Inquiry into police door-knock demand

Police have launched an investigation after a uniformed officer visited the home of a shoplifter and told him to pay $255 for his crime - even though he had already appeared in court and had been dealt with by a judge.

The 22-year-old shoplifter, an Otago University student, stole three pies, a pizza and chocolate worth around $20 from a Dunedin shop. The police officer later handed the student a "notice of civil recovery" on behalf of the shop.

The notice, attached to an official police trespass notice, demanded that the commerce student, who received diversion after appearing in court, pay Night 'n Day Foodstore $255 to avoid legal action.

Inspector Dave Campbell, Dunedin's area commander, will head an investigation into the incident. He told the Herald on Sunday that until now, there had been no policy guiding his staff. "I don't doubt for a minute that this happened. I don't think the officer gave it a lot of thought, though," he said. "I can understand the officer may have thought it was the same as serving a trespass notice, but I see it very differently."

The shoplifter said that on a Sunday in March an officer visited his student flat to serve him a trespass notice and a notice of civil recovery. "I just laughed at it and thought it was ridiculous that the cop was doing delivery work for the shop. I regret stealing from the shop, and it won't happen again, but it should be the shop giving me this, not the police."

He said the police officer told him he was uncomfortable with the notice but was "just doing his job".

Otago University law lecturer Barry Allan, who advised the student of his legal rights, said: "My main concern is that when a police officer delivers a document like this, it creates an illusion that the document is legitimate and endorsed by the police."

Allan has complained to the Commerce Commission that the notices being issued by Night 'n Day Foodstores, which operates 25 mini supermarkets, "create a misleading impression as to their legal status".

Regardless of the value of the goods stolen, the store issues an instant fine of $255, made up of a $25 charge for "loss of revenue" and $230 for "cost and recovery expenses".

Documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday show that those who do not pay the instant fine are threatened with legal action and a default listing on their Baycorp credit report.

The manager of the George St branch, Owen Cameron, said: "I am sick and tired of scumbags coming in here and stealing and then crying because they have been caught.

"We employ security guards and have actually curbed the shoplifting problem a bit, but we need to have a system to stop the damn thing."

Cameron's wife, Suzanne, said the store collected most of the money it demanded from thieves. Following calls from this newspaper, South Island police bosses reacted by circulating a memorandum to staff. It read: "Service of any civil document should be scrutinised to ensure that we are appropriately involved."

Night 'n Day director Andrew Lane said the company had sought legal advice and stood by the notices. "We are quite comfortable with them. If you look at our annual security cost and what we actually recover, there is a huge difference."

Consumers Institute director David Russell labelled the fines a joke. He said: "It is not up to an individual to assume the right to adjudicate criminal law. They are trying to scare people into paying up, and they just don't have any grounds."

Commerce Commission spokeswoman Jacqui Martin said the complaint, lodged last week, was being assessed. She said the commission had not heard of this type of instant fine before. Breaches of the Fair Trading Act carry a maximum penalty of $60,000 per offence for an individual and $200,000 for a company.

Retail giant Farmers is "reviewing" its current policy of punishing thieves aged 15 and over with an on-the-spot $295 fine.