Archived Are team members other than AP allowed to stop thieves

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MasterChef117

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Nothing gets me more angry than watching someone stuff their cart full of 500$ worth of clothes and try to stroll out of the store like nothing (which actually happened today). Its hard to always alert AP on walkie and they respond before the person is already halfway out of the parking lot. Today instead of waiting for AP to respond I stopped the guy before he could make it out the store. I got in front of his cart and asked if he paid for his items and to see his receipt. The guy got all fidgety and took off without the cart. AP was able to catch him in the parking lot shortly after. I later got coached by my STL on how its not my responsibility to get directly involved because it puts my safety in danger and makes me a legal liability. I understand that part of it but what am I supposed to do just allow the guy to walk out of the store with a basket of clothes and call for AP to respond. The guy would have been long gone
 
well... you're lucky you didn't get fired. if you fucked it up then your ass would be gone.

AP team members are the only ones certified to stop the thieves. you can yell out and try to verbally intimidate the thief but you cannot physically stop them without consequence from leadership.
 
I understand that part of it but what am I supposed to do just allow the guy to walk out of the store with a basket of clothes and call for AP to respond. The guy would have been long gone
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Yes, that is exactly what you're supposed to do. You're honestly lucky to get away with a coaching, I know a TM who was put on a final for something similar. If you had attempted to physically apprehend him you would've almost certainly been termed.

Target is actually somewhat unusual among retail stores for even still allowing physical apprehensions at all. Many corporations don't want the potential liability, and their AP/LP/whatever takes on a preventative and observe and report role. They attempt to limit their liability by making the roles allowed to do apprehensions very limited, and requiring very specific training to certify an AP member for apprehensions. Even a TPS is not allowed to do an apprehension, only a Sr TPS or higher is. So I'd just take the coaching as a lesson and let it go. I know thieves suck, but you have to leave it to AP to do their jobs as best as they can, assist them in any way you can within the rules, and leave it at that.
 
I can think of a number of cases at other companies where employees have been fired for things:
like taking the gun away from a man who was robbing a pizza driver and beating the crap out of him ( you just don't try to rob a former army ranger),
stopping a mugging of a customer in the parking lot (they offered him his job back and he pretty much told them to screw themselves).
and jumping between a man who was beating up his wife (that one went to court and the employee lost).

It all comes down to the company protecting its butt when it comes down to lawsuits and criminal court.

Don't get hurt no matter how frustrating it is seeing product go out the door.
You aren't trained for dealing with the situation.
 
commiecorvus said:
I can think of a number of cases at other companies where employees have been fired for things:
like taking the gun away from a man who was robbing a pizza driver and beating the crap out of him ( you just don't try to rob a former army ranger),
stopping a mugging of a customer in the parking lot (they offered him his job back and he pretty much told them to screw themselves).
and jumping between a man who was beating up his wife (that one went to court and the employee lost).

It all comes down to the company protecting its butt when it comes down to lawsuits and criminal court.

Don't get hurt no matter how frustrating it is seeing product go out the door.
You aren't trained for dealing with the situation.
Click to expand...

I will never understand the lawsuits and how they actually proceed. "I stole $500 and someone caught me so I'm going to sue"
 
Robert De Niro said it best in Heat. Think of your families, don't risk your life, don't try to be a hero.

 
oath2order said:
commiecorvus said:
I can think of a number of cases at other companies where employees have been fired for things:
like taking the gun away from a man who was robbing a pizza driver and beating the crap out of him ( you just don't try to rob a former army ranger),
stopping a mugging of a customer in the parking lot (they offered him his job back and he pretty much told them to screw themselves).
and jumping between a man who was beating up his wife (that one went to court and the employee lost).

It all comes down to the company protecting its butt when it comes down to lawsuits and criminal court.

Don't get hurt no matter how frustrating it is seeing product go out the door.
You aren't trained for dealing with the situation.
Click to expand...

I will never understand the lawsuits and how they actually proceed. "I stole $500 and someone caught me so I'm going to sue"
Click to expand...


Sometimes they're legitimate.
"My twelve year old son stole $50 in Hot Wheels but the security guard used a choke hold till he was unconscious and now he has brain damage."
 
No, only specific AP positions are authorized to do apprehensions with the rest of the AP team allowed to assist but not initiate. Absolutely no regular store team members are to be involved in that process; if you want to help then just do shout outs to them when you see suspicious activities.
 
