My friends were joking around about citizen’s arrest the other day, deciding we should carry around handcuffs to restrain random jaywalkers and the like. I realised that I’ve only heard vaguely about citizen’s arrest. Is it, well, legal? Can it be practiced in North America? Who can I arrest, and how?
Seems it’s perfectly legal, and may even be encouraged, according to this author.
Sample:
Citizen’s arrest is legal but check your state laws for when it can be used. Holding a suspected robber until the police show up is normally a legal citizen’s arrest. Holding a suspected jaywalker until the cops show up is normally kidnapping. Be careful, laws do conflict.
Yes you can, no you shouldn’t. You face liability for false imprisonment if you are wrong.
Yes you can, and yes you should, provided that the crime you witnessed was pretty serious and you have a reasonable ability to stop the person without injury to yourself or others. You also need to be intimately aware with the laws in your state – citizen’s arrest can be a complicated issue.
Needless to say, pouncing on jaywalkers is not a good idea.
I believe the crime has to be a felony in order to make a citizens arrest. Only law enforcement can arrest for misdemeanors.
Cecil Adams says
No, Senor, you have it a bit backwards. A police officer can only make arrests for misdemeanors he or she personally witnesses. To arrest for a misdemeanor outside the presence of the officer, the officer needs a citizen who witnessed the act to make a citizens arrest to bring them in. This is why I say don’t make a citizens arrest, because it is only a misdemeanor, otherwise the officer can arrest for a felony upon your say so on arrival, and you can always make out a report for a misdemeanor and get advice at your leisure as to whether to make a citizens arrest on a misdemeanor.
That will be $50 please.
Well, what I meant was… the citizen has to witness a felony (say, a murder) to make a citizen’s arrest. You can’t citizen’s arrest someone for jaywalking.
Senor, if you personally witness someone committing a misdemeanor, you may arrest them with a citizens arrest. The officer may not make the arrest on a misdemeanor unless he/she is also a witness, but take the accused from your custody. They don’t like doing this. I don’t know if jaywalking is a misdemeanor in your jurisdiction (it is an “infraction” in California, an offense lesser than a misdemeanor) and you may arrest someone for it on citizen’s arrest, but I would not recommend it, as there are too many possibilities to screw up.
An officer may make an arrest on a felony charge based on a witnesses report, so a citizen’s arrest is not necessary in such a situation. I’m sorry if my writing wasn’t clear on this before.
Ok, thanks, seems you know it better than I do.
Do you know offhand where I can get more info about this? Not a big deal, but I’m curious.
I caught one of those reality shows the other night - maybe COPS or something similar. Seems one fellow took it upon himself to drive around and find drunk drivers. He had a radio in his car to contact the police. In the program I saw, he spotted a driver weaving down the road. He followed this guy to a convenience store, and when the weaving driver stopped, this fellow jumped out of his car bellowing “Citizens arrest” and physically restrained the guy until police arrived. IMHO, the guy attempting the citizens arrest was lucky he did not get his ass kicked or shot, and I found it odd that someone could just go up to a person and put his hands on another like that, regardless as to whether the other fellow was driving drunk or not. One last note: I would like to mention the “Citizens arrest! Citizens arrest!” episode of The Andy Griffith Show.
Arrest without warrant by any person:
494.
(1) Any one may arrest without warrant
(a) A person whom he finds committing an indictable offense; or
(b) A person who, on reasonable grounds, he believes
(i) has committed a criminal offense
(ii) is escaping from and freshly persued by persons who have lawful authority to arrest that person.
(2) Any one who is
(a) the owner or a person in lawful possession of property, or
(b) the person authorized by the owner or a person in lawful possession of property,
may arrest without warrant a person whom he finds committing a criminal offense on or in relation to that property.
(3) Any one other than a peace officer who arrests a person without warrant shall forthwith deliver the person to a peace officer.
R.S.,c. C-34, s.449: R.S., c. 2(2nd Supp),s. 5.
You need to look up the laws for the state that you are in. I’m a lawyer and have looked them up for my state (California), but they are still less than clear, as is the case for most laws. This is why I advise caution. And there isn’t really a good way to look something up in advance that can explain the complexities of a particular situation you haven’t encountered. The best I can suggest is to go to a local law library (each county has one near the courthouse) and look at an ALR article to start with to get a general idea of the law, and then move on to your state statutes and cases interpreting the statutes. But mostly I advise caution in this area.
Well, technically I live in a province, and Quebec, at that. So I’ll bet we either have no laws concerning citizen’s arrest or extensive ones that came from wild frontier days and have never been changed. Of course, I would never actually citizen-arrest someone for jaywalking. Just checking whether or not I could, to keep my options open.
I would be VERY careful about a citizens arrest. Think of all the trouble police get into be not following all the rules of our Government. Do YOU know all the laws and regulations? You’ll get a lawsuit slapped on you faster then goose poop. Stick with a citizens complant.
rande…
The California Penal Code gives any citizen the right to make a citizen’s arrest of another citizen in three alternative situations:
A public offense was committed or attempted in the citizen’s presence.
The person arrested has committed a felony, although not in the citizen’s presence.
A felony has been in fact committed and the citizen has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested has committed it.
Cat Fight, that reads like the Criminal Code of Canda Stupendous Man cites. It would apply in Quebec.
BTW, cops are citizens, too, and CIVILIANS. It bothers me when I hear on TV shows and in movies cops talking about civilians, like the cops consider themselves the military or the blessed protectors of the Realm/Dominion/Republic/dictatorship. Constable Plod ain’t no higher being.