<p>I dont know about you, but I personally do not remember the last time I was tackled, hand-cuffed, and held to the ground while exiting a Wal-Mart or any other store. Perhaps the shoplifting and refusing to cooperate with authorities in the store after the man was caught were somewhat related to the subsequent tragic events that obviously got way out of hand, with employees making a number of terrible decisions.</p>
<p>No one here or elsewhere has opined that shoplifting should be punished with the death penalty, and it is highly unlikely that any of the employees had that intent. Somehow I doubt that the Wal-Mart Manual for Man-Handling Suspected Shoplifters recommends holding a man to the hot pavement until he dies and then stalling before calling for paramedics. Most of us expect the mans family to sue and to hope for a large settlement. </p>
<p>I will continue to occasionally and fearlessly shop at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and other evil stores (i.e. those that offer large selection at competitive prices), but I will try to avoid the behaviors that apparently triggered this event. For those who have used this as an opportunity to rail against Wal-Mart, I have a few questions:</p>
<p>Should any store have the right, at least under some conditions (e.g. an employee witnesses shoplifting), to inspect your bags before you exit?</p>
<p>Should a store be permitted only to ask a suspected shoplifter to admit that he/she stole items and then to please return them? </p>
<p>If a suspected shoplifter denies that he/she has stolen anything, should he/she simply be released and the police called? (i.e. bags not searched)</p>
<p>Should police be required to investigate every suspected shoplifting incident?</p>
<p>How much would it cost (in terms of time and money) for the police to investigate a single shoplifting incident? Who should pay for this investigation (the store or the community)?</p>
<p>Should stores just be required to write-off all shoplifting losses for all but completely cooperative suspects?</p>
<p>Should this last rule only apply to evil stores, such as Wal-Mart?</p>
<p>How much would a store lose if it simply used the honor system for prosecuting shoplifters? </p>
<p>Should stores be required to hire in-house uniformed police officers and detectives to investigate all shoplifting incidents? Should the police officers be armed? Should they have handcuffs?</p>
<p>Would you want to have a job as a security guard in any store, mall, etc., where you do not have a gun but you must deal with potentially combative shoplifters? Do you think under these conditions, especially as you were dealing with a particularly combative person, that you might ever make a judgment error?</p>
<p>In my opinion, this story is tragic not only for the alleged shoplifter who died, but also for the others who were involved. Do you really think any of them wanted to kill this man? Now they have to deal with not only their own consciences regarding the mans death, but some may also face very serious criminal charges. </p>
<p>Perhaps the families of the involved workers should sue the family of the suspected shoplifter for initiating this event (although according to Mr. B, the real reason for the tragedy is apparently that the store is not unionized and that it does not have clearly labeled Exit signs, unless I misunderstood his logic).</p>