The Back-Room Statement
You are a licensed private investigator retained by a retail chain after six months of inventory shrinkage totalling $4,800 at one store. The loss-prevention manager identifies a 22-year-old stockroom employee as the likely culprit and asks you to 'get a confession before the police are involved.' You interview the employee in a 3 m by 3 m stockroom. The door is closed but not locked; you sit between the employee and the door. After 25 minutes, the employee says, 'I want to go home - I'm not answering any more questions.' You reply, 'Sit down. You're not going anywhere until we sort this out.' The employee then signs a two-page handwritten statement admitting to taking $1,200 in merchandise. You did not caution the employee, did not offer a break, and did not tell them they could leave. The employee later says the statement was forced. The store manager wants to terminate the employee and give the statement to police.
1. Did you have legal authority to prevent the employee from leaving? Explain the limits on a private investigator's detention powers.
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No. A private investigator has no general power to detain. Under Criminal Code s. 494, a private person may arrest without warrant only in limited circumstances - for example, a person found committing an indictable offence, or a person the arresting party believes on reasonable grounds has committed an indictable offence and is escaping. Here, the employee was not found committing an offence; the interview was about past shrinkage. Blocking the only exit and saying 'you're not going anywhere' can amount to false imprisonment or forcible confinement and creates both civil and criminal risk. The employee had clearly asked to leave. Your authority is to ask questions and, if the person declines, end the interview. If a lawful arrest is made, it must be promptly turned over to police and any force used must be reasonable.
2. Assess the voluntariness and likely admissibility of the signed statement. What should you have done differently?
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The statement is highly vulnerable. Voluntariness is the key: a statement obtained by detention, threats, promises, or oppressive conduct may be excluded. You were not police, but private interviewers can be treated as persons in authority in some circumstances, and the common-law confessions rule and civil liability still matter. You did not caution, did not tell the employee they could leave, and physically blocked the exit after a request to leave. Those facts support an argument that the statement was involuntary. The signed paper is not a magic fix. In your report, record the exact words and the physical setup; do not argue that the statement is conclusively admissible. The client should get legal advice before using it. If police are contacted, give them the statement and your notes; do not destroy anything.
3. What should you do now with the statement, your notes, and the client's plan to terminate the employee and call police?
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Preserve everything: your notes, the handwritten statement, the interview timeline, and any CCTV. Write a factual supplementary report describing the employee's request to leave and your response. Do not re-interview the employee or try to 'fix' the statement. Advise the client that termination is an employment decision for the client, not yours, and that giving the statement to police is appropriate but must be done accurately - not as a substitute for a police investigation. Consider notifying your agency's compliance or legal contact. If you believe you may be accused of a crime, seek legal advice before giving a formal statement. Cooperate with police but do not overstate what happened.