Can you citizen’s arrest a police officer in the USA? - Quora
Wolf Bailey
, former Patrol Supervisor (1995-2015)
To answer your question with either a yes or no answer, the answer is yes you can.
But, there are several things you should know before jumping out there like Gomer Pyle and yelling “Citizens Arrest, Citizens Arrest.” In most states, if not all, for a citizen to make an arrest the crime must be a felony - no misdemeanor arrest or you just might find yourself facing criminal charges while the person you arrested is sitting home, drinking a beer and watching the NFL with his buddy.
Secondly, if the person you arrested received any injuries during your arrest and is later found not guilty by a court of law, you may very well find yourself responsible for medical bills, not to mention the poor slob you arrested is suffering PTSD and will try to bleed you for the rest of your life.
Next, yours and the public at large, safety. Let's say you go to arrested someone for a felony and he/she pulls out a 15 round 9mm and starts blasting away at you. Maybe you get lucky and do not take a round in the gut or elsewhere, but what about the little boy and girl playing in their own yard and take a bullet to the head, or that senior citizen coming home and takes a shot in the back. Or how about that high school student taking his girlfriend for a ride in his new car, take a bullet meant for you causing him to swerve into oncoming traffic and meets an 18 wheeler doing 65 mph, killing both the boy and girl and causing serious injury to the driver of the 18 wheeler. Who do you think is going to be held liable for those damages, not to mention how you are going to feel if say that senior citizen or that little boy or girl playing in their own yard dies from one out of the 15 rounds Billy Bad fired at you kills one of them. Was it worth it?
So before you go racing out there to make a citizens arrest give some thought of everything that could go wrong. Chances are if you think about it, it is better to let the police handled any arrest.
NOTE: Keep an eye out for my new blog “The Badge and Shield” starting around the first of Jan. 2019. The website will allow you to get answers to questions like this from local, county, state and federal law enforcement officers. I will be sending an invitation also to Interpol and you may be able to ask questions about tracking down and arresting criminals worldwide.
https://www.quora.com/Can-you-citizen%E2%80%99s-arrest-a-police-officer-in-the-USA
Wolf Bailey
, former Patrol Supervisor (1995-2015)
To answer your question with either a yes or no answer, the answer is yes you can.
But, there are several things you should know before jumping out there like Gomer Pyle and yelling “Citizens Arrest, Citizens Arrest.” In most states, if not all, for a citizen to make an arrest the crime must be a felony - no misdemeanor arrest or you just might find yourself facing criminal charges while the person you arrested is sitting home, drinking a beer and watching the NFL with his buddy.
Secondly, if the person you arrested received any injuries during your arrest and is later found not guilty by a court of law, you may very well find yourself responsible for medical bills, not to mention the poor slob you arrested is suffering PTSD and will try to bleed you for the rest of your life.
Next, yours and the public at large, safety. Let's say you go to arrested someone for a felony and he/she pulls out a 15 round 9mm and starts blasting away at you. Maybe you get lucky and do not take a round in the gut or elsewhere, but what about the little boy and girl playing in their own yard and take a bullet to the head, or that senior citizen coming home and takes a shot in the back. Or how about that high school student taking his girlfriend for a ride in his new car, take a bullet meant for you causing him to swerve into oncoming traffic and meets an 18 wheeler doing 65 mph, killing both the boy and girl and causing serious injury to the driver of the 18 wheeler. Who do you think is going to be held liable for those damages, not to mention how you are going to feel if say that senior citizen or that little boy or girl playing in their own yard dies from one out of the 15 rounds Billy Bad fired at you kills one of them. Was it worth it?
So before you go racing out there to make a citizens arrest give some thought of everything that could go wrong. Chances are if you think about it, it is better to let the police handled any arrest.
NOTE: Keep an eye out for my new blog “The Badge and Shield” starting around the first of Jan. 2019. The website will allow you to get answers to questions like this from local, county, state and federal law enforcement officers. I will be sending an invitation also to Interpol and you may be able to ask questions about tracking down and arresting criminals worldwide.
https://www.quora.com/Can-you-citizen%E2%80%99s-arrest-a-police-officer-in-the-USA
