In reading the column on different police and and their turf, part of the question delt with citizen’s arrest. My understanding was that you could only get sued in certain states, like Vermont, for a false arrest. I have also heard that in Kentucky, you can shoot someone attempting to escape from a citizen’s arrest. I am from CO and even here the shooting of suspects by citizens went out with the covered wagon. Is this Old West mentality still alive in KY because I know some guys that would like to gather a posse to catch after some fleein’ varmits.
Link to article referenced:
Who’s the boss, city cops, state cops, or the Feds?
Heck, no one else has chimed in yet, so I’ll throw my $0.02 into the kitty.
By my understanding, at least in California, if you make a citizen’s arrest, you can use reasonable force necessary to detain the person, and you must make attempts to get police to the scene as soon as possible. Shooting someone in the back certainly wouldn’t count as ‘reasonable’ in California, and I seriously doubt that Kentucky, or any other state, has such a law.
If you’re wrong, and detain someone falsely, you can be sued for false arrest, and you can even be criminally charged with false imprisonment if you force the suspect to remain. I don’t know how common this latter item would be, but both are something to keep in mind should you decide to play TJ Hooker.
Best bet to find out how such things work in your locale is to chat with the local police department.
–Patch