Abduction In A Walmart Store
Seems impossible that the manager of a Walmart store and her security team could hold two fourteen year old girls incommunicado because of suspected theft, but that's exactly what occurred when Sydney Robinson, 14, and a friend of the same age were shopping at the Barrhaven Market Place. Security personnel claim they had their eyes on the two girls and observed them to have lifted - a package of chewing gum.
Sydney Robinson claimed (and her mother confirmed) that the chewing gum had been in her Christmas stocking. It was, in fact, half-empty. But she and her friend were apprehended, taken into custody by the zealous Walmart security staff for a full six hours, while awaiting the arrival of Ottawa police.
Who, when contacted, warned that it might be hours before they would be able to arrive. When they did, after a six-hour interval, they listened to the girls and then the Walmart staff, and departed. The parents of Sydney Robinson, both federal civil servants informed the Ottawa Citizen that the girls were treated like criminals.
The parents stayed at the store, having failed to persuade the store's security to release the girls to them. Scott Robinson, Sydney's father, pledged to return the girls the following day when police would presumably be less busy, but the offer was refused.
The girls were kept in a small room at the back of the store, with two security guards keeping them under close scrutiny from 4 in the afternoon to 10 in the evening. Interrogating the girls, refusing to believe Sydney's version that the half-used packet of chewing gum had been in her pocket, dropped to the floor and she had retrieved it.
The security guards insisted they had watched her stealing the gum. They claimed she would be placed in jail if she didn't admit to having stolen the item. Worth all of one dollar. For the four hours they were kept in that little back room they were given nothing to eat or to drink, although a Walmart spokesperson said the parents "had the option" of purchasing food from the store restaurant for them.
Diane Robinson, Sydney's mother, attempted to speak to the store manager, was shunted off to the assistant manager, who was also unavailable. "I was left dealing with these silly security guards who basically ignored me the whole time and refused to have any kind of compassion for the situation." She described her daughter as being shocked and fearful, and little wonder.
When the police officer who questioned the girls left, they were released. A spokesman for the store's Toronto head office described shoplifting as a serious issue, that "we also have a protocol that is designed to be sensitive and firm". They did allow, however that the issue warranted a review of what had occurred "...to ensure that we are indeed providing the sensitivity necessary".
It seems incredible that Sherry Clouthier, the Walmart store manager, would permit such a travesty to occur. These girls were as good as abducted, held helpless victims to a store vendetta against shoplifting. As though presumably 'catching' two young girls in the commission of a $1 crime justified treating them as adult malefactors found in the commission of a major crime, lifting hundreds of dollars-worth of goods.
It's puzzling, actually, why the parents of the girls did not explore the possibility with the police officer who responded, of charging the store and its personnel with the illegal detaining of two minors. If it isn't illegal, because it occurred on private property, it is most certainly egregiously wrong. It is also horrendously insulting to the parents as well as the girls that they would be deemed criminals.
Good reason to boycott the store. Something the Robinsons should proceed with, encouraging friends, relatives, co-workers to express society's disapproval over such nasty and unethical tactics.
Sydney Robinson claimed (and her mother confirmed) that the chewing gum had been in her Christmas stocking. It was, in fact, half-empty. But she and her friend were apprehended, taken into custody by the zealous Walmart security staff for a full six hours, while awaiting the arrival of Ottawa police.
Who, when contacted, warned that it might be hours before they would be able to arrive. When they did, after a six-hour interval, they listened to the girls and then the Walmart staff, and departed. The parents of Sydney Robinson, both federal civil servants informed the Ottawa Citizen that the girls were treated like criminals.
The parents stayed at the store, having failed to persuade the store's security to release the girls to them. Scott Robinson, Sydney's father, pledged to return the girls the following day when police would presumably be less busy, but the offer was refused.
The girls were kept in a small room at the back of the store, with two security guards keeping them under close scrutiny from 4 in the afternoon to 10 in the evening. Interrogating the girls, refusing to believe Sydney's version that the half-used packet of chewing gum had been in her pocket, dropped to the floor and she had retrieved it.
The security guards insisted they had watched her stealing the gum. They claimed she would be placed in jail if she didn't admit to having stolen the item. Worth all of one dollar. For the four hours they were kept in that little back room they were given nothing to eat or to drink, although a Walmart spokesperson said the parents "had the option" of purchasing food from the store restaurant for them.
Diane Robinson, Sydney's mother, attempted to speak to the store manager, was shunted off to the assistant manager, who was also unavailable. "I was left dealing with these silly security guards who basically ignored me the whole time and refused to have any kind of compassion for the situation." She described her daughter as being shocked and fearful, and little wonder.
When the police officer who questioned the girls left, they were released. A spokesman for the store's Toronto head office described shoplifting as a serious issue, that "we also have a protocol that is designed to be sensitive and firm". They did allow, however that the issue warranted a review of what had occurred "...to ensure that we are indeed providing the sensitivity necessary".
It seems incredible that Sherry Clouthier, the Walmart store manager, would permit such a travesty to occur. These girls were as good as abducted, held helpless victims to a store vendetta against shoplifting. As though presumably 'catching' two young girls in the commission of a $1 crime justified treating them as adult malefactors found in the commission of a major crime, lifting hundreds of dollars-worth of goods.
It's puzzling, actually, why the parents of the girls did not explore the possibility with the police officer who responded, of charging the store and its personnel with the illegal detaining of two minors. If it isn't illegal, because it occurred on private property, it is most certainly egregiously wrong. It is also horrendously insulting to the parents as well as the girls that they would be deemed criminals.
Good reason to boycott the store. Something the Robinsons should proceed with, encouraging friends, relatives, co-workers to express society's disapproval over such nasty and unethical tactics.
Labels: Human Relations, Realities
posted by Pieface @ 6:22 PM
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