The illegal things I have seen police officers do is sometimes shocking if I sit down and think about it. I personally love seeing them run red lights. Just venting. Nothing real to add here.

Well the next report we hear is going to be that the walmart receipt checker was not actually reaching for the receipt. He was actually attempting to assault the officer and he was defending himself.

Case closed next case plz.

Some of my best highschool memories are from cops doing illegal shit. Some even better memories are getting in trouble with the cops then calling the crooked cops to bail me out of whatever trouble I had gotten in to....good times.

Is it sad that I'm still shocked by things like this?

@taney71: I think almost everyone can second this...the number of times I've seen a CHP officer make a last-minute exit over the median: many. The number of times I've seen a cop outside my house (live close to a station) pull up to a stop sign at 2:00am, then so a burn out: more than you would imagine.

@dddoistutter: so = do, obviously >.<

@Munchie: The old man of age 71 was actually an ancient kung fu master... Actually that might have been pretty awesome to see if it were true.

@cobaltthorium: Shocked at what the cop did, or the fact that he's finally being investigated?

"... Walmart Receipt Checker"

I'm surprised there hasn't been a post yet congratulating the officer for standing up against the hateful tyranny of having one's receipt checked, no matter the avatar of such tyranny.

I hope the cop gets slammed for this.

I'm sure they weren't going to do a damn thing about the rogue cop, and the assaulted persons created a ruckus. Wal Mart provided security camera evidence to which the state of Tennessee had no choice but to "investigate" the matter.

I'm sure they'll claim he was on a lunch break, and clear him of all charges. Friggin idiots.

Once you've made your purchase and have passed the Point of Sale, the purchased item is yours and the store no longer has a right to detain you or check your sales receipt. Any attempt to stop you and detain you to check your sales receipt, against your will, is an illegal detention--IMO. What do you think?

Yeah, I'm sure that just walking away from the 71-year-old wouldn't have been sufficient. What an asshole.

I understand that some normal people are annoyed by receipt checks, but it just does not rise to this level at all. He deserves worse than what will even get thrown at him.

Perhaps Walmart should keep the receipt checkers in the back room where most of the shrinkage (theft) occurs. They'll be far less prone to being pushed to the ground, honest, paying customers would not be harassed and perhaps they'll actually catch a thief or two.

@danno50: Nope. Having your receipt checked is part of the agreement of the sale. If you're too bothered, vote with your wallet and shop someplace else. Obviously, you changing your behavior won't impact anything, but if enough people are annoyed, they'll figure out other ways to deter theft.

@danno50: Overreaction at it's best. Nobody is "detaining" you. Either take the split second it takes to flash your receipt, or just keep walking. Don't make this more of an issue than it is.

Whether the receipt checker is an elderly person or a 14 year old kid, or whether they politely ask you to stop or if they stand in front of the door, attacking them is not an okay thing to do.

Check out the original post of this all the bs about the right to shove a 71 year old has allready been debated and it was a crap excuse then and now. All of you who are slamming the cops they did find him guilty of conduct un becoming and suspended him 28 days with out pay and require him to have some retraining. The department did there job. Not all cops are jerks but this one must really be. This was reported in the Chattanooga free press.

I say, let the police officer serve his sentence by making him serve as a receipt checker in a Wal-Mart for 40 hours making him wear a t-shirt that says "I am a cop that shoved a Wal-Mart Receipt checker and I was forced to do his job for 40 hours...Laugh at me if you feel like it"

@dddoistutter: I have many stories as well, but I dont think going through a stop sign or red light is a big deal. I've talked to some cops before and they always say that the rule of thumb is that they need to keep moving as much as possible while on duty. dont know if thats right or wrong but I think its what they are told to do.

However, yeah... people always say "You know, theres still good cops out there" but its getting harder and harder to tell with how they treat us little people.

Maybe the cop had real important cop stuff to do and the senior citizen was preventing him from capturing terrorist or some shit. Inconvenience me not, for I am on a mission from god!

Funny aside, total dick move by the cop.

Hopefully someday when he is 71 someone will remember this event and shove him into a vending machine. That would be the ultimate payback.

@ZekeSulastin: Although you may oppose it, that's actually my stance on the Walmart receipt-checking process. If one grabs me, I WILL forcefully remove that grasp, as it is an attempt at illegal detainment, and I have a right to defend myself.

That doesn't mean that I'm for the reported extent of reaction by the officer. I doubt the officer really did use as much force as is implied by the media, though.

There's two things in play here that are obvious bait for news:

Police brutality and Old people getting hurt.

Until I see a video, or hear the officer's personal account, I'll keep the position I've noted on my site:

"he could/should have actually detained the detaining greeter, and put a stop to this. It's not stated anywhere that he did this, but I assume that Chattanooga's finest simply detained the unknowing perp long enough to explain such illegal behavior, and did Walmart a favor by letting him go with a verbal warning."

