Assaulted by Tesco store security

unholyangel

But you're forgetting, he said the guy placed his hand on his shoulder. Not that he grabbed his shoulder. And from the sounds of the response he received (although I'll admit i'm assuming this part as he hasnt given further details), he overreacted and possibly became aggressive himself.

If you responded violently to non-violent or non-aggressive behaviour, you'd likely find that you would end up on assault charges.

Providing someone isnt touching me inappropriately (ie sexually or violently) then sorry but no, I dont see anything wrong with that. People are by far becoming too PC with regards to a lot of things, this being one of them. I find it interesting that you claim to be old fashioned yet - in my experience - it is the younger generation who object to things such as this and the older generations wouldn't think twice about it. In fact you'll find a lot of older people tend to not take action even when they should. My great uncle (he's 80) for example was run over by a taxi driver. He didnt want to press charges, he didnt want to cash in on it etc. He refused and instead just asked the attending policeman to have a word with the driver and ask them to be more careful.

The irony being that i would class my own views (of not bothering provided there was no violence/harm in their actions) as old fashioned as I have adopted these views from my elders.

pendulum

Placing a hand on the shoulder of someone might be ok in a warm social situation or to let them know good news ("here's your wallet back mate!"), but you don't do it to someone who you simply "felt was acting suspiciously" in order to stop and question them, you have no right. They have every right to tell you to get your hands off them and not be too pleased about being touched, especially if they were deliberately ignoring you in the first place (again, if they have done nothing wrong, they have every right to ignore you).

Imagine walking down the High Street, you walk past someone trying to sell you something, and they catch up with you and put their hands on your shoulder... do you really think that's OK? I'd be pretty impolite if that happened I can tell you.

lateandlive

The blindingly obvious point that people are missing here, however 'generic' the reply was, is that the person who placed his hand on you was a Police Officer. Therefore the rights of the individual as a Tesco employee become secondary.

As a Police Officer, he had a suspicion a theft may have occurred and ASKED you if you'd mind being searched - which many cops probably wouldn't have bothered doing. I assume you co-operated as you said no more about it. Lets not confuse the position of security guards (the OP) with that of the Police.

It's also a tad cynical (and somewhat libellous) that you imply Tesco are giving the Police backhanders to work in their store. A few years back there was a scheme in the company I worked for where staff could volunteer as a Special Constable and be seconded to a specific shopping area for their duties each month. The company would pay them their normal wage for those duty hours under the pretence that the staff member would be a visible (or undercover) presence against theft in the community. To be honest, it worked really well and our loss control figures plummeted.

mttylad

arcon5 wrote: »

Also, you must have a very small mind to have to deal with a situation whereby something touches you on the shoulder with violence!

Someone obviously did not read all that I had said.

If someone touches me to get my attention, that is wholly different to grabbing me.

Pytor_Michaeloff

I have been abroad for some time and have only just become aware of the replies.

To MoneySavingConvert - 1 The manager wasn't on duty as a police officer at the time he placed his hand on my shoulder. You have confused the powers of a special when off-duty with those when he was on duty, and I rather fear many specials do the same. 2 If Tesco look favourably on employment applications from special constables they are encouraging peoole to become and remain specials and therefore in a sense supporting the police financially. I wouldn't call that a backhander but it may create a conflict of interest. 3 Tesco are retained by Carter Ruck and know who I am so I think carefully before I write.


To those who have written about the purpose of the hand on the shoulder it should be quite clear that in (text removed by MSE Forum Team) view as the manager considered I had ignored a request to stop he already had my attention and so the manager was trying forcibly to stop me. To be fair in the manager's original statement which I now have he says he put his hand on my shoulder to attract my attention and doesn't say I refused to stop. So the point is not what may or may not have happened in this case but that someone in Tesco CEO's office appears to think and say that it is in order to use force to restrain customers on mere suspicion. I thought that was illegal.

I don't consider I reacted in any adverse fashion at all but even if I had it would be quite understandable and it should still be Tesco apologising to me. I find the attitude evinced by (text removed by MSE Forum Team) extraordinary, I'd imagine that this are quite common within the company and I if so wonder whether it is having and/or will have an adverse effect on Tesco's market share and share price.

happyinflorida

Stop shopping in Tesco's - they have stopped providing customers with good customer service and the best way to get back at them is hitting them back hardest with your pocket! They only care about making profit. Either go a bit further to another shop or try shopping online with another shop.

I hate this store with a vengence after I was badly treated by their staff.