How to perform a citizen's arrest on a criminal police officer? policing the police?

This little article explains how to lawfully perform a citizen's arrest on someone when it looks like the authorities won't be around soon enough or be able to find the suspect to stop them.

But what happens when the suspect them-self is an 'authority figure' ?

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EDIT; For the people who refuse to understand that I'm not just talking about dealing with corruption.
HYPOTHETICALLY, let's look at a case that just recently made the news, but for this thread let's just pretend it was only one cop instead of the whole squad.

You call 911 asking for an ambulance for your bed-ridden grandmother.
Instead, a cop shows up with his gun drawn, yelling and charging through the house.
He steps on grandma's oxygen tube and then tazers her when she "takes a more aggressive posture in her bed." Not once, but twice. He then manhandles her even further.

This thread is about how to lawfully take down scumbag pieces of trash like this BEFORE they get too far into their assault.

Not about corruption throughout the department, or the fact that there are a lot of good cops for every bad one, but how to lawfully stop the criminal from furthering the crime.

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Obviously you stand a chance of getting gang-stomped without question when their cronies show up and you're squatting on their partner's back, and there are too many variables to count...
...but let's assume it's one bad cop VS. you, and a good cop shows up to officially arrest the suspect, or you're able to bring the suspect to a courthouse yourself without getting swat-teamed.

Are there different rules to follow?
Is it even "allowed" in the first place?

There are hundreds of videos I could post to show instances where the cops more than deserved getting tossed to the ground and handcuffed, or at the very least restrained, but I've never seen that happen.
I've seen people getting beaten to a pulp for defending themselves from such criminal violence, people beaten for just blocking the attack (myself included) and people beaten for no reason at all by these thugs in uniform who seem to have nothing to fear once they're "in control."

But you never see or hear anything about these dirty crooks getting theirs. Sure sometimes they lose their jobs or even do some jail time, but it's always through the court system, and they're never subject to the same physical policing that regular people are.

Anybody with more insight on this?

[edit on 11-7-2010 by alaskan]

I don't really think there is much you can do. One way or the other the Redneck Gestapo win. If you don't do anything to draw their attention, you'll generally not have much to worry about in the first place right?

Ummm yeah....Good luck with that?

You will need ballz of solid titanium to pull off a stunt like that.

Why titanium?

It's so they will remain intact when the jackboot stomps all over them!

[edit on 11-7-2010 by bismarcksea]

Back in the early 90's I was involved in a few different situations with PD officers where they were acting outside the law with me or someone else nearby. At the time, I was attending criminal justice classes and was learning a lot about the law, which gave me an advantage in these situations. First, make sure you read what the ACLU recommends for knowing your rights when you are stopped by the police.
www.aclu.org...

In my situations I had gotten the officers name, badge number, and his Lieutenant or Captain's name, in order to file a complaint. In the case where I stood up for an illegally written citation given to someone accused of almost driving drunk when they were not even in their parked car that was sitting "cold" in a shopping centers parking lot, the officer refused to give me any information and threatened to lock me up. The reason he was so mad was because he gave a Hispanic couple who could not speak English, a ticket for having possession of their car keys inside of their vehicle while they were drinking inside of it. This couple was walking out of the grocery store with a 12-pack of beer and was walking toward their car when the "pig" stopped them. After telling him I would report this abuse of police power, I got in my car turned on my scanner and waited for him to get a report number from his dispatch. I wrote down the number and filed my own report with the proper authorities.

If you do have to pull rank on an officer do it with respect, but make it clear you will be making a report to his superiors. If you get detained against your will, and he will not explain what offense you have committed, tell him your are being harassed and no charges has been leveled against you, so you will need his information for a report to be filed, then leave the area. This had actually happened to me! You can also file a complaint with the ACLU if need be. If your "white," it may be really hard to get them to listen to your case since they usually only handle minority cases.

reply to post by alaskan

Well, this is obviouly a thread about how much you guys love us cops.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I know that there are bad cops out there. If you were to try to do a citizen's arrest on one of these guys/gals, you would probably be seriously hurt or worse.
Why? Because there are all kinds of laws that protect us against you doing something like that, i.e....resist, delay, and obstruct an officer in the performance of his duties.
Just because you think a cop is a bad cop does not mean it is true. You walk up on a situation and a cop is beating the crap out of some guy. What went on before you got there? What does the cop know that you don't?
The best thing that you can do if you see what you believe to be an abusive or crooked cop is report him to his superiors. If you are not comfortable doing that, then I would suggest going to the district attorney. Most of us good cops can not stand a bad one and will do all we can to get them booted from the force. But, at the same time, none of us will stand by and watch one of our own be jumped on. We will defend one another first and then worry about getting to the bottom of the situation. You would just have to do this job to understand that. So some good advice: Don't take on what you believe to be a bad cop by yourself regardless of what you believe your rights are. It is better to pick and choose your battles and live to fight another day.
Seeashrink

Good advise Seeashrink,; "to pick and choose your battles and live to fight another day."

