Privately hired security guards are only empowered to apprehend suspects with minimal force in their jobs, an industry expert and a lawmaker have warned, after the expert said grabbing the neck of a customer mistaken for shoplifting was excessive in a case that has sparked public debate.
Yuen Sze-tung, former council member of the Hong Kong Buildings Management and Security Workers General Union, said that security guards would have to hand over suspects to police for further investigation.
“The point of apprehension is to hand them over to the police. There is no need to hold the person in a [neck] lock. Telling them not to leave, using language to achieve this goal would already do the job,” Yuen said on a radio show.
The security industry expert was speaking after police launched a probe into a report that two undercover security guards had grabbed a customer by the neck at pharmacy chain Mannings and hauled her back into the store after accusing her of shoplifting. Mannings issued a statement saying it had fired the security guards and axed its contract with the security firm that had supplied the guards.
Retail sector lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai told the Post earlier that the use of plain-clothes security guards was not common practice in the industry, but some chains wished to better protect their interests as many had self-service checkouts in which customers did not have to interact with a staff member before leaving. Police data showed there were 4,415 shoplifting cases between January and June this year, a 12 per cent increase in cases over the same period last year.
Under current rules, security guards need a licence to work in the city and must have knowledge of relevant laws around a civilian’s right to arrest, actions that constitute theft, and whether they can conduct searches and record video.
The Criminal Procedure Ordinance stipulates that any person “may arrest without warrant” anyone who they “may reasonably suspect of being guilty of an arrestable offence”. Yuen explained that the right of security guards to apprehend suspects was the same as other citizens, and that security guards must give warning before using the “lowest level of force” to apprehend a person. But he said while the law did not empower security guards to conduct searches, they could inspect a customer’s bag if the shopper cooperated with the request.
