Video of shoplifting arrest at northeast mall raises questions on excessive force

A video posted to YouTube showing the arrest of a suspected shoplifter has security experts questioning the actions of security staff

Days after a Chinook Centre security employee was dismissed over his actions in a YouTube video depicting the July 2012 arrest of a Calgary man, another video has emerged showing what appears to be a rough apprehension in a mall parking lot in northeast Calgary.

According to the person who posted the northeast video, a man was accused of shoplifting at the Marlborough Mall Walmart and was tackled by undercover ‘floor walkers’, loss prevention officers employed by the store.

In the video, the accused is struck in the face in the mall parking lot by one of the floor walkers while the suspect was pinned to the ground.  Mall security staff are also present in the recording, and one mall employee takes issue with the fact the incident is being filmed.

Video of the July 2012 incident was posted to YouTube last week.

Canadian security expert David Hyde, who is currently in the United States where he is attending a conference on mall security, expressed his opinion on the video to CTV Calgary.

“We don't know if he had a weapon,” says Hyde.  “There's a wide range of things that could really increase the concern of the security people involved, but really nothing warrants striking someone who's held down, and so to me that seems to be over the line.”

Kim Wiltse, the marketing director for Marlborough Mall, says the incident was documented and Calgary police were made aware of the matter.

"The incident took place in July 2012," says Wiltse in an email to CTV Calgary.  "The tenant in question had plain-clothed Loss Prevention Officers (LPOs) on duty who arrested a shoplifting suspect who was actively resisting arrest.  The LPOs radioed our mall security for back up (uniformed security)."

According to the Calgary Police Service, the man who was apprehended has not filed a complaint against the security staff.

The Marlborough Mall incident follows a public backlash to a similar takedown video recorded at a southwest mall.  On Saturday evening, Daniel Douseppt was taken down and punched repeatedly after security guards at Chinook Centre ordered him to leave.  One guard has been fired for his role in the March 16, 2013 event which was recorded and uploaded to YouTube.

With files from Reg Hampton