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The Point Five-O and Their Rights
I've always heard about how security guards, mall cops and the like don't have the same law enforcement priviliges that a real police officer does. Does a mall cop have the legal right to use physical force to detain someone? Can they make arrests? (aside from a citizen's arrest, which I don't really understand either). Or is a security guard basically powerless and if one tries to detain me, can I just walk away laughing?
I got to thinking about this today as I walked past a scene where three mall cops were forcibly holding down two guys who were kicking and screaming while the security guards were yelling things like "you are resisting arrest sir" or "put your hands behind your head, sir" in that authoritative, cop voice.
I have no idea what happened to cause this scene, but as I overheard the dozens of onlookers (does anyone else think it's kinda tasteless to stand and gawk at something like this?) make comments like "they're just mall cops, they can't do this". So I'm wondering, if a security guard isn't allowed to enforce the rules, what the hell is the point of having security?
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