Posted by Joseph Shaw on 2/27/12 8:57am
Msg #413175

Notary Question making an arrest

Can Notaries make an arrest after having witnessed a felony being committed or not and if so under what circumstances

Reply by jba/fl on 2/27/12 9:06am
Msg #413178

In your home area?....call the police, be a witness.

There is such a thing as a citizen's arrest, but in your area I would not be anxious to do so....I would just be plain anxious. You are likely to be injured or worse...

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 2/27/12 9:39am
Msg #413185

I have never heard of a citizen's arrest... do you have

details on how that works?

Sometimes I sure wish that notaries could write traffic tickets!

Reply by jba/fl on 2/27/12 10:34am
Msg #413192

Re: I have never heard of a citizen's arrest... do you have

Google is your friend....

I would like to write traffic tickets for those who cannot stay in their own lane while turning corners in front of me and into my lane, oncoming. Then they get mad at me for being in their way. If one cannot drive their vehicle under their control, then that one should not be allowed to buy that particular vehicle. It is just not a high priority on law enforcement's radar.

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 2/27/12 11:42am
Msg #413200

Re: I have never heard of a citizen's arrest... do you have

Citizen's arrests are more common that you may think and vary from state to state. For example a retailer or their store security detains a shoplifter for police. When the police arrive, the retailer gas a citizens arrest form to fill out including an affidavit that the retailer informed the shoplifter of their rights. But the retailer has performed a citizens arrest then turns the shoplifter over to police. Anytime private security detains a person for police, it's considered a citizens arrest at least here in CA. They also need to have the proper paperwork to go with the arrest or the case can get tossed and then the retailer has opened themselves up to a lawsuit.

Reply by CinOH on 2/27/12 10:53am
Msg #413196

I've never heard of notaries in any state having the powers of arrest unless they also happen to be a law enforcement officer or auxiliary police officer of some sort.

Best practices: call the cops. Let them handle it. People have been seriously hurt/killed trying to make citizen's arrests.

Reply by Barb25 on 2/27/12 3:50pm
Msg #413236

I would have to say I agree that the police should be called

to handle these situations. I don't know what kind of felony you are talking about but certainly you can't know the state of mind of the person or their history. You could be putting youself in harm's way.

Although this is out of context but I recently had to go to traffic school (ugh) and it was brought out that before a policeman even approaches a car that he pulls over he runs the license plate. One of the reasons is to determine relative safety in approaching the car... I wouldn't have thought of that...

Reply by VT_Syrup on 2/27/12 5:01pm
Msg #413251

Citizen's arrest vs. arrest by law enforcement officer

The big difference between a citizen's arrest and arrest by a law enforcement officer (LEO) is liability if you're wrong. A LEO only needs probable cause; a citizen better be right. And of course, if the LEO gets sued, his/her agency pays for the lawyer and pays if he/she loses.