Has a security guard checked your hand luggage in a store? A police officer searched the trunk of your car? Have you had a physical search during a sporting event? This page shows the security check rules.
In all cases, the law specifies who can carry out the check and under what circumstances.
What to know about arrest by private citizens
Whenever possible, report any wrongdoing to the police rather than intervening yourself .
Police officers have the necessary intervention tools and training to deal with incidents that can turn violent.
Important Considerations
Arrest by ordinary citizens who do not carefully consider all possible risks can have serious consequences for yourself and third parties involved.
In most cases, an arrest consists of physically attacking and detaining a person.
Before deciding whether or not to arrest a person, a citizen should know the laws on arrest by ordinary citizens and consider the following factors:
- Is a peace officer available to intervene? If so, report the crime to the police instead of acting on your own.
- By attempting to make an arrest, you could compromise your personal safety and that of others.
- Relevant factors to consider include whether the suspect is alone and whether he has a weapon.
- Could you turn the suspect over to the police immediately after the arrest is made?
- Do you have reasonable cause to believe in the criminal conduct of the suspect.
HOW CAN AN OFFICER RESPOND TO A REFUSAL TO SEARCH?
There is no penalty for refusing to search.
If the security guard encounters a refusal of control by the person, he must call a judicial police officer to carry out the search.
The latter will carry out this measure according to the rules and conditions applicable to the search.
To detain a person in the store, the security officer may only act on the basis of article 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure .
This article concerns all citizens and therefore private security agents or security guard company. It provides that:
“Any person has the authority to detain the criminal and bring him before the nearest judicial police officer in cases of flagrant crime or flagrant infraction punishable by imprisonment.”
In other words, when there is an offense or crime and flagrance, the officer can apprehend the person.
Arrest by ordinary citizens
If you decide to make an arrest as a private citizen, you must:
- Clearly tell the suspect that you are making an arrest as a private citizen and are holding him until the police arrive.
- To call the police.
- Clearly instruct the suspect to cooperate until the police arrive.
- Avoid the use of force if possible and use it as little as possible if it cannot be done otherwise.
- Refrain from questioning the suspect, searching him or searching his property.
- Just hold him temporarily until the police arrive.
- When the police arrive, state clearly what happened.
Laws on arrest by private citizens
In most cases, you need to find a person committing a crime or fleeing from people who are legally authorized to arrest them and being pursued by those people in order to legally make an arrest as a private citizen.
If you are apprehending a person for an indictable offence, which is the most serious type of offense and includes violent offences, you can only make the arrest when you witness the offense by the person in question.
It is illegal to arrest after a delay a person who has committed an offense punishable by indictment, unless it is an offense committed in relation to your property.
In the special circumstances of any type of criminal offense committed in relation to your property , you can:
- apprehend someone you find committing a crime ;
- apprehend a person within a reasonable time after finding them committing a crime .
To have the right to make an arrest as a private citizen for a crime committed in relation to property, one must:
- be the owner of the property;
- have legal possession of the property;
- have been authorize by the owner or the person in lawful possession of the property.
Laws
The law permits the use of as much force as is necessary to make an arrest as a private citizen providing there are reasonable grounds to do so.
Any force you use, however, must be appropriate to the circumstances and you are criminally responsible for any excessive force you use.
In addition to the possibility of criminal prosecution, you may also face legal action in relation to your conduct or any harm you cause.
The law provides that when a citizen arrests a person, he must immediately hand that person over to a police officer.
If you make an arrest as a private citizen and don’t call the police as soon as possible,
The arrest could be deeming illegal and you could face civil or criminal prosecution .
Correct identification of a suspect
In the special circumstances of arresting “within a reasonable time after” observing an offense,
you are strongly urged to take extra care in confirming the identity of the suspect.
It is always extremely important to correctly identify a suspicious person at Concert security guard and their involvement in a criminal act.
If you make an arrest as a private citizen at the very moment someone is caught committing a crime,
If you make an arrest “within a reasonable time after” observing the offense, however, the identification of the suspect may be into question.
Be aware that situational factors such as the presence of a weapon, the number of people involved, environmental factors and higher stress levels can negatively affect your memory
of a past incident and your ability to correctly identify a person you have seen committing an offence.
Even if you truly believe that you have correctly identify the suspect person after observing the crime,
the risk of mistaking the person is real and should not be minimizing.
If you try to arrest the wrong person, the situation could be very dangerous. The apprehending person will not understand why they are being held and may resist arrest.
In such circumstances, if you arrest the wrong person, you really risk causing a violent confrontation and injury or death.
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