he legislation that defines a citizen's powers of arrest
The legislation that allows you, in appropriate circumstances, to make a citizen's arrest, states:

A person who is NOT a police officer may, without warrant, arrest another person if he or she believes on reasonable grounds that the other person is committing or has just committed an offence.
A person who arrests another person shall, as soon as practicable after the arrest, arrange for the other person, and any property found on the other person, to be delivered into the custody of a police officer.
You are legally required to inform the person why you have detained them, unless the suspect's actions make it impractical to inform them.

General guidelines about powers of arrest
You may place a person under citizen's arrest if you believe on reasonable grounds they have committed an offence or are in the course of committing such an offence.
Reasonable grounds means you have direct evidence that 'constitutes belief' that the person has committed an offence. An obvious example of 'reasonable grounds' would be if you were to actually see a customer take an item from a store shelf, put it into their pocket and then walk out of the store with that item, thus indicating a clear intention to not pay for it, and therefore steal it.
Suspicion means you have indirect evidence the customer has committed an offence. Examples of suspicion include: The theft protection buzzer sounds as someone exits the store; a person has spent an inordinate amount of time browsing and is consciously avoiding assistance.
To affect a citizen's arrest you must use clear words and state the reason for your action. Note: To say "I am detaining you" is preferred to "I am arresting you." This is not a legislative requirement, simply a more accepted term, especially if the matter is later considered in the courts. You are also required to tell the person ‘detained’ the reason or offence that you are detaining them for.
In the case of theft, it will be easier to prove that their intention was to commit an offence if you wait until they leave the premises. For offences like assault or criminal damage you do not have to wait until the person has left the business premises before detaining them.
The customer is under no obligation to answer any questions you may ask, but any questions they do answer should be taken down in writing and may be used in court.
The customer is under no obligation to give their name and address to you.

Lonmgweekend should write a book, "Things I dont know"

Bobby. wrote on Mar 28^th, 2016 at 1:45pm:


Cops are not permitted to drop the charges. This is murder.

ian wrote on Mar 28^th, 2016 at 11:30am:



thats your argument?  people in wheelchairs?  did they break their neck rolling over in bed or strechign to reach something?  most of them are in accidents like car accidents, sporting accidents or something traumatic - hardly 'easy'.

breaking a neck is difficult, especially without intent.