http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/04/23/Shandverdict_040423.html
Summary
In the September of 1999, a 31 year old man. Patrick Shand, was accidentally suffocated and pinned to the ground outside a Loblaws store in Ontario. Staff members suspected him of shoplifting and followed him out of the store. During arrest, 2 staff members handcuffed him and pinned him to the ground. Even when performing CPR, the handcuffs were stiff on Patrick Shand and stayed on until the ambulance arrived. On March 25, 2003, the jury makes recommendations for the amending of The Private Investigators and Security Guards Act as it does not mention the use of weapons and force during arrests. On February 23, 2004, Shand’s family called into question the training of security guards of Loblaws and the province. The jury made 22 recommendations to improve and regulate the training regulations in Ontario.
Connections
This article connects with the textbook with the section of security policies. The arresting of Patrick Shand was not performed accordingly. The staff at Loblaws did not have the proper training and the store Loblaws insisted that their policy was not to use any force on suspects and the employees who engaged with Patrick Shand did not know the store’s policy on detaining suspects. The detaining of suspects is usually suppose to be carried out by a specially trained employee and only security personnel were to attempt to detain a shoplifter which the 2 staff members were not.
Reflection
This article made me wonder if this could happen to anyone. From what I thought after reading this article, there are some employees who are not properly trained and if they were to use force and make a false arrest, the store will likely to be involved with a potential lawsuit. I think people should follow what the jury recommended and amend The Private Investigators and Security Guards Act which will improve the security policies of the whole province. I also thought it was inhumane to handcuff someone who had already stopped breathing and cannot fight back. Security policies in stores must be careful thought out and should always make sure their employees have the proper training when dealing with shoplifting and theft.
