To police officers : how does citizen arrest work?

Question

how does it actually work? what should a person do??
is it a common accurance?
im afraid the citizen would be simply laughed at by the police

Answer 1

First it depends on where you live.

In Canada, there are 3 types of criminal offenses: Summary, Indictable, or Hybrid (meaning an offense can be prosecuted either as summary or indictable). You can execute a citizen arrest if on reasonable grounds you find a person committing an indictable offense (more serious); or anyone who has committed any criminal offense and is escaping and being freshly pursued by persons who have lawful authority to arrest that person.

You may also arrest a person if that person is committing any criminal offense in relation to your property. Or, if you are an agent of a property owner (like a security guard in a mall) you may arrest a person found committing a criminal act in relation to the property owner's property.

Once arrested, and you may only use "reasonable force" to arrest, you must deliver the person to a peace officer.

Again, I would check the law of the land before pretending to be Ponch and Jon.

Answer 2

A citizen's arrest could be done in the following situations:
1. When a crime is being commited in the presence of citizen;
2. When the citizen has personal knowledge of a crime; and
3. When a criminal has escaped from custody.

Answer 3

In most states in America:

You have to actually see the crime being committed and then you can lawfully detain a person if the crime is a misdemeanor. If the crime is a felony you must have probable cause that the crime was committed and the person you are detaining actually commited the crime. You must then call the proper authorites in order to come and get the person.