The Cost of Untrained Store Employees Stopping Shoplifters

I recently served as an expert witness for a plaintiff who was seriously injured by store employees chasing a shoplifter. The employees intended to use force to detain the individual. The incident occurred in Newark, New Jersey, and the case was heard in Essex County Superior Court. Recognized as an expert in security, loss prevention, and use of force, I testified that the plaintiff’s injuries resulted from the store owner’s failure to train and supervise employees on how to approach and detain shoplifters. After several days of testimony, the jury returned an $8 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff. It was my opinion that, had the defendants properly trained and supervised their employees, the incident could have been prevented. Due to the absence of policies or training, I believe the employees should never have engaged in the conduct they did, which directly caused the plaintiff’s injuries.

Event Summary

On September 9, 2020, the electronic article surveillance (EAS) system at the defendant’s store was triggered by a potential shoplifter. The shoplifter reached the exit door, which led to the street and the general public. After the alarm went off, five untrained employees rushed to the exit. Despite the alarm, no employee suspected or observed a theft. It was established during the trial that false alarms, caused by cashiers failing to remove security tags from purchased items, had become routine. I opined that these false alarms made the EAS system unreliable.

The first two employees who engaged the shoplifter attempted to detain him outside on a public street. As this occurred, a 69-year-old woman, walking with a friend, passed by the encounter. The shoplifter broke free and collided with the plaintiff, causing her to fall. A store employee chasing the shoplifter made contact with the plaintiff, altering her fall and causing her head to strike the sidewalk, rendering her unconscious. After the shoplifter was apprehended, three store employees ran past the plaintiff without offering aid. Only after the shoplifter was detained did they return to assist the plaintiff. Medical experts testified that the plaintiff suffered traumatic brain injuries, permanently affecting her quality of life.

The store employed twenty-eight people and stated during depositions that any employee could stop a shoplifter. However, no employee was trained in security or loss prevention, and no guidance existed on how to confront shoplifters. Like many states, New Jersey allows merchants to detain shoplifters. If you are a manager, owner, or loss prevention officer and your store has a policy for detaining shoplifters, you must implement clear policies and provide proper training. Employees tasked with confronting shoplifters must be trained on:

1. What constitutes probable cause or reasonable suspicion to stop a potential shoplifter.
2. How to approach a shoplifter non-confrontationally and non-accusatorily. Employees should maintain a safe distance of at least six feet to avoid being struck if the shoplifter is violent.
3. If the shoplifter flees, employees should not pursue them.
4. How to handle non-compliance by a shoplifter—management should instruct employees to step aside, allow the person to leave, and call the police.

If your company enforces a zero-tolerance policy for shoplifting, the safest and most realistic approach is to hire off-duty police officers. Allowing employees, trained or not, to act as security guards and use force to detain shoplifters is reckless and irresponsible. Untrained employees should never engage with potential shoplifters. In this case, untrained employees were chasing a $2.80 bottle of shampoo. I strongly advise against allowing store employees, loss prevention officers, or management to use force to stop shoplifters. The failures here led to the plaintiff’s brain injury and have jeopardized the retailer’s financial future, with the $8 million liability verdict hanging over them.

Joe Blaettler is the owner and principal operator of East Coast Private Investigations of New Jersey. With over 38 years of military, police, and security experience, Joe is a retired deputy chief of police from a major urban New Jersey department. He holds a BS in Justice Studies with high honors from the College of Saint Elizabeth, a Master of Science in Police Administration, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Joe has assisted law firms in police policy and premise security cases, preparing expert reports for federal, state, and municipal courts in multiple states.