Definition of a Citizen's Arrest

• According to Black's Law Dictionary a citizen's arrest is "the apprehending or detaining of a person in order to be forthcoming to answer an alleged or suspected crime." Though it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, forcibly detaining an individual you suspect of having committed a crime, though you are not a law enforcement officer, is legal. Private citizens, security firm employees, even store employees, though lacking the authority of an arrest warrant issued by a court of law may, when suspecting illegal behavior, detain another as long as they intend to surrender the suspect to the police at their earliest opportunity.
  
  

Historical Context

• According to Anglo Saxon law citizen's arrests in medieval England were an essential part of the law-enforcement strategy. The sheriff's office relied upon the citizenry to detain suspects in their towns or villages until they could arrive to personally enforce the law. From this practice arose the concept of "posse comitatus" (the law that prohibits military personnel from acting as a police force) which, as of 1878, has been part of the US legal system. During the medieval era in England, private citizens making arrests had the same authority as the sheriff or constable.
  
  

Citizen's Arrest and the Constitution

• The ninth amendment of the Constitution gives individuals the natural right to self preservation as well as the defense of others. That coupled with the second amendment, the right to bear arms, makes it possible for citizens to use firepower (force) to enforce the arrest of another. Most states in the union, including the District of Columbia, agree that an arrest is valid if the criminal action is committed in the presence of the citizen enacting the arrest.
  
  

Various Differences in State Laws

• In Tennessee, reasonable grounds justify the arrest whether the facts turn out to be sufficient or not. In contrast, in Massachusetts, a citizen may arrest another he/she believes is guilty of a felony, however, if the suspect is acquitted of the felony charges he may turn around and sue the person who arrested him for false imprisonment. In Kentucky, it is permitted to kill a felon who flees during a citizen's arrest, whereas in Utah one may arrest another suspected of a crime but is prohibited from using deadly force.
  
  

Frivolous Arrests

• Citizen's arrests that are made out of malice or without a reasonable suspicion of guilt can lead to civil suits as well as criminal penalties. It is obviously contrary to the suspect's civil rights to use excessive force or torture. Nor is it legal to hold a suspect under cruel conditions or to invent a reason for the arrest in order to get even with an individual.