@Chongo: You or I would get pulled over in a second if we go through a red light/stop sign [because it's dangerous], but a cop should be able to do it without anyone giving it a second though [i.e it's not dangerous when a cop does it]?

Whether or not they have to "keep moving as much as possible," they are not above the law. If I can't do it, then cops can't do it either. Small things like that create a slippery slope to corrupt and dangerous cops like this.

@chuckv: Where exactly is detainment without proof or reasonable suspicion posted, written, or otherwise conveyed to the customer?

As posted on another comment, I don't agree with flinging an elderly dude against ANY dispensing mechanism, but I wanna see a tape before I conclude he actually acted particularly out of line. Old people don't tend to have good balance.

@supercereal: [www.merriam-webster.com]

I hate role crazy cops. I skateboard and get hassled quite a bit. It is funny though when the cops realize they are dealing with a 34 year old man and not a teenager. The tune changes quickly.

Personally I think he should have thrown the intervening other through the 71 year old.
People think the receipt checker should be excused for his age. 71 year olds should be excused for walking slowly, not for systematically violating other people's rights. This cop sounds like one of the good ones who wouldn't arrest a person for not showing their reciept. He is a hero not a criminal.
I doubt he went out of his way to toss the old fart to the ground. The old fart probably got all in his face and paid the price. The second guy then probably reacted to seeing an old guy getting tossed without knowing the background and paid the price for acting without thinking.
In legal terms what is the difference between the old guy stopping people at the door and me standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk demanding to see people's wallets so that I can look for some money stolen from me previously? Somebody out there must have it.

Our rights are our rights; we either draw a line or other people will draw it for us. I for one will not let a chain store dictate where that line lay even if their representative is some 71 year old loser.

I'm glad the founding father's actually had important things to fight against. If "He demands to view our Receipts for Purchafes made and itemf We Already Own as no Free Man bleffed with the Liberties granted by Our Creator at birth should be compelled to do" was one of the articles of the Declaration of Independence we would have been laughed out of existence.

@supercereal: And who would give them the ticket? And who would pay for the ticket?

@danno50:

He was stopped because the security alarm was set off. The checker had reasonable belief that he may have shop lifted something due to the alarm going off. Even if the alarm was malfunctioning, I don't think this could be considered a "detainment" if you refer to the definition of detainment above.

I highly doubt that if this cop's speed detector was malfunctioning and he pulled someone over for speeding who was going the speed limit that that person would be able to roll down their window, punch the officer in the face and spout some bullshit about illegal "detention" with any sort of support from anyone, yet I've seen people bring up the "illegal detention argument" a couple of times on both posts.

@donovanr: Who is saying that the receipt checker should be excused for his age? The receipt checker was simply doing what he was told to do. If the cop did not want to show his receipt, he should have said that he was not going to show his receipt and if the man continued to press the cop for a receipt he could have explained that he knows what the law is because he is a cop. Shoving the man, regardless of his age, is not the proper reaction. If the cop shoved the person hard enough that someone else felt the need to intervene, chances are it was not a simple nudge to get the man out of the way. Someone at the door of a store is allowed to ask you for a receipt, they just can't make it a requirement for leaving the store. However, even then, depending on circumstances, if they have reason to believe that you have stolen something then they can detain you for a reasonable amount of time so they can identify you and verify that you have not stolen anything. Regardless of the actual events, I find it amazing that you can pretty much praise this cop like a martyr without knowing fully the circumstances of what happened. Perhaps if the cop refused, told the greeter that he was a cop and in no way obligated to show his receipt and the greeter grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back into the store the cop would be justified in pushing the greeter. Maybe if the person who intervened jumped on his back and put a choke hold on the cop he would have been justified in shoving him through the door. Of course, if the cop was on duty, why was he doing last minute Christmas shopping on taxpayer's time? Being someone who has worked in retail, I can easily see how a cop as a customer in a store can be a problem. Some cops are kind, get to know everyone's names, understand that the associates have more customers than just them, and can be very pleasant; some cops as customers are pushy, feel as though they should get special treatment, and sometimes get surprised when someone treats them as though they are just another customer and not a cop. It also seems very odd to me that you would call this 71 year old a loser because he has a job and probably does a lot more than what another 71 year old would be doing.

@zark169: Yes.

@TaterTom: The alarm went off when they came through. Reasonable suspicion of shoplifting?

