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Guest
Guest
Since i have been watching some COP shows lately the subject came up about citizens arrest and the risks so i decided to have a look at some legal stuff.
It seems its not only different by state, its also different by county (or parish) and even some cities have their own spin on the subject. If you have to do it and you dont do it right you can get sued or do jail time yourself. Most of the citizen arrest requirements were easy to follow until everyone decided to make it very complicated.
On a side note, although you dont need to read them their miranda rights have you seen how some jurisdictions have made the miranda so complicated and strung out with overkill that the officers even have trouble reading it all, they have to bring a clipboard with them to read off of, is anyone going to really understand that stuff, probably not.
One of the main issues with citizens arrest has been do you need to say "you are under citizens arrest" in any form. Well different jurisdictions have different requirements, some you have to say it a special way, some feel that the suspect should assume they are if they are being held down and you dont have to say it at all.
Also if you decide to give them alittle street justice with a kick or punch (not reasonable force) then you can be sued as well. Reasonable force is allowed but you have to be sure that a average person would have done the same or your in trouble for excessive force.
Most of the time the rules seem to follow very similar basic rules (i am not an attorney and not giving legal advice just sharing what i have read)
1. reasonable suspicion
2. probable cause
3. approach
4. reasonable force
5. call the police ASAP
6. be sure the police know this is a crime in progress
7. its always good to get everything on video/audio if you can
Remember you can be sued well after the fact for just about anything, either by the suspects family or by the suspect themselves.
So is it really worth getting involved, that is a personal decision.
You can look up your state or county laws via google i have found several, some are very clear and some have not written laws at all, so do your homework first.
It seems its not only different by state, its also different by county (or parish) and even some cities have their own spin on the subject. If you have to do it and you dont do it right you can get sued or do jail time yourself. Most of the citizen arrest requirements were easy to follow until everyone decided to make it very complicated.
On a side note, although you dont need to read them their miranda rights have you seen how some jurisdictions have made the miranda so complicated and strung out with overkill that the officers even have trouble reading it all, they have to bring a clipboard with them to read off of, is anyone going to really understand that stuff, probably not.
One of the main issues with citizens arrest has been do you need to say "you are under citizens arrest" in any form. Well different jurisdictions have different requirements, some you have to say it a special way, some feel that the suspect should assume they are if they are being held down and you dont have to say it at all.
Also if you decide to give them alittle street justice with a kick or punch (not reasonable force) then you can be sued as well. Reasonable force is allowed but you have to be sure that a average person would have done the same or your in trouble for excessive force.
Most of the time the rules seem to follow very similar basic rules (i am not an attorney and not giving legal advice just sharing what i have read)
1. reasonable suspicion
2. probable cause
3. approach
4. reasonable force
5. call the police ASAP
6. be sure the police know this is a crime in progress
7. its always good to get everything on video/audio if you can
Remember you can be sued well after the fact for just about anything, either by the suspects family or by the suspect themselves.
So is it really worth getting involved, that is a personal decision.
You can look up your state or county laws via google i have found several, some are very clear and some have not written laws at all, so do your homework first.