Wal-Mart says it can ban shoplifters for life
Shoplifters can be banned from stores for life if the retailer is so inclined.
“We are a private business so we can ask people not to come back if they’ve been causing a problem,” said Wal-Mart loss prevention officer Gail Campbell. “And, being banned from one Wal-Mart means you’re banned from all of them. The company is very serious about this.”
Campbell’s comments come after District Attorney General Dale Potter said last week his office can only enforce bans of shoplifters for the length of time they are on probation and the enforcement can only come in the jurisdiction of the court which makes the ruling.
According to General Sessions Judge Larry Ross, the court can take action against people who violate a court ruling directing them to stay out of a store while they are on probation.
“We can find them in contempt or in violation of their probation,” Ross said.
While saying the court can enforce such bans during the probationary period, Ross said retailers do have recourse, even after a shoplifter has completed probation, if they re-enter a store against management’s wishes. The recourse is charging the violator with criminal trespass if they enter a store after being expressly forbidden by store management. Warrants taken by the retailers can be enforced then by a criminal court as an individual or business can keep a specified person away by posting property or, in the case of businesses, forbidding the person from returning.
“We can ban them here today and get word from Cookeville the next day they’ve been seen in their store,” Campbell said. “We do communicate with other stores on a regular basis so we can and do keep track of people who have been asked to stay away.”