what is the law regarding placing someone under citizens arrest in Georgia?

Question

have a vandalism problem on private property and the local police say they cannot act because the property is privately owned

Answer 1

criminal damage happens on private and public property-you misunderstood.

Answer 2

My answer will probably only confuse you more. I will speak from a California enforcement perspective, but I would guess that most states have very similar "citizen arrest" laws and requirements.

Vandalism can be a misdemeanor or a felony. It's a crime though, and people can be arrested for crimes. It may rise to the level of felony if the damage is financially high.

A citizen can make a citizen's arrest for a misdemeanor committed in their 'presence'. If you see someone committing the vandalism, or you heard the glass break and you turned around and saw John Smith there standing by it with a hammer in his hand, you can go to him and tell him he is under citizens arrest for vandalism - in some states also called malicious mischief, but vandalism is a good catch-all.

Your duty at this point is to turn Smith over to the police.

The duty of the police officer is to 'accept the prisoner' from you. In some states, or at least in California, it is a violation of law for the officer to NOT accept a prisoner. At this point the police officer has options. He/she will listen to your story and gather your information on what you saw and how you made the decision to arrest Smith

Accepting your prisoner does not mean the officer must transport the prisoner to jail, or to keep Smith in custody. If the evidence you provide is sufficient to meet legal criterial, the officer can book Smith or issue him a citation for a future court appearance.

If the officer believes that your arrest is flawed, he can release Smith right there on the spot, and just submit a report on the matter.

You may have an option later of having the facts of the report reviewed by your local DA's office. But if the officer didn't think the criteria was there, that's a bad sign as to any subsequent complaint being issued.

You should always give thought to the consequences of a false arrest. Make sure you know what you saw and that what you saw is a crime and that Smith is the one that you saw doing it. Otherwise, Smith may want to retaliate with claims of false arrest, etc.

That's the way it's 'supposed to work' in California. But everyone will have a story like yours where it didn't work. Not everything happens by the book (so to speak) and I don't know the laws of Georgia on citizens arrests. For that you may consider a casual conversation with an officer in your community, or a visit to your library reference section for the topic of the "laws of arrest, search and seizure" for Georgia.

Added note: I agree with one of the people above who thought you may have misunderstood an officer's reference to the property being privately owned, so they can't enforce laws there. That wouldn't be correct. Have them go over that part again.

If the vandalism is on-going and truly an chronic, expensive problem, you might consider speaking again with your local 'regular' patrol officer or patrol supevisor to establish something of a partnership in resolving the crimes. Some citizens are effective in communicating with their local patrolman about the problems, so when you call because you just put the grab on Smith, the officer will know as soon as he's dispatched what the history of the problem is, because he talked to you already and has advanced understanding.

Answer 3

Ok, first in GA there is no such crime as vadalism ( there is a crime involving tombstones that is mentioned as vadalism)

Next what do you mean the police can not do anything. Every home in the US is private property, that is where the arrest all of the bad guys. But the owner of that private property has to be the one to press charges.

for example if someone is comming onto your property and marking on the walls of breaking someone, that crime is called "criminal tresspass" in GA, it has several levels depending on the dollar value of the damage.. It also involves just the tresspass also.

Now in GA for a citizen arrest, you walk up to them and tell them they are under arrest and tell them to stand there untill a police officer arrives. You can not use force to hold them, if you do, you can be charged with assult also.

You can also go into circuit court and file charges against the people yourself, you file the charges, and they are issued a order to appear. You present your case, and if the court decides there is enough evidence, they will be issued a warrant against them.

But if a person is on your property, and doing damage, and you call the police and the police see them doing it, of course they can arrest them.

Answer 4

Here's one answer.

"5. CAN SOMEONE OTHER THAN A POLICE OFFICER ARREST ME?

Answer:

Any person, such as a private security guard, can make a citizen's arrest if they see a misdemeanor being attempted or committed. (A misdemeanor is a criminal offense, usually punishable with a fine or short jail term.) They also can make a legal arrest for a felony as long as it actually was committed and they have good reason to believe you did it. They must take you to a police officer or judge who is required by law to take you into custody."
http://www.bwgd.com/criminal-law.html

JMB

Answer 5

Am ignorant about this topic but called someone and he gave me a great website that he uses for research for cases he handles out of state. It is findlaw.com. I googled the topic also and the only thing that really said anything was the georgia constitution, the other stuff im sure u already read. good luck

Answer 6

Criminal Records Database : http://CriminalRecords.InfoSearchDetective.com