Title: Shoplifting - FindLaw
Headings: Shoplifting
Shoplifting
Elements of Shoplifting
Severity of Shoplifting Charges
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In-Store Detention of Shoplifters
Get Legal Help with Your Shoplifting Charges

Content: Doing so opens the door to civil and even criminal liability for false imprisonment. However, many states have enacted statutes specifically authorizing stores and their employees to detain suspected shoplifters in certain circumstances. These laws serve to protect the stores from lawsuits claiming false imprisonment or false arrest. Though these laws vary, store owners and their employees generally are allowed to detain an individual when they have probable cause to suspect shoplifting. However, any such detention of a suspected shoplifter must be reasonable in length and manner. Detentions without probable cause, for an unreasonable amount of time, or in an unreasonable manner may leave the store open to liability for false imprisonment and possibly other claims. What constitutes probable cause to suspect shoplifting comes down to case by case specifics. Mere suspicion typically will not suffice. Most states require that the store or its employees have evidence which would lead a reasonable person to believe that shoplifting had occurred or was in progress. If the store bases its detention of a suspected shoplifter on information from a non-employee informer, that informer must have a reasonable basis for suspecting shoplifting.