It is safe to say that every now and again each one of us has felt the uneasiness of walking around London or other major cities at night. As sad as it is, the budget cuts for police from 2010 to 2020 still have long lasting effects of not having enough officers to provide the sense of security to citizens. While the vast majority relies on police to protect them and arrest the criminals, there is a less known nuance of what every person can practice for the security of themselves and others - citizen arrest. In the following article we will have a closer look at what it is and when it is acceptable for a member of the public to arrest someone.
What is citizen arrest?
While it is little known to the public, citizens themselves can carry out an arrest. In other words, it is perfectly legal for you to arrest someone, however there are certain requirements that have to be met for the arrest to be legal. The PACE act 1984, Section 24A states that a person other than a constable may arrest another person without a warrant if the suspect is in the act of committing an indictable offence or anyone whom there is reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing an indictable offence. In other words, if there is a reasonable basis to believe that someone is in the act of committing a crime or is intending to commit an indictable offence you as a member of the public are allowed to arrest them. The emphasis however is on the indictable offence, which we will discuss in the next section. Furthermore, the law states that an arrest by someone other than the constable can also be carried out if the person is guilty of an offence or there is reasonable grounds for suspecting the person to be guilty of it. This largely means that whether you have witnessed an indictable offence being committed by the suspect or you have reasonable (with valid evidence) grounds to suspect that the person committed a crime, you are allowed to arrest them. However, keep in mind that whether you have witnessed it or you have the suspicion, you must also have valid evidence to prove that. Otherwise it might be you that commits the offence.
What is an indictable offence?
The key word in the law is an indictable offence. For the arrest to be lawful, it is important to understand what it is. There are two categories of offences: summary offences and indictable offences.
Summary offences
Summary offence is less serious. The examples of this kind of offence are (but not limited to) road traffic offences, minor assaults or offensive behaviour. In other words, you cannot arrest someone for speeding or for being racist (sadly). These offences are usually tried in magister court.
Indictable offences
Now this is the section that you want to pay attention to. As the law states, the offence must be indictable for the citizen arrest to be lawful. An indictable offence is more serious than summary offence, the examples can include aggravated burglary, battery, indecent assault or murder. These offences are tried in Crown Court, with a judge and jury.
However, it is important to keep in mind that while it is legal for a citizen to arrest someone, if there is a law enforcement present and they are capable of arresting the suspect themselves, you should not try arresting the person yourself. The higher power is still in the hands of law enforcement.
Reasonable belief
Like mentioned before, one of the basis to carry out a citizen arrest is having a reasonable belief that the person is yet to or has committed an indictable offence. The reasonable belief that the arrest is necessary must prevent one of the following:
The person causing injury to themselves of others
The person suffering physical injury
The person causing loss or damage to property
The person escaping before police can make the arrest
However, whether the reasonable belief is reasonable will be determined on an objective basis. This means that it is taken into consideration how a reasonable person would act in the circumstance rather than the person’s own perspective of the situation. Therefore, it is important that prior to making the arrest you make sure that there are reasonable grounds to suspect the arrestee of an indictable crime.
Carrying out the arrest
First and foremost, when you are carrying out a citizen arrest, it is important to keep in mind that you must tell the person what you are doing. You cannot just tackle someone and hold them in a lock without explaining what is going on. You can do this by saying ‘’I am carrying out a citizen arrest under the PACE act 1984 section 24A to convict you under the suspicion of a murder (or any other indictable offence)’’. The minimum requirement is to at least let them know of what you are doing and what crime they are suspected of committing. It is better to say ‘under the suspicion’, even if you know they are at fault, as in the laws everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, it is better to leave that decision up to the law enforcement and the court.
Secondly, when carrying out the arrest, it is needless to say that some force is likely necessary to be used. Under the criminal law act 1967 section 3, the force used must be reasonable to prevent a crime, or to assist the lawful arrest of offenders. This means that you should use the minimal amount of force required in order to stop the crime. Generally speaking, it is important to avoid causing unnecessary injuries to the arrestee. If the force is found unreasonable, there is a chance that you might get convicted of a crime.
Overall, now that you know what the citizen arrest is and how and when to carry it out, hopefully you will never have to do that. However, hopefully this article gave you an overview of what it is and how to act lawfully given you have to practice a citizen arrest.
