Editing False imprisonment (section)

====Shopkeeper's privilege====
{{main|Shopkeeper's privilege}}

Many jurisdictions in the [[United States]] recognize the common-law principle of [[shopkeeper's privilege]], under which a person is allowed to use reasonable force to detain a suspected shoplifter on store property for a reasonable period of time. A shopkeeper, who has cause to believe that the detainee has committed or attempted a theft of store property, is allowed to ask the suspect to demonstrate that they have not been [[shoplifting]]. The purpose of the shopkeeper's privilege is to discover if the suspect is shoplifting and, if so, whether the shoplifted item can be reclaimed.<ref name="bidfell">{{cite journal |last1=Bidfell |first1=Connor |title=Shopkeeper's Privilege: Coming to a Store near You |journal=Canadian Bar Review |date=2019 |volume=97 |issue=3 |page=558}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beato |first1=Alexandra |last2=Davies |first2=Melissa |title=Arrests of Persons |journal=Georgia State University Law Review |date=2021 |volume=38 |page=25}}</ref>

The shopkeeper's privilege is not as broad as police officer's privilege to arrest.<ref name="bidfell"/> The shopkeeper may only detain the suspect for a comparatively short period of time. If a shopkeeper unreasonably detains the suspect, uses excessive force to detain the suspect, or fails to notify the police within a reasonable time after detaining the suspect, then the detention may constitute false imprisonment and may result in an award of [[damages]]. In jurisdictions without the privilege, detention must meet the jurisdiction's standards for a [[citizen's arrest]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flanders |first1=Chad |last2=Brooks |first2=Raina |last3=Compton |first3=Jack |last4=Riley |first4=Liz |title=The Puzzling Persistence of Citizen's Arrest Laws and the Need to Revisit Them |journal=Howard Law Journal |date=2020 |volume=64 |page=161}}</ref>

=====Rationale=====
This privilege has been justified by the very practical need for some degree of protection for shopkeepers in their dealings with suspected shoplifters. Absent such privilege, a shopkeeper would be faced with the dilemma of either allowing suspects to leave without challenge or acting upon their suspicion and risk making a [[false arrest]].<ref name="rest120a">See § 120A {{cite book|title=Restatement (second) of Torts|date=1965|publisher=American Law Institute|isbn=0314012710|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J642AQAAIAAJ|access-date=6 November 2017}}</ref>

=====Requirement=====
In order for a customer to be detained, the shopkeeper must:<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/shopkeepers-privilege/|title = Shopkeepers Privilege Law & Legal Definition|access-date = 12 September 2014|website = USLegal|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150109141707/http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/shopkeepers-privilege/|archive-date = 2015-01-09|url-status = live}}</ref>
# Conduct the investigation on the store premises, or immediately near the premises.
# Have reasonable cause to believe the person detained was shoplifting.
# Use reasonable (non-excessive) force to detain the suspected individual.
# Not prolong the detention longer than a reasonable amount of time needed to gather all the facts.