Privately hired security guards are only empowered to apprehend suspects with minimal force in their jobs, an industry expert and a lawmaker have warned, after the expert said grabbing the neck of a customer mistaken for shoplifting was excessive in a case that has sparked public debate.
Yuen Sze-tung, former council member of the Hong Kong Buildings Management and Security Workers General Union, said on Friday that security guards would have to hand over suspects to police for further investigation.
“The point of apprehension is to hand them over to police. There is no need to hold the person in a [neck] lock. Telling them not to leave, using language to achieve this goal would already do the job,” Yuen said on a radio show.
Retail sector lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai told the Post earlier that the use of plain-clothes security guards was not common practice in the industry, but some chains wished to better protect their interests as many had self-service checkouts in which customers did not have to interact with a staff member before leaving.
