Neither a security guard nor a store detective has any police powers. They rely on the same legal institutes as any citizen: necessary defence, extreme necessity and detention of a person caught committing a crime. The difference is that they are trained for these situations, know the operator procedures and can apply them proportionately.
When security may detain you
Only a person caught committing a crime, or immediately afterwards, may be detained, and only until the police arrive. It is a general power under the Criminal Procedure Code that everyone has, not just security. The detention must be proportionate: the goal is to hand the matter to the police, not to punish or search the person or take them anywhere against their will.
With a misdemeanour, such as petty theft, the situation is more sensitive. Security may ask the person to wait for the police and secure evidence, but may not use force beyond necessary defence.
A bag check only with consent
Neither security nor a detective may search a customer. They may ask to look into a bag, but the customer has the right to refuse. If there is reasonable suspicion of theft, the correct procedure is to call the police, who alone are authorised to conduct a search.
What a store detective does
A detective works in plain clothes and their main tool is observation: they watch risky behaviour, work with the camera system and staff, and when a theft is detected they follow an agreed scenario, typically approaching the person beyond the checkout zone and calling the police. How plain-clothes supervision combines with uniformed security is described on the retail security page.
What to do if you disagree with how security acted
Stay calm and insist on calling the police, who will decide the situation on the spot. A conflict with security solves nothing and can harm both sides. Note down what happened: time, place, names or a description of the staff.
For operators: the rules must be set in advance
The most common mistakes come not from bad intent but from missing procedures. The service needs a clear scenario for detention, customer communication, camera footage handling and handover to the police. Weak spots of a store can be revealed by a security audit; heslo detention of a person in the glossary summarises the legal framework.
