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Arrest powers vital in public sector draw lawsuits in company setting
Hiring off-duty police officers to work private security both fills a manpower need and provides an unmistakable deterrent (given that uniformed police enjoy powers to arrest offenders on the spot). However, security directors should always bear in mind the risk that a police officer who overreacts (in the company’s view) to a situation can draw lawsuits.”Police officers tend to be more authoritarian in their approach,” said James F. Pastor, president of the SecureLaw Ltd./Lemont, Ill., security consulting firm and a former Chicago police officer. Bottom line, security officers are usually trained to be customer-friendly, police aren’t, and that can lead to an impulse to arrest, he said. Problem: Suppose a visitor on company property becomes belligerent with a police officer working private security, rather than cooperate. Coveting their customer relations and realizing they lack legal protections that cities do, companies often train their security officers to talk a person into cooperating, detaining that person only as a last resort. However, off-duty police may skip to the arrest powers when the situation doesn’t necessarily require it, Pastor said.Trust us, that really happens. One security director interviewed by CS is in the middle of pending litigation against his company over an off-duty police officer’s actions. He made an arrest on company property, but charges against the suspect later were dropped.Now, that individual is suing the company, claiming the cop was definitely employed by the private company, which therefore must be held accountable for his wrong actions. Designate Cops As ContractorsHowever, many companies structure their relationship with off-duty police strictly as contractors, not as full-time employees, to prepare for this very accusation. This company will argue in court that the police officer was acting as a city employee when he made the arrest, and emphasize that he serves as a contractor.Especially in the retail sector, using off-duty police officers can create unwanted liability. Private security officers and police are trained to act differently when they suspect shoplifting or other crimes have been committed, said Alan Greggo, CPP, loss prevention director at Luxottica Retail/Mason, Ohio.Police officers legally can make an arrest acting on probable cause with no personal knowledge, while security officers are generally trained only to detain a suspect if they actually saw the suspect steal. And, after that point, a veteran security director won’t let his officers detain that suspect for long if they find no solid evidence – or else the company risks getting sued. Every Arrest Is Potential LawsuitSo, if an off-duty police officer makes an arrest, and the charges are eventually dropped, the company is at heightened risk for a lawsuit even though it would argue the cop was acting in his city capacity.”The security officer has the rule that we give them that you must see the theft and recover the product,” Greggo said. “Police officers don’t operate under the same rules.” Whenever possible, he much prefers training a security officer on the company rules than bringing in a police officer whose instincts are to apply rules he has learned with the police department. In addition, “the security officer is in-house and knows the culture of the business” and is likelier to act as an appropriate company representative in a tense situation, Greggo said.Most companies that use off-duty police want them in uniform and with their weapon, since their primary value is as a deterrent.Contact Info : James Pastor, ; Alan Greggo, .Source: Corporate Security,
05/15/2007Copyright © 2007 by Strafford Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Storage, reproduction or transmission by any means is prohibited except pursuant to a valid license agreement. |
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May 15, 2007 |
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