Can he stop the thief?

I think its
lunar said:
A few weeks ago I was in a I_____d supermarket. I was waiting in the queue at the self-service machine. I heard a commotion by the exit. I saw a middle aged lady with a huge suitcase (on wheels) trying to leave the store. There was a struggle with the security guard, who was holding a part of the suitcase to stop the woman leaving. Then two other staff members came to help. The woman swore at the staff and walked out empty handed.
When the suitcase was opened, it was full of food, drinks and toiletries.
Why didn't the security guard detain the lady and call the police?
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I think its purely dependant on the Security guard to be honest, I work in retail and our guard either takes the goods back and lets them go, Or if its serious enough (high value) he detains them (unsure on the legality of that) while the police come out and 7/10 they get arrested as they must be prolific offenders.

What's bizarre though how fast the police actually come out when its a business calling them, You know the businesses that rake in millions of pounds of profits a year that can easily take the loss, Yet Dorothy just got mugged down the road and it'll take them 5 working days to show up.
 
Nevakonaza said:
I think its

I think its purely dependant on the Security guard to be honest, I work in retail and our guard either takes the goods back and lets them go, Or if its serious enough (high value) he detains them (unsure on the legality of that) while the police come out and 7/10 they get arrested as they must be prolific offenders.

What's bizarre though how fast the police actually come out when its a business calling them, You know the businesses that rake in millions of pounds of profits a year that can easily take the loss, Yet Dorothy just got mugged down the road and it'll take them 5 working days to show up.
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They actually patrol around town centers and businesses. You never see them in residential areas anymore.

In my town they are never more than about 30 seconds away from the big (and only) supermarket. But report a guy who looks like he is doing a drug drop in the park... tumbleweed.
 
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Nasher said:
They actually patrol around town centers and businesses. You never see them in residential areas anymore.

In my town they are never more than about 30 seconds away from the big (and only) supermarket. But report a guy who looks like he is doing a drug drop in the park... tumbleweed.
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This is pretty much it, they don't have the manpower to be everywhere, certainly not on foot but they do seem (in some areas at least) to have started basing a unit or two in/near the high street or other busy areas they know they're likely to get calls from.

My town had it's police station and magistrates court shut down something like 30 years ago, which meant for a very long time the nearest place the police were based as the next town over (30 minutes on a good day), more recently they've taken over at least one room of the local council office and now have a couple of cars parked up there a lot of the time with the officers either doing patrols based out of it, or I suspect using it as somewhere to possibly do witness statements etc.
They've also had a marked spot for police vehicles on the Highstreet itself for about 10 years, and you'll often see a marked car or van parked up there on market days suggesting either officers are on patrol around the market, or possibly that they're using it as a deterrent.

re the drug drop in the park, they may not immediately act on it (after all they don't know if it is actually a drug drop or just someone adding 2 and 2 to get 22), but IIRC they do log it and it gets in conjunction with other reports to help spot patterns. There isn't much point in the police going to every report of a possible crime when they've got reports of confirmed/urgent crimes and accidents etc to deal with.
 
Years ago I saw a guy in Asda change all of his clothes except his undies and socks. Left his old t shirt, trousers and trainers in random aisle.

I contacted security and although they found him they just let him go. Spoke to the guard afterwards and he said his life is worth more than £15.
 
IAmATeaf said:
Years ago I saw a guy in Asda change all of his clothes except his undies and socks. Left his old t shirt, trousers and trainers in random aisle.

I contacted security and although they found him they just let him go. Spoke to the guard afterwards and he said his life is worth more than £15.
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They're basically urban scarecrows now.
 
