09-06-2007, 01:09 AM
Quote:Red herring. Metal detectors are put in place to detect metal objects. Most commonly available weapons, including knives and guns, are made primarily of metal. Thus, a metal detector's main purpose is to detect weapons, thus ensuring our safety.
You put magnetic security tags on merchandise, which may or may not be removed upon checkout. Then all customers go through the machine on their way out. Is it not also a loss prevention search? The person could own something that would trip the device, possibly including something they just legally purchased. It is probably less intrusive and more effective, but legally I do not see any distinction whatsoever. Like you said, people don't put their own posessions into a store bag other than what they just bought. What they just bought is already known to the store, so what privacy rights should they against the store double-checking?
If someone walks into a store with a backpack on, they are generally asked to remove it. Is that unlawful seizure of property? Are store employees, who are not acting agents of the government, even bound by the fourth amendment? It seems like this may be more of a common law issue regarding property ownership and the way business is conducted.
Forgetting about whether something is in a bag or not, let's say a person carries a TV to the exit of a store. Is it within the rights of a store employee to walk up to the person and ask them to show a receipt, or can a person walk out of a store with a TV any time they feel like it under the presumption that it was purchased? You know as well as I do that people are bold enough to do it and get away with it depending on the store layout.