The Flatbed at the Contractor Exit
At 02:40 you are the unarmed officer covering the front vestibule of a 24-hour home improvement store (180,000 sq ft, two officers on duty). From the vestibule you see two men push a flatbed cart loaded with four unboxed power-tool combo kits - retail value about $2,300 - through the contractor exit toward a pickup truck backed into the loading zone, engine running, headlights off, plate partly covered in mud. Neither man stopped at a register; the cashier confirms it. Store post orders: observe and report, no physical contact with suspected shoplifters, no pursuit beyond 100 feet from the exterior doors. Your partner is working the far side of the building, roughly a four-minute walk away. Radio works; cell signal in the loading zone is one bar. There is no off-duty police officer on site, and the store's written policy says officers are not to block or stand in front of vehicles.
1. Rank your actions for the next 90 seconds and justify the order.
Read the worked answer
Priority is life safety, then evidence, then property. In order: (1) key the radio and give a short broadcast - contractor exit, east side, two males, four power-tool kits, pickup description, partial plate - so your partner and the manager hear it live; (2) call 911 yourself instead of waiting for a manager, because the loading zone has one bar of signal and the truck will be gone in under a minute; (3) stay at the threshold, not in the lot, since post orders cap you at 100 feet and a moving pickup is a lethal hazard; (4) write down the time, the four kits, the plate fragment and the direction of travel while the details are fresh. Do not chase, do not stand in front of or behind the truck, and do not attempt a citizen's arrest over $2,300 when your only force multiplier is a radio. Losing the property is cheap next to an officer under a truck.
2. The passenger turns, drops the cart and walks toward you fast, shouting, at about 15 feet. What are your options and limits as an unarmed officer under the store's post orders?
Read the worked answer
At 15 feet a person closes in roughly two seconds, so the decision window is one step, not a conversation. As an unarmed officer barred from physical contact with suspected shoplifters, your defaults are: create distance, keep the cart or a bollard between you, keep hands free with the radio in one, and give calm, clear commands ('Stop there. I'm not going to touch you. Police are on the way.'). You may not strike, tackle, spray or use a baton. If he closes and you cannot retreat, you may use the minimum defensive force any person may use against imminent harm - blocking, redirecting, breaking away - and you disengage at the first opening. The legal test is not 'can I win' but 'was the force necessary and proportional.' Chasing him back into the lot to restart the confrontation turns a property crime into a fight you are not equipped, trained or authorized to have.
3. What must the incident report and the 911 call contain, and what two things must stay out of the report?
Read the worked answer
Include: the time of first observation and of the 911 call; a fixed location reference (contractor exit, bay 7); number of people with head-to-toe descriptions, direction of travel, and vehicle make, model, color and plate fragment; item count, description and value; what the cashier said and when; the engine-running and lights-off detail that shows intent; witnesses and your partner's name; actions you took and did not take; and the manager notification. Keep out two things: conclusions you did not observe ('they stole it,' 'he was high,' gang or immigration speculation) and any guess dressed as fact - write 'plate appears to begin JX4' rather than a full number you never read. A fabricated character destroys the credibility of the whole report in a hearing, and speculation about drugs or status turns your statement into evidence against the store.