Shoplifting and Your Rights: What You Need to Know

Questioner

Dear readers, A week ago I walked into a well-known supermarket. I only needed 1 item so I took a month of shopping with me. I had a backpack with me. At the entrance/gates there is a sign stating that it is possible that a bag check may be held. I paid for my item neatly and put it in my backpack. As I walked towards the exit, a man (left) came out of the liquor store. After the liquor store there is a working alarm gate installed. We walked past the alarm gate together and the gate started to beep. The man walking next to me (the same man from the liquor store) stood in front of me and said: uh sir, the gate is going off. I am a security guard myself and told the man that he must be the security guard himself. He said no and to prove my innocence, I let him look in my bag (this man turns out to be an employee/manager of the supermarket). I opened my bag and let him know that I am aware of the laws and regulations regarding shoplifting. When he heard that, he did not look any further in the other compartments of my backpack. My question is: is this gentleman allowed to act in this way? I know what kind of joke he was playing. He walked with me through the alarm gate with an alarm label in his pocket/hand, in order to set off the gate. Because I also asked him to walk back a meter and he did not. If this gentleman had stood at the exit and politely asked me if he could look in my backpack, I would not have minded at all. But I was, as it were, made a fool of. Now, a week later, I am still bothered by it. I cannot stand injustice.

Lawyer

If that really goes as you suspect, that is not so nice of course, but what do you want to achieve? It is also impossible to prove afterwards.

Questioner

A few days later I went there again and it happened again. However, this happened to a different customer. I think/see this as taking the law into one's own hands. Where does it stop red-handed? Facts and circumstances? Or politely ask if you can look in your bag without being made a fool of. Has this all gone to: oh that man has a rotten head/color etc. etc. so we're going to set off the alarm gate so we can look in his bag. What do I want to achieve with this? A nice day of shopping for everyone who pays.