Deleted member 280263 said:
Or, "zero hours contract" mixed shifts :cry:
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Also since they're subcontractors they can get dismissed pretty much straight away and not go through the disciplinary process, first verbal, second etc etc appeal etc (you can appeal but you're appealing to the sub contracting company, not the company in question, so they'll offer you a job elseware in another location and they do it to location that's too far, and say oops I guess no choice we have to let you go)

Companies did the same BS with me.
 
hornetstinger said:
Also since they're subcontractors they can get dismissed pretty much straight away and not go through the disciplinary process, first verbal, second etc etc appeal etc (you can appeal but you're appealing to the sub contracting company, not the company in question, so they'll offer you a job elseware in another location and they do it to location that's too far, and say oops I guess no choice we have to let you go)

Companies did the same BS with me.
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It's good that you're not sour about it though :)

JK :P
 
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Deleted member 280263 said:
It's good that you're not sour about it though :)

JK :P
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Pretty much on the same money
:D
Don't have to deal with drunk/drug general public that go into cause trouble, not doing 6 day week etc, unpaid breaks, SSP only, physical assault by store managers etc

Plus noticed £12500 personal tax allowance hasn't been increased in years - so those on part time jobs highly likely be over it, and those full timers will be paying more tax (and cost of living going up)
 
Gazanimal said:
Couple of years back I was in TK Maxx and this dude just sidled up near me where I was looking at coats, pulled out this almighty sized bag (think the huge Ikea bag) and started stuffing coats into it. After filling it, walked straight out and nobody batted an eyelid about it.

I can see why people don't get involved tbh as about 30 years ago I was working at a leisure centre when a young teenage girl decided to nick someone's purse from the changing room and leg it out. One big fail on her part was she was still wearing her swimming costume and left her clothes still inside a locker when she decided to leg it with purse in hand. I got a report on the radio of the theft and legged it after her as she ran off down the seafront, then the penny dropped as she was bare footed and only in her swimwear, so she stopped and I carefully walked her back to the centre.
Unbeknownst to me or her, she'd stolen a police officers wife's purse and he was stood at the reception when I walked back in with her, still in his swim shorts. He started shouting at her and called her by her name, so he knew her but then said, without ID that he was a copper and that he was going to arrest her for theft. I said "Not a chance - I have no idea who you are, even if she has stolen your wife's purse." He wasn't happy about it, but eventually he identified himself and we let it take it's course.
About a week later we had a couple of officers come in as they did just for a browse on their beat (when they still used to do that) and I mentioned about the theft etc and they said "Oh yeah, we heard about that. It was Sargent BoatyMcBoatFace (no idea of his name) from the next big town over - he wanted to arrest you for obstruction of justice."

So yeah, I retrieved his wife's belongings for him and the thanks I got was he wanted to arrest me for obstruction because I didn't believe he was a police officer when he's only stood there in a pair of swim shorts. Oh and neither him, nor his wife said thank you.
This is why I won't get involved unless it's ever directly my family or friends.
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Not sure whether I have previously posted the full stories on here, but years back I was twice involved in apprehending a thief (not the same one!) and detaining them until the police arrived. One was on private property (where the thief had no reason to be) and one was on public transport. Both times the police turned up, spoke to the thief and then let them go. Apparently it doesn't matter if you catch someone red handed with property that isn't theirs, as long as they say they weren't stealing it and claim that they are somehow the victim. Without CCTV footage apparently its just your word against theirs. It does put you off from stepping in and these days when I witness shoplifting I do not get involved.
 
Mr Badger said:
Not sure whether I have previously posted the full stories on here, but years back I was twice involved in apprehending a thief (not the same one!) and detaining them until the police arrived. One was on private property (where the thief had no reason to be) and one was on public transport. Both times the police turned up, spoke to the thief and then let them go. Apparently it doesn't matter if you catch someone red handed with property that isn't theirs, as long as they say they weren't stealing it and claim that they are somehow the victim. Without CCTV footage apparently its just your word against theirs. It does put you off from stepping in and these days when I witness shoplifting I do not get involved.
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You only have to watch the multiple series I watch like Traffic Cops, Highland Cops, Police Interceptors and a load of others to see what criminals get away with.
"Well we've got that car off the road" seems good enough.
Or when they have really punished somebody for madness it's barely a a sentence - 12 month driving ban, £279 fine and 12 months suspended sentence.
 
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