Welcome to the modern surveillance state. Everywhere you go, there are countless hidden devices that could be spying on you, ready to splash your image and actions in front of millions for public ridicule. We mean smartphones, of course. One New York City-area FedEx driver learned this the hard way when a motorist filmed her hurling packages into a truck, and she lost her job. [More]
security guards
Mall Security Guard Fired Over Parking Lot Wrestling Match With Photo-Snapping Shopper
By 5.22.13
Earlier this month, a truck rolled over into a ravine next to the Ohio Valley Mall in Clairsville, OH. Of course, the sight of a huge truck resting in the ravine drew some onlookers from the mall parking lot, many of whom tried to take photos. It also drew one security guard who has lost her job after being involved in a physical altercation with one of these onlookers. [More]
JFK Security Workers Threaten To Strike If They Don’t Get Better Winter Coats, Other Equipment
By 12.14.12
When you’re standing outside on a windy, wintry tarmac, having the right equipment is pretty much essential, and that includes outerwear. A group of security guards at John F. Kennedy International Airport have voted to go on strike starting Dec. 20 if their employers don’t take action to improve their training and equipment, which includes proper winter coats. [More]
Black Friday Creep: A Security Guard’s Perspective
By 11.20.12
It’s hard to hear the word “doorbuster” without remembering the death four years ago of Jdimytai Damour, the 34-year-old temporary crowd control worker stationed at the door of a Long Island Walmart who was trampled to death when the crowd ripped the door off the hinges, clamoring for the best deals on flatscreen TVs as the global economy collapsed. [More]
A Nightclub Security Guard Tased Me — What Should I Do?
By 11.2.10
C, who is in the military, says a Taser-happy security guard hunted him down in the parking lot of a North Carolina nightclub, giving him a 50,000 volt “move along” message, and now he’s weighing his options as to how to proceed. [More]
Mall Security And Suspected Shoplifters Engage In Car Chase
By 8.31.10
Earlier this month, two mall security guards in Montville, NJ, gave chase to a carful of suspected Victoria’s Secret shoplifters for six miles. Both vehicles eventually stopped at a liquor store parking lot two towns over, where a real policeman–who at first thought the guards were legit undercover cops–stepped in and started issuing tickets. [More]
Sprint Employees Fired For Capturing Apple Store Shoplifter
By 4.28.10
Two employees at the Sprint outlet at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, where that iPad customer had his pinkie ripped off by a criminal earlier this month, were fired for chasing down and holding a different shoplifter one day later. [More]
Watch Out, The J.C. Penney Security Guard Has A Gun!
By 3.30.10
If security guards start carrying guns at department stores, I’m going to stop referring to them as rent-a-cops. Not because they’ve suddenly jumped up on my respect-o-meter, but because they might open fire. At a mall in Virginia last Sunday, a J.C. Penney security guard pursued a shoplifter into the mall parking lot and fired a gun into the air. The shoplifter was arrested, and the police confiscated the guard’s gun. The store won’t say whether it was owned by the guard or issued by management. [More]
Greyhound Kicks Passenger Out Of Bus Station For Complaining To Reporter
By 2.3.10
A Greyhound security guard threatened a stranded passenger in Memphis that if she spoke with a reporter from the local news, he’d kick her out of the bus station. The reporter was there to look at why a group of passengers had been left stranded for 2 to 4 days without any communication from Greyhound, and without any sort of meal or lodging help. [More]
Giant Supermarket Wants To See Your Receipt After You Get In Your Car
By 12.23.09
Big box retailers checking receipts is old news. How about getting the suspected shoplifter treatment at a supermarket instead? Even better, how would you like having a security guard knock on your car window, and tell you that you’re on private property when you tell him you don’t have to show anything? [More]
Walmart Fires Security Guard For Chasing After Shoplifter Like He's In A Cop Movie
By 10.21.09
A Florida Walmart has fired one of their security officers for giving chase to a knife-wielding shoplifter who took off running across the store’s parking lot. Josh Rutner told the Star-Banner, “I couldn’t let him get away. That’s wrong.” That second sentence may be true, but security guard != officer of the law.
Gym Member Catches Thief In The Act; Gym Staff Too Lazy To Help
By 7.8.09
We’re pretty impressed that this member of the Washington Sports Clubs at the DC USA Mall helped catch a thief. We’re a little stunned, however, that the staff at the gym let the guy enter in the first place without making sure he had a membership, or that they did nothing to stop him as he ran out with someone behind him yelling, “Stop! Thief!” Thankfully an off-duty cop pursued and apprehended the guy, and the member got back his wallet. But what’s the point of a gym membership and a staff if you’re completely on your own once you get there?
Tampa Bay Handcuffs And Ejects You For Rooting For The Opposing Football Team
By 12.29.08 — Updated: 3.18.13
Steve flew down to Tampa to watch his Raiders play the Buccaneers. After cheering for the away team, he was handcuffed, detained, frisked, and ejected with no explanation. He’d like one.
Target Fires Security Guard For Stopping Shoplifter
By 4.4.08
Usually our shoplifter stories focus on being detained illegally or held at knifepoint by a rabid senior greeter who demands receipts*, but Target in Milwaukee toes the line when it comes to dealing with suspected theft. That’s why they fired a retired cop (warning: video) who stopped a teenager he saw stealing liquor for the second time in a month. He told her he’d seen her take rum a few weeks before and asked her what was in her bag this time. She showed him. He called her father. Target fired him because the store policy is that only certain managers can intercept shoplifters. We admire his attention to detail and desire to help, but we’re glad to see a Big Box retailer following its own policy.
Walmart Tries To Steal Shopper's Baby
By 9.11.07
A Walmart security guard demanded a woman hand over her baby at checkout, thinking it might have been a baby that was reported missing in the store, according to a Myspace post by the mother, Stacy Arrington of Parkville, MD (pictured):
