An Orange retailer that detects about one shoplifter a week in its store is warning potential thieves that it has high-quality surveillance cameras in its store.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, along with notices warning people of the cameras, Sportspower Orange has also been handing its footage in to police and in one instance turned to social media to identify a woman as a last resort.
By posting the image on Facebook, Sportspower Orange became the latest business to post images of people suspected of a crime.
In previous years other businesses came to attention for having pictures of suspected shoplifters in their stores and this year there have been instances of people publishing footage from their home surveillance systems.
There's at least one [shoplifter] a week and mainly we give the footage to the police and they can identify them but this one no one knows about her.
- Sportspower Orange assistant manager Louise Littlefield
Sportspower Orange assistant manager Louise Littlefield said the business's owners were former police officers and were aware of laws and restrictions.
"There's at least one [shoplifter] a week and mainly we give the footage to the police and they can identify them but this one no one knows about her," Mrs Littlefield said.
Central West Police District crime manager Detective Inspector Bruce Grassick said people and businesses needed to be careful when posting someones image in relation to a crime and should talk to police.
He said it could potentially affect investigations or convictions in court proceedings.
"What a shop does is essentially up to them but particularly from a legal point of view it's something we will not encourage," Detective Inspector Grassick said.
"There's shops that have banning notices, that's a better way of going about it.
"That's a right of any owner of a particular location."
Detective Inspector Grassick said he was not in a position to give legal advice regarding evidence or defamation.
He said when it came to images released by police they followed a policy and did not show a person's face in the commission of a crime and when it came to wanted people images were only published once a warrant had been made for their arrest.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...