible theft or security situation.
If they have reasonable grounds to suspect you of theft or transporting prohibited items, they may ask to search your belongings, but you still have the right to say no.
Humiliating: An innocent reader became enraged after a store security guard insisted on searching their shopping bags when the security alarm went off
However, if you refuse, the guards may detain you through citizen’s arrest based on their reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime.
If they decide to take this step, they must explain why they are detaining you and contact the police immediately. They can only use reasonable force.
You could have refused the search, but in my opinion that would not have been advisable.
The best thing you can do when confronted with a request to search your bag as you leave a store is to ask why.
You should then ask what reasonable grounds they have for believing that you have stolen something or are carrying a prohibited item.
Security will then have to proceed very carefully, because a mere ‘suspicion’ based on a ‘hunch’ will not be sufficient.
They need something more concrete, like a witness saying they think they saw you take something.
If you are stopped unnecessarily and security cannot provide a valid explanation as to why they had reasonable grounds to believe you have committed an offence, you should make a complaint to both the store owner and the security company (if this is a separate entity). .
The likely outcome will be a voucher or some other form of compensation. The amount will depend on the extent of the suffering caused.
This is increased if there is discrimination – for example if you are stopped because of your race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
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