Many years ago, I managed a liquor store in an undistinguished part of a run-down town in a benighted corner of the Third World. The owner employed private security guards who, as a matter of informal policy, dealt with shoplifting by taking offenders around the back of the premises and beating them unconscious. I thought this was a bit uncivilized and -- the next time someone was collared at the till with a bottle of brandy shoved down his trousers -- asked that the police be called instead. They responded commendably quickly, thanked us for our public-spiritedness and promptly resolved the complaint by taking the poor bastard around the back and beating him unconscious.