Just plain stupid is what this is-Target guard fired for confronting shoplifter

[tuolumnejim]

What ***king morons, this must be a "blue" company.

Link

Dean Babcock spent almost 30 years as a cop in Delavan, so he's seen the aftermath of drunken-driving accidents. Knows, too, how much trouble underage kids can get into and how much pain they can cause after getting their hands on a bottle of rum or tequila.

Plus, he's a dad.

He was also a so-called protection specialist (a fancy name for a security guard, he says) at the Target store in Lake Geneva until getting fired for doing what any concerned adult would do.

Stopping, he says, a 16-year-old girl from taking a bottle of booze.

"They fired me for stopping a 16-year-old girl from stealing alcohol," he said Sunday.

He doesn't care all that much about the job. At 54 years old, he has a decent pension and was making only $8.50 an hour.

He just can't believe what happened.

In early March, he says, he noticed a bottle of Captain Morgan rum was missing and, after checking a surveillance video, suspected a young girl of taking it.

On March 7, he says, she showed up again and took a $45 bottle of Patrón tequila.

"She's a 100-pound girl," Dean said. "She does three or four shots of that and that will do her in."

So he did the only thing he could do. He intervened. Showed her a picture he had of her taking the Captain Morgan, got her to take the tequila out of her bag and then called her dad.

He could have simply called the police. But by the time they got there, she could have been long gone. Plus, he says, he was trying to handle it "low-key" because he knew that, technically, he'd violated a Target policy.

Only certain Target personnel, he says, are supposed to stop shoplifters. Never mind that, he says, none of them were there that day.

Dean, it seems, was not supposed to inconvenience the young thief. He wasn't supposed to do the right thing. Lower-ranking Target employees are apparently not entrusted with doing the right thing. Not that he wasn't allowed to ask a question.

"Can I help you find something?" he said he was supposed to ask.

"We cannot," he said, "accuse a guest of stealing."

Even a 16-year-old guest with a big bottle of tequila.

Even if the father of the girl, he says, appreciated what he did. And even if everyone who fears sharing the road with a high-schooler drunk on tequila would like to mail Dean Babcock a giant thank-you note right now.

He didn't get a thank-you note. Instead, he got called into an office by a Target manager who heard what happened.

"You were not supposed to make the stop," he said he was told.

"I am not going to let a 16-year-old girl walk out of here with alcohol," he said he responded.

Most stores would give a man a raise about then. Four days later, he got a pink slip.

"I was fired," he said, "for violating the policy" regarding when guests can be stopped.

Kristin Grieser, an assistant store manager for Target in Lake Geneva, confirmed that Dean was terminated and said she could not really provide details about what happened.

"We take shoplifting very seriously," she said, "but we are also very cautious in making apprehensions."

You can guess what that means.

That little girl, Dean said, "could have taken a shopping cart full and nobody would have stopped her."

Would have just wished her a nice day, I guess. And, of course, asked her if she needed help finding anything else.

E-mail mnichols@journalsentinel.com

[Flame]

What stupid store policies.

Better to lose 1/2 the store, I guess, than get sued, in their minds.

Of course, if this girl had gotten drunk and killed someone, and it came back that she was stealing it from Target with their knowledge, it could have cause some giant law suits.

[DixieBelle]

STUPID STUPID STUPID. A good man lost his job over some idiotic policy. It's not the letter of the law Target, it's the spirit of the law in certain scenarios.

Grrrrrrr!!!!!

[Chris_]

It looks like potential shoplifters have a new "target."

[asdf2231]

This is among the many reasons that I hate Target.

Bastids haven't gotten a cent from me since they banned the Salvation Army bell ringers from their store fronts.

[DixieBelle]

^I'd forgotten about that. Unfortunately, our Target beats out the Walmart by a mile. Our Walmart requires a handgun and a working knowledge of Spanish. Sigh.

[Chris_]

When did Target start selling alcohol?

[Chris_]

Kristin Grieser, an assistant store manager for the Lake Geneva Target, confirmed Dean's termination, but said she could not give any details.

"We take shoplifting very seriously," she said, "but we are also very cautious in making apprehensions."

That is such a BS policy they have.  That girl was proven to be a repeat offender, yet they still fire him. 

All security personnel should be authorized to stop potential shoplifters. 

I try to avoid Target at all costs, for the same reason asdf stated: their BS policy towards Salvation Army.    Even though they are closer to where I live, I am willing to use the extra gas to go elsewhere.

[Georgia Bulldog]

There are quite a few stories I could tell concerning Target's policy. Essentially all we can do is just ask them, "Can I help you find something?" and hope that makes them too nervous to steal.

[jendf]

When did Target start selling alcohol?

The new stores have a grocery section. I like their wine. They look like little juice boxes. 

[Georgia Bulldog]

My store is one of the Super Targets. When I transferred stores I went from a regular one to the super one. My original store is claustrophobic by comparison.

[Ptarmigan]

Shoplifting is costly for stores. It's just plain stupid what Target did. I have lost respect for them.

[Randy]

It's the don't upset the customer at any cost mentality gone insane. I work at a place with a similar mindset. If you apprehend her shoplifting then she won't come back to shop, can't have that now can we?  After all she won't come in anymore so her family won't either and before you know it there'll be a half dozen people who won't shop there and will tell others not to. You could lose dozens of customers! Better to lose a $20 bottle of To-Kill-Ya once in awhile than alienate potential customers. 

PC is so ****ing stupid...

[Uhhuh35]

All security personnel should be authorized to stop potential shoplifters.

Security Guards have the "Ordinary Right of Citizen Arrest", which is outlined in the Constitution. But, they have no authority to detain ANYONE! They are PAID WITNESSES! Nothing more.
This guy was a 30 year veteran cop? Well then he should have known he has no police arrest authority. If he's lucky, the false arrest charges will be dropped also.

[rich_t]

It is my understanding that Walmart has the same sort of stupid policies.