citizen’s arrest

Citizen’s Arrest: What You Need to Know

A citizen’s arrest is when a private citizen detains someone who they believe has committed a crime. It’s a risky move—if done incorrectly, the person making the arrest could face charges themselves. But in certain circumstances, it can be legal. Let’s break down what you need to know.

When Is a Citizen’s Arrest Legal?

In general, you can make a citizen’s arrest if you actually witness someone committing a serious crime. We’re talking felonies here—like assault, robbery, rape, murder. You know, bad stuff. If it’s just a minor crime like shoplifting or vandalism, it’s best to just call the police and let them handle it.
The key thing is you have to see the crime happen with your own eyes. If someone just tells you about something illegal another person did, that’s considered “secondhand” information and usually isn’t enough to justify a citizen’s arrest.
You also usually can’t chase someone down and arrest them after the fact. The crime needs to be currently in progress or have just happened. Like if you see someone bust a car window and then they start running away, you may be able to chase and stop them. But not if it was like 30 minutes ago. Feel me?

How Do You Actually Make the Arrest?

First, make sure the crime is serious enough. We went over that already, but double check. Only felonies apply here.
Second, you can only use reasonable force. You can’t just tackle someone to the ground or anything crazy. Be gentle but firm in stopping them.
Tell them something like “I’m making a citizen’s arrest because I saw you commit [name of crime]. Please stay here while I call the police.” If they become aggressive or try to flee, you can restrain them, but again only with reasonable force. Don’t get violent.
If safe, it’s a good idea to get help from other people too, in case the suspect tries to fight back. But don’t let a crowd mob mentality take over either. Stick to the minimum force needed.
Oh and call the police ASAP if you haven’t already. Citizen arrests are only meant to temporarily detain someone until cops can take over. Don’t try to drive them to the station yourself or anything like that. Wait for professionals.

What Are the Risks of Making a Citizen’s Arrest?

There are a few big risks to think about:

• You could be wrong about what you saw. Maybe it wasn’t really a crime after all. If you illegally detain someone when they’re innocent, you’ve actually committed a crime like false imprisonment or kidnapping.
• Even if a crime did occur, maybe you got the wrong person. Again, illegally detaining an innocent person causes you to break the law.
• The suspect could get violent and injure or even kill you. Things can escalate quickly. Police get a lot of special training to handle arrests safely—as a regular citizen, it’s usually smarter to just be a good witness rather than try to be a cop.
• If you use excessive force, you could face civil liability or criminal charges. Only reasonable force, remember?

So in most cases, unless you’re absolutely 100% sure about what you saw and the crime was extremely serious, it’s better to just call 911 rather than try to make an arrest yourself. Being a vigilante is cool in movies, but it rarely ends well in real life. Let the police take it from here.

When Is a Citizen’s Arrest Illegal?

To recap, you should NOT make a citizen’s arrest if:

• You didn’t personally witness the crime—you just heard about it from someone else
• The crime was minor (misdemeanor / petty offense)
• Too much time has passed since the crime happened
• You have to use excessive force to stop or detain the suspect

If any of those apply, you don’t have the legal grounds for a citizen’s arrest. And if you illegally detain someone, you could face criminal charges like kidnapping, wrongful imprisonment, assault, etc.
You also can’t make an arrest just because you find someone “suspicious” without witnessing an actual crime. That’s called false arrest or false imprisonment—and it violates that person’s civil rights.
Bottom line: if you mess this up, you’re the one who could end up with a criminal record. So unless you’re 100% positive about what you saw, don’t play police. Call 911 and be a good witness, but let the professionals handle the arrest.

What’s the Difference Between Citizen’s Arrest and Self Defense?

Self defense is legally protecting yourself or others from harm—like if someone attacks you. Citizen’s arrest is detaining a criminal after they commit a crime.
So if someone tries to punch you, you can fight back to defend yourself. That’s self defense.
But if they try to punch you and you block the punch, then they start running away…let them go! At that point, the threat is over, so it’s no longer self defense if you chase them down. If you do that, now it’s a citizen’s arrest situation rather than self defense.
See the difference? Self defense applies in the moment to protect against harm. Citizen’s arrest is detaining after the crime occurs. Don’t mix up the two or you could land in legal hot water!

When Is Deadly Force Allowed?

If someone threatens you with deadly force (like pulling a gun on you), you may legally defend yourself through deadly force as well.
But after the threat is over, if they try to flee, you cannot chase them down and shoot them or anything like that. At that point deadly force is no longer justified.
You also cannot hunt someone down later for revenge because they threatened you earlier. Self defense only applies in the moment of danger. Once the threat is over, let the police take over—don’t take vigilante justice into your own hands.

How to Be a Good Witness Instead

As you can see, citizen’s arrests are legally complex. Nine times out of ten, your best bet is to just be a good witness rather than try to make an arrest yourself:

• Get to a safe place
• Call 911 immediately—don’t assume someone else did
• Give the exact location and a detailed physical description of the criminal
• Describe exactly what happened, step-by-step
• Take photos and videos if safely possible
• If the criminal flees the scene, note the direction and mode of travel (car, bike, etc)

The more detailed information you can safely provide, the better.
Doing the above helps police identify and ultimately catch the perpetrator, while also keeping you safe and firmly on the right side of the law.