The Storeroom Request
You are a certificate of approval (COA) holder working at a 600-capacity central Auckland bar hosting a ticketed 21st birthday. At 10:40 pm the duty manager tells you a patron is suspected of stealing a $65 bottle of spirits from behind the bar; CCTV shows a person in a red jacket near the service well. The manager says: 'Search everyone's bags at the door and put him in the storeroom until police arrive - he's not leaving.' You have two other controllers, no police on site, and police ETA is 25 minutes. The red-jacketed patron is 19, calm, says he has nothing, and refuses a bag search. The bar's posted entry conditions mention intoxication and dress code only, not searches. The manager is insistent and says the venue's liquor licence is at risk.
1. What lawful authority, if any, do you have to search the patron or his bag? Explain the legal position and what you would say to the duty manager.
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Do not search. A COA is a licence to work, not a grant of police powers. There is no general statutory power for a crowd controller to search a person or bag. A search is lawful only with informed consent or under a clear condition of entry displayed before entry, applied consistently and proportionately. Here the posted conditions cover intoxication and dress code only, so refusing a bag search cannot be treated as a breach. Physically searching anyway could be an assault and a privacy intrusion; the Privacy Act 2020 does not authorise it. Say to the manager: 'I can't search him without consent or a posted condition. I can keep him under observation, preserve the CCTV, ask him to wait voluntarily, and call police.' If the manager insists, repeat the legal limit and offer the lawful alternatives. If the patron consents, keep it limited to the bag, witnessed, and recorded. If he refuses, do not block him physically; note the refusal and the time.
2. Can you hold him in the storeroom until police arrive? Set out the legal threshold and your practical options.
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No. Holding him would be false imprisonment unless a lawful power applies. The citizen's arrest power in s36 of the Crimes Act 1961 requires a person found committing an offence punishable by three years' imprisonment or more, or a breach of the peace. Theft of a $65 bottle is under $500 and carries a maximum of three months, so the threshold is not met; he is calm, so there is no breach of the peace. The manager cannot authorise detention. You can ask him to wait voluntarily and make clear he is free to leave. If he stays, keep him in a public area, not a closed storeroom, and have a witness. If he leaves, do not chase or use force; record the time, description, direction, vehicle, and preserve CCTV. Call police and ask for an incident report number. Warn him for trespass only if the venue wants him off the premises, and use the Trespass Act 1980 process. A false imprisonment claim, and possible criminal liability, would fall on you and the venue.