NEW YORK (AP) — Outside the view of paying customers,people accused of shoplifting at Macy’s
huge flagship store are escortedby security guards to cells in "Room 140," where they can be
held forhours, asked to sign an admission of guilt and pay hundreds in fines,sometimes without any
conclusive proof they stole anything.Asshoppers jam stores ahead of the December holidays, claims of
racialprofiling at department stores in New York have helped expose the widelatitude that laws in at
least 27 states give retailers to hold and fineshoplifting suspects, even if a person hasn’t yet
technically stolenanything, is wrongly accused or criminal charges are dropped."Youmust remember,
these people are not police officers; they are storeemployees," said Faruk Usar, the attorney for a
62-year-old Turkishwoman who sued Macy’s, which some customers say bullied them into payingfines on the
spot or harassed them with letters demanding payment."When they are detained, they are not yet even
in a real jail."Industrywide,more than $12 billion is lost to shoplifting each year. The laws,
whichvary on strictness and fine amounts, allow stores to try to recoup somelosses. Under New York’s
longstanding law, retailers may collect apenalty of five times the cost of the stolen merchandise, up to
$500 peritem, plus as much as $1,500 if the merchandise isn’t in a condition tobe sold. A conviction is
not necessary to bring a civil claim.Somecustomers say stores have harassed them into signing admissions
ofguilt in order to turn a profit — not just recoup a loss.Retailersdon’t divulge how much money they
recoup but use it in part to offsetsecurity costs, said Barbara Staib, spokeswoman for the
NationalAssociation for Shoplifting Prevention. The total is a fraction of whatthey lose, she
said."We tend to forget that retailers are the victims of crime when it comes to shoplifting,"
she said.Butat least nine customers at the Macy’s store immortalized in "Miracle on34th
Street" say in lawsuits that the retailer is abusing the law,wrongly targeting minorities and
holding customers for hours, yearsafter it settled similar claims brought by the state attorney general
bypaying a $600,000 fine and changing practices. That agreement expiredin 2008.New York Attorney General
Eric Schneiderman is againinvestigating claims against retailers. Last week, New York state storesagreed
to post a customer "bill of rights" on their websites explicitlyprohibiting profiling and
unreasonable searches.Usar’s client,Ayla Gursoy, was detained in 2010 after she carried two coats in
herarms up several flights of stairs in the flagship store, according toher suit. Store security accused
Gursoy, who speaks little English, oftrying to steal. She was asked to sign a form admitting guilt and
pay afine. She refused, the police were called and she was arrested.Gursoyand others say they were held
for hours in Room 140, a bare room withtwo small, barred holding cells with wooden benches within the
store.Elina Kazan, a spokeswoman for Cincinnati-based Macy’s, said the company’s practices prohibit
coercion when recovering fines."Ourpolicy of exercising our right to pursue a civil recovery
payment isconsistent with common practice in the retail industry and within theparameters of the
law," she said.Many retailers detain suspectedshoplifters, industry experts said, but few have
dedicated jail cellsand most don’t ask for payments on the spot like Macy’s.Most ofthe accused receive
letters in the mail demanding payment from a lawfirm like the one used by Macy’s, Palmer, Reifler
& Associates, ofOrlando, Fla. That firm also represents Home Depot, Wal-Mart and manyother
stores and sends out about 115,000 letters per month."Weare confident in our clients’ training
processes and procedures forevaluating and investigating theft matters," attorney Natt Reifler
said.Letterssent to Gursoy said that if she didn’t pay, she would be sued. One saidshe owed $400; the
next said she owed $675 — the increase unexplained."Webelieve the whole purpose of her detention
was to get the signature, toget the payments," Usar said shortly before his client’s suit
wassettled in court Dec. 4. The terms were not disclosed. Her criminalcharge was dismissed after no
witness could testify.In SanLeandro, Calif., Jimin Chen accused Home Depot in a federal lawsuit
ofabusing the laws by shaking down customers to make an extra profit.Hesaid he was stopped in September
by a security guard there who falselyaccused him of trying to steal work gloves worth $3.99 that he had
takenoff the shelves and worn to load lumber into his cart. He said he wasdetained until he signed an
admission of guilt.Later, he startedreceiving letters demanding money; $350, then $675. Home Depot
disputesthe claims and has asked for dismissal.Lawyers say that retailersrarely actually sue for the
money, and they often suggest letterrecipients don’t bother paying because refusing won’t affect
theircredit.Generally, industry experts say, the laws allowing retailers to hold and fine suspected
shoplifters are applied correctly."Retailersdo a really good job of identifying where actual theft
cases haveoccurred, and intervening and conducting investigations," said JosephLaRocca, who runs
RetaiLPartners, an industry group aimed at buildingpartnerships between retailers and law enforcement.
"There are alwaysexceptions, but by and large, there are few mistakes here."Theracial
profiling allegations started in New York this fall with adifferent retailer, Barneys New York, after
two black customers saidthey were stopped while buying expensive merchandise. The retailer hassaid it
does not profile, and neither customer was asked to sign aconfession or pay a fine.But the allegations
grew to includeMacy’s. Among those complaining was Rob Brown of the HBO show "Treme,"who said
he was stopped after buying a $1,300 Movado watch for hismother this summer.Brown, 29, said he too was
taken to Room 140.There, he said in a federal suit filed by attorney Doug Wigdor, othersbeing held were
all "individuals of color." He was released, he said,when people realized he was a
celebrity.Kazan, of Macy’s, said she couldn’t comment on pending litigation.___Associated Press news
researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All
rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.