What are your legal rights when it comes to searching your belongings?

Question

the other night a friend and I were in Walmart at about 2AM killing time waiting for our friendto get off work. As we wre leaving the night manager yelled at us from across the parking lot to come back towards the enterance. I handed my bag to my friend because it had the car keys in it and told her to get in the car while I figured out what the lady wanted. I walked over to the lady and she told me to give her my bag. I asked her why, since no alarms had gone off, i don't shoplift. She screamed for security, at which point I finally I said , fine here you go, showed her what was in my bag and did not let her go through the items and she started yelling that my friend had dumped things out of it into the car when she took the bag with her to get my keys out of it. At which point another employee ran up to the car and started staring in all the windows.I want to know, what are my rights in a situation like that. Can a store demand to go through your things with virtualy no reason?

she grabbed at the bag. No, i didn't take anything, I am a sales professional, as such I make a good deal of money for being 20, so I really have no reason to steal, especially not from Walmart. All she said ws that we had been in the store over an hour and that my bag had gotten bigger while we were in there. Of course it had. I put my sweater in it. And I told her such. But that was her only evidence against us.

Answer 1

It depends on where you are from, but generally speaking, no -- they can't look through your belongings. I worked for over a year as a Loss Prevention associate in a retail store, and between the local jurisdiction and store policy, I was only able to stop/accuse someone of shoplifting when I had definitive evidence that they had stolen something. And when I did stop someone, I was not allowed to search their belongings (even after I knew for sure they had stolen something). If they did not present the merchandise voluntarily, I had to wait until the cops came to conduct the search.

I can't speak for Walmart's policies or the laws governing shoplifting in your area, but generally speaking, major retailers typically allow only trained and certified employees to stop people for shoplifting. Did she touch you (physically restrain you)? I'm guessing you walked away from the situation -- but depending on the specifics, you might actually have a case for slander/defamation of character, or perhaps more if she did touch you.

If they had called the police, the cops would have laughed at them for a lack of evidence, and then let you go on your way. So if you KNOW you didn't steal anything, they cannot detain you or search your belongings, and you have every right to just leave.

Answer 2

When a store manager or security person requests that you let them check your bags, you must do it.

They have every right to.

I don't believe your story either, I think you copped something.