When I worked at Kohls, the process of catching a shoplifter was similar to the one JulieH described below. If an employee suspected someone of shoplifting, the policy was to call Loss Prevention and have them handle it. And under no circumstances could we accuse someone of shoplifting unless we were 100% positive they did it; i.e we saw them and had proof.

We took this approach because we felt it was better to let five guilty people go free then accuse one innocent person. Your story illustrates this point exactly. You were insulted and humiliated all because two people didn't understand the meaning of the word "communication." And how they handled the issue afterwards leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least. I agree with Venice: you deserve much more than a bland "I'm sorry." (And I don't often say that either!)