@supercereal: Sure, they can use the "keep moving" argument because the more they are moving, the more places they can check... but who's to say that the 15 seconds farther down the road they are because they ran through stop signs isn't going to cause them to pass a crime about to happen before it happens? Catching things while on patrol is just a matter of being at the right place at the right time, so whether they stop at the stop sign or not, they are equally likely to spot something happen. If anything, I would think they would be more likely to spot something happening if they drove the speed limit, stopped at stop signs and red lights, and drove like any normal, safe, observant driver.

He had a reasonable belief that there might be theft going off - the alarm sounded and the man refused to show a receipt (which he doesn't have to do, I know, but when you're setting off the alarm, doesn't that make you look a bit suspicious?)

@chuckv: Agreement of sale? Where? I've never seen this. When I shop at Wal-Mart (yes, it does happen occasionally) I don't sign anything, and I don't verbally agree to anything. All I do is exchange money for merchandise. And once I do, it is my right to leave the store with said merchandise. And it is NOT anyone's right to detain me or prevent me from leaving. In fact, it's called unlawful imprisonment.

@frodolives35: The department did their job? By letting someone get away with assault? If me or you did that, we'd be charged with assault and probably end up losing our jobs as a result. But this guy keeps a clean criminal record and his job, and just has to live a little frugally for a few weeks.

Oh yeah, they did a fine job. They taught me that to become a true criminal and get away with shit, I need to become a cop.

@Rachacha: A la Die Hard With A Vengeance? hehehe

@ZekeSulastin: if having your receipt checked is your idea of "illegal detainment" and "tyranny"... then you have led a very sheltered life.

I have NEVER received one bit of help from a police officer in my entire life (even when I needed them, the were completely incompetent). Needless to say, I don't like the police...

@TaterTom: Congratulations, you can use the internet.

The fact remains that merely asking for a receipt is not detainment or false imprisonment. Don't want to do it? Then *keep walking*. Unless they grab you or go defensive lineman on you (which never happens in reality, aside from one or two incidents you read here), then this is a non-issue.

Fine, you're inconvenienced for that split second of your time. Get of the high horses and put things into perspective.

@Don't take anything aaron8301 says seriously: In many cases, merely shopping in a store/installing a piece of software/using a website is agreement to the terms and conditions that they want to set forth -- no signing, no verbal agreement necessary. At my local Wal-Mart in particular, those policies are clearly stated over by the return counter/service desk.

More to the point, I'll never understand why people continue to willing give their money to a place that they KNOW has such policies, and then complain incessantly about them on teh internets.

Based on the fact that the media ALWAYS gives us all the information - and accurately, of course...(yeah, right!)

That being said, it *appears* to be a total over-reaction by the detective. And the bystander needed to back off and be a good witness while dialing 911 on the cell phone.

However, the WalMart greeter had absolutely NO business placing his hands on anyone. Period. In most states - that's called 'battery', and it's illegal.

Now, whether or not you agree with it or like it, cops carry guns - on duty and off duty. When someone I don't know starts grabbing my arm (and this includes your friendly neighborhood 71 year old WalMart greeter), I have no idea what their intentions are - are they the guy I arrested three weeks ago and want to rearrange my face because I arrested then because they didn't know how to behave and then wants to shoot me with my own gun? (think about it...)

So, grab my person and you WILL be face down on the ground with me kneeling on you saying 'Police Officer - Don't Move!' while I'm getting the cuffs out. But I'm not going to deliberately shove you into a soda machine or a window - unless I have no other choice.

And the legalities of stopping someone at the door for the alarm differ from state to state. In Colorado, yes, the store has the right to stop you if the alarm goes off or they have a reasonable suspicion that you have stolen something (meaning someone witnessed you stealing). But they cannot use any type of physical force to do so. Nor can they use force to stop you to check your receipt. But they don't have to let you back on the property. It's an extension of property rights laws. Outside of some very restricted reasons (race, gender, religion, etc.), a business does NOT have to let you patronize them.

Other states are different, so your mileage may vary.

As for badge-heavy cops - for the record, I hate them too.

And now back to our regularly scheduled cop-bashing, which is already in progress...

@bones11: You're not impressing anyone here.

@bones11: @bones11: @chuckv: Not true for wal-mart. Maybe for Sam's Club and Costco, but not general stores.

@supercereal: I believe this has been disproven many times on The Consumerist, they can't make you show your receipt unless it's at a store where you sign a contract, like Sam's Club or Costco.

@ZekeSulastin: Yeah, most of the posts about receipt checking are like GOOD JOB FOR STANDING UP AGAINST THIS HORRIBLE PRACTICE, GUYS!

Kind of funny :)

@Xero_Azmea: Let's take all the Police off the street then, and see how you fare.

Just because you don't SEE them helping you, doesn't mean they don't.

I don't like bashing cops, only the ones that think they're above the law.

@Ben_Q2: therein lies the problem.