citizen's arrest
Layperson's lawful seizure
A citizen's arrest is the detention of a person by a private individual rather than a law enforcement officer.
Most jurisdictions allow this only when the person has witnessed a crime being committed, particularly a felony: He made a citizen's arrest after catching the shoplifter in the act.
The legal protections are narrow, and attempting one carries significant risk of liability.
- vigilantismExtralegal enforcement by civilians
- probable causeLegal threshold for searches
- reasonable suspicionJustifiable grounds for investigation
- use of forcePhysical compulsion to comply
- self-defenseProtecting oneself from harm
abuse of power · moral obligation · community policing · common law · mob justice · public safety · criminal liability · civic duty · shoplifting · stolen property · jurisdiction · proportionality · social responsibility · bystander intervention · neighborhood watch · human rights · witness testimony · harm prevention
- legal defensesself-defense, alibi, affirmative defense, insanity defense, insanity
- self-defenseself-defense, martial arts, self-protection, karate, pepper spray
- Legal mythsMiranda rights, entrapment, undercover cops, castle doctrine, double jeopardy
- vigilantismvigilante, vigilantism, lynch mob, lynching, mob justice
citizen's arrestrelease
To let go
letting go · non-intervention · standing by · looking the other way · turning a blind eye
citizen, citizens, citizenship, citizenry, cities, cite, civilian, civilization, civilize