Talk:Citizen's arrest

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[edit] assessments

Aside from the gaps mentioned below, the lack of references and perhaps a history of the devealopment of a citizens arrest legality wise hold this to a sart class for the moment.--SGGH 10:35, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Is it possible to do one in Scotland? Maccoinnich 19:16, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Probably - I'll get round to finding the scottish laws regarding citizen's arrests and also update the England and Wales section for the amendments made by SOCPA 2005. Barry m 23:12, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

The external Yahoo link at the bottom does not actually describe how to make a citizen's arrest, contrary to the article title. The link in the Yahoo article that supposedly points to the citizen's arrest guidelines is broken. -- Anonymous 17:27, 19 Decemeber 2005 (CST)

What are the rights of the accused if arrested by a non-police officer? For example, is any statement made to a civilian inadmissable in court of not proceeded by a Miranda warning (memorized from Law and order re-runs)?

  • Are there any circumstances that allow a citizen's arrest to be performed upon a law enforcement officer? -- Brian Adams, 21:51, 12 April 2006
    • Yes, you have to somehow disarm the police officer first, or they will simply shoot you. Liu Bei 19:42, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
    • The answer is no in most states in the United States. A citizen may not resist the government even if the agent is performing an illegal action. Pyrogen 21:02, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Possible NPOV question on the "Dangers" section: you ought to make clear that most LEO's and LEA's strongly advise people to call police if they witness a crime, and that the views expressed are those of the LEO's and LEA's, not those of Wikipedia.org. I'm sure we all agree that a law-enforcement agency's advice on such matters deserves the most serious consideration, and that passing along that advice is a valuable public service. But that does not mean that you necessarily agree with that advice, or give the appearance of such agreement. --Temlakos 13:41, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Second that comment. I removed part. It should be rephrased before possibly being put back in. --Howdybob 06:16, 5 June 2006 (UTC)


On the Dangers sections: It looks like it was lifted from some polic website. It reads like a PSA. Seems like a NPOV issue.--User:Ozoneliar

[edit] Liberal POV

Sean Black removed this "silly warning":

In most cases a general call for help or an emergency call may be more appropriate than an attempt at a citizen's arrest.

I agree that it's silly and that Wikipedia should not endorse it, let alone use it as a warning. However, it should be included in a modified form.

This is a fairly good summary of the Liberal point of view that people should not take matters of law enforcement into their own hands - ever! - but should leave it all to "the authorities". It relates to Gun contral advocacy: private citizens should not use pistols or rifles to discourage robbery or assault (even in self-defense) but should (1) avoid resisting the criminal and (2) try to get away and/or call the police. --Uncle Ed 14:08, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Whatever, stop having a political name-calling session in the middle of the talk page. The warning doesn't really belong because it's not a fact about citizen's arrests, but an opinion about their safety and suitability. --joeOnSunset 02:43, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Risky?

In the UK section we have "These powers are rather risky to use, since it relies upon the person carrying out the arrest knowing that an indictable or either way offence has been committed. If no offence has been committed,... the arrest was unlawful.". Surely this eventuality is covered by the "reasonable grounds for suspecting" clause. --Shantavira 12:19, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

That would be my conclusion too, from reading the act. Constables get the additional power to arrest on reasonable suspicion that an offence is going to be committed. Otherwise the wording is exactly the same. Case law may be differ between the two cases of course. User:pharm 17:20, 30 Oct 2006

See this page from www.askthe.police.uk for the current guidance on this issue from the UK police. User:pharm 17:33, 30 Oct 2006

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