Detroit’s Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer racially profiled in GP

[Wesley Mouch]

So a 'civil rights' lawyer finds a violation of civil rights. Sometimes a everything looks like a nail.

[sumas]

http://www.jrrobertssecurity.com/sec...e-news0024.htm


According to this cite, 49% of shrinkage is employee theft and 32% is shoplifting. Another segment is administrative error - polite way to say embezzlement.

Pretty close to truth. I spent more than 25 years in retail. My specialty was loss prevention regarding just really bad paperwork. Managed most of a quarter of Hudson [[dayton), main floor. Northland was a main store in it's day. Went downtown to review paper work and found 13. 5 million in paper errors.

[FbO Vorcha]

I have to admit I don't frequent department stores, but isn't it a bit unusual for someone to come into a store with merchandise to return and "look around" and try on clothes prior to taking the clothes being returned to a sales counter? Add that to time being spent in the fitting rooms, and having a large bag and it seems like a behavior that could easily be confused with someone trying to shoplift.

If it's not busy, and you're planning on purchasing other items, it makes perfect sense to wander the store - especially if you've told the clerk[[s) that you have items to return, which she did.

[FbO Vorcha]

She got profiled because she brought a large bag into the dressing room. Return your stuff and then shop. Common sense just doesn't prevail with some people.

Upscale shops generally give shoppers the benefit of the doubt, especially when the clerk is told by the customer upon entering that they have some items to return. If the clerk was actually competent, they would have offered to hold the bag at the counter so as to provide the customer with a better shopping experience.

I've always considered Talbots to be a snooty nose-up-on-the-air kinda store anyway, this doesn't help that image one bit.

[FbO Vorcha]

Richville Police and other suburban police force always do that to black people. So black folks have to be careful while walking into Richville.

Don't where your blackness while walking into white middle class suburbs. I don't think so!

That's pure racism in action [[not my comments), That's pure Michigan [[I mean 'Mich-issippi').

Here's my protest to all black people. Go to all of the Grosse Pointes, Wear your hoodies, shop in their stores, walk through their neighborhoods and freestyle. This is America, a free country. Black folks can live an go anywhere we want, so don't try to stop us.

Keep your eyes the prize.

Or, you could just try to conform to social mores. Try to persuade the more violent, higher-strung if you prefer, elements to act like human beings, and these type of events might not occur.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Richville Police and other suburban police force always do that to black people. So black folks have to be careful while walking into Richville.

Don't where your blackness while walking into white middle class suburbs. I don't think so!

That's pure racism in action [[not my comments), That's pure Michigan [[I mean 'Mich-issippi').

Here's my protest to all black people. Go to all of the Grosse Pointes, Wear your hoodies, shop in their stores, walk through their neighborhoods and freestyle. This is America, a free country. Black folks can live an go anywhere we want, so don't try to stop us.

Keep your eyes the prize.

But Danny, the richville police stormtroopers would have stayed on their donut break had it not been for the suspicions of the over zealous store clerk. Its not like the cops were going store to store looking to harass AA patrons....ease up man

[erikd]

I guess I'm not being clear and you're missing the point. To me, that article was setup to provoke a certain feeling and response. The day Aretha Franklin came in, she looked nothing like her dolled up album covers and PR photos. In fact, she had no make-up on. Casual and the day off are the key words here. She could have been anybody, and not the world-class singer. She did end up spending a lot of money, and we didn't search her.

Let me be the first one to congratulate you for not searching Aretha Franklin when she came into your store. Even though you didn't recognize her as a famous famous celebrity, you still didn't search her.

Hooray for treating a black woman the same way that you would treat a white woman!

[Honky Tonk]

Let me be the first one to congratulate you for not searching Aretha Franklin when she came into your store. Even though you didn't recognize her as a famous famous celebrity, you still didn't search her.

Hooray for treating a black woman the same way that you would treat a white woman!

Jeez, I can't tell if you're serious or tearing me a new one.

[erikd]

Jeez, I can't tell if you're serious or tearing me a new one.

I was being sarcastic and tearing you a new one.

But I'm really proud of you for not searching Aretha Franklin, even though she just looked like a regular black person to you. She really should send you a thank you note for treating her like a human being.

[Honky Tonk]

I was being sarcastic and tearing you a new one.

But I'm really proud of you for not searching Aretha Franklin, even though she just looked like a regular black person to you. She really should send you a thank you note for treating her like a human being.

Erikd, my added line about "searching her" was my attempt @ interjecting a bit of humor into my post. If you go through life with your eyes wide open, [[NOT meant as a slur against you), life will teach you some very valuable lessons. My Aretha Franklin experience was such a lesson for me. To this day, [[that happened in the early 70's) I reflect on that day when I find myself in similar circumstances. Why wouldn't I treat her as a "human being"? Other than her immediate appearance, she gave no reason not to. To me, the story in the MI Citizen, was a snow job. The clerk didn't know who the woman was, what her education was, or who her father is. And I bet she didn't look like her professional PR photo the day she was there. All that is irrelevant to the fact she acted suspiciously. I would never take a bag full of stuff into a dressing room with me, then get miffed when confronted about it. But then I don't think I'm all that.

[Zacha341]

I agree. I would not go into a dressing room with a bag of returnables. You FIRST take returables to the customer service area, or checkout to get your refund or credit, with your receipts or credit/ debit card so they can SKU the returnables.

Then you shop. Otherwise you're asking to be PROFILED as a thief, period. Not necessarily a black thief!

But Danny, the richville police stormtroopers would have stayed on their donut break had it not been for the suspicions of the over zealous store clerk. Its not like the cops were going store to store looking to harass AA patrons....ease up man

[Hermod]

yup. I could see being "suspicious" of the clerk if I weren't and my entire career was in an area of law that deals with civil rights violations. I might jump first to the accusations of race profiling before I looked at my own conduct in the situation and how that conduct could be viewed by others.

I had a spinster great aunt who I hated to go to the store with when I was a kid. Her way of looking at and handling the merchandise while shopping seemed to always attract store security who would question her and look at her bags. She was white, but she just behaved suspiciously.

[Hermod]

I agree. I would not go into a dressing room with a bag of returnables. You FIRST take returables to the customer service area, or checkout to get your refund or credit, with your receipts or credit/ debit card so they can SKU the returnables.

Then you shop. Otherwise you're asking to be PROFILED as a thief, period. Not necessarily a black thief!

Any time I go into a store with a large item like a back pack or a big tote, I usually "check in" with the cashier desk who often offers to hold my item for me while I shop.

[Wesley Mouch]

...snip...now job. The clerk didn't know who the woman was, what her education was, or who her father is. And I bet she didn't look like her professional PR photo the day she was there. All that is irrelevant to the fact she acted suspiciously. I would never take a bag full of stuff into a dressing room with me, then get miffed when confronted about it. But then I don't think I'm all that.

But would you ever complain about being racially profiled after doing something stupid?

Everyone reasonable will agree that going into changing rooms with a bag of merchandise is suspicious. But the day hasn't yet come where some black leaders accept responsibility for their behavior rather than try to hide behind racist accusations. Do we really think white people aren't treated the same here?

I think the disrespect shown by this woman towards the black community is more of a story than her protests of mistreatment for her suspicious actions.

[compn]

always treat it as two seperate transactions. return first, then purchase.

this is standard operating procedure in the last 20 years in every establishment i've been shopping in.
some stores have signs posted 'all large bags must be checked in at counter'.

so is she better than the rest of us ? shes a lawyer, maybe she should sue! hahaha

[Cincinnati_Kid]

The best thing she could have done was just don't shop there. The Pointes have a history, shop somewhere else.