kingjj:
It's this perception that you feel like your being treated as a suspect that I would like to understand more. On one side of the coin your an honest customer whose never had more than a parking ticket against you and you feel aggrieved that you are being treated as a potential thief, on the other side of the coin there is no "mold" that thieves fit into, anybody is capable of stealing and everybody* does it (*not literally, but its done by all walks of life). Is there anyway in your opinion that bag searches could be done where you would not feel judged? (I would be interested in any ideas to try out), or would you rather there were no bag checks but one had to leave their bag at the door? (unless stated retailers have no responsibility for any goods left unattended so this is not always practicable).
Yes I don't like being treated as a potential thief. Nothing is going to change that, I perfectly understand that theives do not fit a particular mould - but that is not my problem. It seems to me that the bag check isn't even going to stop a good thief anyway, if all you do is inspect and not search, there's nothing stopping you putting the stolen goods in the bottom of a bag underneath other things, and out of sight.
In my opinion you should be only bag checking if you actually suspect shoplifting. Perhaps from store detectives or CCTV footage...
As for CCTV, as a ball park example some private systems (in retailers) can have retention for up to 6 months on anywhere from 30-100 cameras, many of which may be PTZ's which are more than capable of reading the time on your watch or a text message on a phone. They can zoom right in to see every pimple and blemish and generally catch every nose pick or PDA. Does this feel less like an invasion of privacy or is this still better than a bag search?
CCTV in private property doesn't bother me so long as there are signs up notifying you of the cameras, and so long as the cameras are not in areas where you expect a certain amount of privacy (changing rooms, bathrooms etc). If you know you are being watched then you can behave appropriately and not pick your nose :)
Trusted
