Nix wins.
jaysouth, they're getting the full weight of the authority that the uniform represents for that twenty or thirty bucks an hour, too. It's got to be one of the best deals available to a business owner. I haven't performed any surveys to find out whether or not the taxpayers who built that Department agree that the city's PD uniform should be worn by officers who are not, at that moment, working for the whole city. Should officers be able to moonlight? Absolutely; no question. Should municipalities shop their police uniforms to the highest bidders? That's up to them.
Stores have property rights. Stores have the right and the obligation to stop shoplifting. That's all fine and dandy. Do those things make heavy-handed rudeness a good idea?
The question is this: what employee behaviors and what treatment of customers are good business?
Let's assume that a beeper goes off as I leave a store. Where have I been? Let's see: at the register, paying for the merchandise that I presented to the cashier. On camera. Before that, I was in the store, gathering merchandise. I intended to pay for it, so I didn't hide what I was doing. Presumably on camera. I assume that I've possibly been on camera since I entered the store. Stores can record the people who come into their premises; how should they behave if they want to stay in business and thrive?
As a customer, I've taken the time to go into their store. I've taken the time to pay for the merchandise that I've chosen. It helps that a lot of cashiers recognize me as a regular customer. When beepers do go off as I leave a store, I usually turn, smile, say, "Fix your equipment" and keep walking. I haven't been mistreated for it.
Store employees, when I worked in retail, were expected to keep an eye on customers. They're there to sell merchandise, either face to face or as an effect of their actual work tasks. That's why they have jobs. Since it's so much fun to pick on Wal-Mart, I'll use them as an example. At the Wal-Mart in Winona, Minnesota, I don't always see a store employee close by when I'm looking for something. I've generally been able to walk over and find one. When I do, they've invariably been eager not just to give directions but to take me to the products I wanted. My experiences with the employees at that Wal-Mart have been excellent. No, I've never been a Wal-Mart employee.
When I ran a shoe store, years ago, my assistant manager once walked out of the store, followed a shoplifter who was carrying stolen merchandise down the sidewalk and actually took the shoplifter by the arm and voiced his accusation as said criminal was entering another store. My response?
"What were you Thinking??? Don't you Ever do anything like that again; I'm not calling your Mom to tell her why you got stabbed 23 times."
Being legal doesn't make it a good idea.
I've worked at a store in a large electronics chain; they prevented shoplifting and sold a lot to each customer by sticking close by and (to my mind) grilling them about everything they might possibly want. The philosophy seemed to be, "Hey, we've got a huge amount of great stuff, and if we don't ask, we won't be able to help these folks to find what they want." A second effect of this style was that it "crowded" some potential shoplifters and kept them feeling uncomfortable so that they'd seek greener pastures elsewhere. Again, this is my own personal interpretation; I do not and cannot speak for the corporation.
I worked at a grocery store where even the big, burly introverts stocking shelves at night (me included) would make a point of at least acknowledging every customer they encountered: sometimes it was a simple "Hello" and a smile; other times, it could seem like, "Oh, I see that you have cat food in your cart (lift, puff, sweat--) how many cats do you have?"
"Oh, four? (lift, puff, sweat--) what are their names?" Depended on how the customer wanted to be treated and the signals they sent. Store employees there pay attention to their customers, and the customers keep coming back.
There was not much talk at that store of customers as potential shoplifters. They know that shoplifters exist, but they don't glare at the customers who keep the doors open (and the employees employed) as if to imply that they're suspects. They make evident their knowledge that most customers are not shoplifters. That store prides itself on how well they treat customers, and I believe that they earn that pride. They don't get stolen blind, either.
If you want to run a retail store, then deploy your people in ways that make it easier (not harder) and more pleasant (not less pleasant) for customers to come to your store and bring you money. Don't ignore your customers while they're shopping and then pounce on them as they leave. If you're a customer where they do so, then don't escalate, get out of the situation with a minimum of fuss, and tell everybody about it.
When you're a customer and you're treated poorly, tell people about it. When you get good service, tell people about that, too.