You are lucky you didn't get hurt or killed. If goodness forbid you messed it up and the thief got hurt the defense attorney could use that against Target. If any guests or even you got hurt or even killed Target could get sued. Think of it like this product can always be replaced... people cant, and the security cameras can always be looked at to see if they have a good view of their face. a Few weeks ago one of the cart attendants saw a man running with a trash bag out of the store to a "get away car" and he happened to see a cop on the other side of the lot and he ran over to the cop to tell him what was going on. I am not sure if he got in trouble but the guy did get caught eventually.
 
It's already been said, but make sure you do your best to get a hold of AP when you see something like that. If you can't, please provide great guest service (to the point of annoyance). I'm in AP, and if I'm not around or they can't get a hold of me in time, I definitely want my team being proactive in trying to spook the person. The two best ways to do that are giving persistent guest service and maintaining your presence in the area/around the person. Don't do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, but you won't get in trouble for providing guest service to someone you believe may be stealing. And of course, never accuse them of stealing.

It's unfortunate, I wish it wasn't this way, but unless you're an ETL/LOD or in AP, you can't make receipt checks, which is what it sounds like you did. Now that you've been coached, be extra careful. They won't just coach you again if this happens a second time. You will either be put on final warning or termed.

Personally if I was AP at your store I would thank you for your enthusiasm, and just warn you about being careful going forward. And since you seem to have an eye for theft prevention, tell you about any openings in AP ;)
 
A red shirt by the exit/entrance door will deter most push outs. Most shoplifters aren't bold enough to walk straight by an employee with a basket full of unpaid merch.
 
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Legally anyone is allowed to stop a shoplifter, but if you do it at Target then you'll get fired. You're lucky you only got a coaching, and honestly as an exec I wouldn't want my tms doing anything directly involved either. You certainly could have asked him cihyfs a few times and that most likely would have done the trick. If it doesn't, call it out to AP and they'll start a case if he gets away. With the support of the IC they will have the guy very soon. Mind of a shoplifter is if they Get away with it once, they can do it again with more stuff.
 
Communication is the key. Sometimes, you get a gut feeling. Do cihyfs first & let ap know about the guest. Then, do it again on the same guest in a different aisle. Then ask a fellow tm to do the same thing. That is a good safe way to play the game. That guest will get a hint, after few tags by tm's. Ap loves watching that stuff, they get good pictures.
 
Sometimes AP is well aware of what is happening and may even let the person go. Meanwhile, they are familiar with this person and are building a much larger case against them. Your interference not only endangers your safety and the safety of others, it also opens up the store to liability AND could blow the case that AP might be trying to build.
 
You're so lucky you didn't get fired. We had a Sr. Team Lead get fired for stopping someone two years ago.
 
I'm just a peon so I personally don't care if someone if shoplifting, or at least not enough to stop them. Everything is insured anyway, not much of a lost
 
jb08045 said:
I'm just a peon so I personally don't care if someone if shoplifting, or at least not enough to stop them. Everything is insured anyway, not much of a lost
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And I am not paid enough to get hurt over a flipping iPod.
 
If it takes your AP dept. that long to respond to $500 push outs, there's something wrong. However, it could also be that they're well aware of the subject, and they could be avoiding confrontation with them for good reason. We love working with TM's that want to help us. All you can do though is report the incident to AP and guest servicing if safe to do so. TM's are our most important asset after all, and there's nothing in the store worth you getting hurt over.
 
It's tough not being able to step in when you witness wrong doing. I remember from one of the kool-aide videos I watched at Business College that if a TM suspects theft/impending theft, they can approach the guest and ask "Can I help you find something?" and that is it. You'll have to turn it over to AP after that. When I was in college I worked at Dick's Sporting Goods and their policy was simply view and report. They had a strict policy against stopping thieves or interfering in any way. They didn't have an AP team.

I agree with the other posts - you're lucky it was only a coaching. I've seen TMs termed or put on final for that, mostly termed if there was any physical exchange. To ease your mind just say, "it's not worth my job or life. Let them go!". I have a hard time wanting to follow that but I think about the impact on my life first.
 
You may have unofficially done the right thing. But technically you went against policy. You could have been written up or terminated for getting involved. At my former Super store, there was an incident (before I worked there) where AP was giving chase of a known shoplifter out of the store. As the shoplifter was going through the parking lot, he ran into a Cart Attendant and shot him thinking he was AP.

This may have been just at my former store, but AP could not give chase or apprehend shoplifters unless the merchandise amount was so much or given authority by the District AP, since our AP team was split amongst three stores.
 
Amaazingdude said:
You're so lucky you didn't get fired. We had a Sr. Team Lead get fired for stopping someone two years ago.
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Love how nobody has shared this policy with me if it's true since I became a GSA. Brilliance at work here... Thanks for the heads up I guess...
 
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