Razor blades, a backpack and a seven-year-old
You are the sole property guard on duty at a Hamilton supermarket on a Saturday afternoon. At 14:12 the deli manager tells you a man in his thirties has been putting items into a backpack. From the camera above aisle 6 you watch him place three packs of razor blades (ticketed at $78) and two blocks of cheese into the bag. At 14:19 he walks past the self-checkouts without paying, past the service desk, and out through the automatic doors towards the car park. A child of about seven is holding his hand. Your colleague, newly badged, says, 'Let's grab him before he gets to the car.' Store policy says guards may not pursue beyond the car park boundary and may not search anyone. The duty store manager has authorised you in writing to act as the occupier's agent for trespass purposes. The car park has CCTV covering the exit lanes but not the far corner.
1. At the moment the man passes the last point of sale and heads for the doors, what may you lawfully do, and what must you not do? Explain the reasoning, including whether you can arrest him.
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The theft is complete, but that does not create a power.
- No citizen's arrest. Section 35 of the Crimes Act 1961 allows anyone to arrest without warrant only where the offence is punishable by three years' imprisonment or more, or is a breach of the peace. Theft of goods worth about $100 carries a maximum of three months. You cannot arrest him, and if you grab or hold him you risk a claim (and a complaint) for assault and false imprisonment.
- No search. You have no power to search his bag or his person. Anything that looks like consent from someone accused of theft is unlikely to be genuine consent, and a search would also be an assault.
- What you can do: approach calmly and at an angle, identify yourself by name and role, and ask him to return the goods. He does not have to answer questions or give his name.
- Trespass. As the occupier's written agent you can warn him to leave and not return for a stated period. Say the words clearly, in front of a witness if possible, and record the exact wording, time and place.
- If he refuses to leave after the warning he commits an offence under the Trespass Act 1980 \u2014 but it is not punishable by three years, so still no citizen's arrest. Ring police and keep observing from a safe distance.
- Hard limits given the child: no chase past the car park, no grabbing, no standing behind or in front of a moving vehicle. A seven-year-old in a car park turns a $100 theft into a serious injury risk in about two seconds.
2. He ignores you, puts the child in the car and drives off. What must go in your notebook, how do you manage the CCTV, and why does the child's presence change the report?
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Notebook (same shift, no tidying later):
- Date and 24-hour times for each event (first observation 14:12, exit 14:19, departure 14:21).
- Your name, COA number, site and shift.
- Source of information \u2014 what you saw yourself vs what the deli manager told you. Keep the two separate.
- Description: sex, approximate age, height, build, hair, facial hair, clothing top to bottom, footwear, tattoos or scars, accent, gait.
- Vehicle: registration if seen, make, model, colour, damage, direction of travel.
- Goods and values confirmed against the shelf ticket.
- What you said, what he said, and the names of witnesses.
- Sign, date and time; initial any correction rather than rewriting.
CCTV: request preservation in writing to the duty manager before you finish, note camera IDs and the time range, note the offset between the camera clock and real time, and log who exports it. Do not post, copy to your phone, or share it.
The child matters because force, pursuit or a confrontation in front of, or near, a child raises the harm dramatically and changes how a court or reviewer will see any force you used. Record the child's presence factually and neutrally (approximate age, that they were holding his hand, that they got into the vehicle) and flag a welfare concern rather than speculating about the child's home life.
3. Two days later he returns with a friend who films you and swears at you. Your colleague wants both banned for life and wants the earlier CCTV still posted on the store's staff Facebook group to 'warn the others'. Assess both ideas.
Read the worked answer
Lifetime ban: a trespass warning has to be given by someone with authority, be clear about the area and the period, and be for a proper purpose (protecting the site), not punishment. An indefinite ban is hard to defend and hard to enforce; a defined period with a written notice, a copy kept, and a route to review is far more defensible. Also check that the reason is the conduct, not the person \u2014 the Human Rights Act 1998 discrimination grounds apply to the service you provide.
Posting the CCTV still: do not.
- Privacy Act 2020: the footage was collected for loss prevention and safety. Publishing it is a secondary use and a disclosure that IPP 1, 10 and 11 are unlikely to permit. The person is identifiable.
- Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015: a digital communication posted to distress someone can be a complaint and, at the serious end, an offence.
- Defamation risk to the store, and to you personally.
- Evidence: the moment it is on social media it is contaminated, and any police prosecution or civil recovery becomes harder.
What to do instead: preserve the footage under a hold, report the theft to police (105 unless he is on site now, in which case 111), log the filming neutrally \u2014 being filmed in a public area of a shop is not itself unlawful \u2014 do not perform for the camera, keep de-escalating, and if he is trespassed, ask him to leave and call police if he refuses.