My only problem is when police are ordered by military personnel to seize weapons of lawfully carrying gun owners during an emergency situation. It happened during hurricanes Katrina and Ike, and will sadly happen again. The U.S. military and police have "no right" to invade a home and seize any legal weapons from a law abiding citizen. No emergency is grounds for this to take place!!! If this were ever to happen to someone they need to explain to the police that it is their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Unfortunately, a stand-off may ensue, but this too has happened before. If I remember right a very old grandfather had a standoff with the Fed's for a many-many days, wasting tax-payers money. He had committed no crime, but they wanted his shot gun. This happened during the Clinton Administration and was written up in "American Handgunner." I am a proud supporter of Oath Keepers , even though there are many on ATS who don't like them. They remind military and police personnel of their first priority to uphold the oath the took to the U.S. Constitution and illegal orders given to them last!

Originally posted by seeashrink
Well, this is obviouly a thread about how much you guys love us cops.

That depends, are you one of the criminal cops that this thread is based around?

If you were to try to do a citizen's arrest on one of these guys/gals, you would probably be seriously hurt or worse.
Why? Because there are all kinds of laws that protect us against you doing something like that, i.e....resist, delay, and obstruct an officer in the performance of his duties.

So you're saying that even if I'm "in the right," doing the job police are supposed to be doing, they'll concoct something and charge me with something for trying to stop a criminal...

Just because you think a cop is a bad cop does not mean it is true. You walk up on a situation...

Where did I say anything about just walking up on a situation?

The best thing that you can do if you see what you believe to be an abusive or crooked cop is report him to his superiors. If you are not comfortable doing that, then I would suggest going to the district attorney.

Because those guys are never corrupt, pay attention to every complaint they get, and always work in a timely fashion...
I'm obviously talking about stopping a crime in the act and putting the person in jail, just like you can do to whoever you walk up on and perceive as a criminal.

Most of us good cops can not stand a bad one and will do all we can to get them booted from the force. But, at the same time, none of us will stand by and watch one of our own be jumped on.We will defend one another first and then worry about getting to the bottom of the situation.

Oh, like gang members. Is "Get to the bottom of the situation" technical jargon for "Ask the offending cop what really happened and then blindly accept everything they say" ?

You would just have to do this job to understand that.

Get over yourself. I understand you're constantly putting yourselves in dangerous positions and have to be wary of everything, but I'm not talking about "bad cops," I'm talking about thugs who blatantly break the law, putting the public, themselves, and other cops in danger.

So some good advice: Don't take on what you believe to be a bad cop by yourself regardless of what you believe your rights are. It is better to pick and choose your battles and live to fight another day.

I'm not talking about my idea of what makes a "bad cop," I'm talking about bad people who do bad things things that would get "regular citizens" thrown in jail in a heartbeat.

Cops are not above the law. Let me repeat that. You, and anyone associated with you who may or may not engage in criminal activity are NOT above the law. You can act like it all you want, but it doesn't make it so.

"You do the crime, you do the time" right? You say you're a good cop, so you've probably used that phrase with kids at some point.
Can I put a badge on, wear a uniform, and be exempt?
No.

I'm asking for tips on how to react in a lawful way to criminal activity by criminals, and you're telling me to leave it up to the offender's band of brothers to decide what happens to them, or I'll get seriously hurt or locked up . . .

Not exactly the response I'm looking for.

[edit on 11-7-2010 by alaskan]

Originally posted by alaskan
Because those guys are never corrupt, pay attention to every complaint they get, and always work in a timely fashion...

I'm obviously talking about stopping a crime in the act and putting the person in jail, just like you can do to whoever you walk up on and perceive as a criminal.

I'm going to interject for a moment... You believe the whole damn system is corrupt, but you're going to easily commit a couple of felonies in detaining and transporting a peace officer to a jail facility/courthouse... where you think there won't be more corrupt people? If the DA is corrupt, you're gonna have one hell of a day in court explaining the kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault on a peace officer, and whatever other charges they can conjure up against you.

Your intentions may be noble to some, somewhat heroic to others; in realty, it's sheer stupidity. File an IA report, do what everyone else does... For your own safety and everyone else's involved. Go try to detain a cop with a gun and possibly a taser. See how you walk away from that. You're putting yourself and everyone around you in a very precarious situation.

Just walk away, and report it to his superiors.

"Peace officer"

I'd like to see that.

reply to post by alaskan


Mock it all you want; if you try to take down a member of the system, you're going to lose badly. The odds are not stacked in your favor. Your whimsical notion of dragging a cop off to a courthouse is laughable at best. I'm sorry to be the voice of reason, but it's true. You're saying you don't want to go to the DA because they're corrupt, but you expect this same DA to file charges against the officer you dragged in?

Originally posted by alaskan
I'm obviously talking about stopping a crime in the act

"Oooh it was horrible how that cop beat up that old man with everyone just standing around videotaping, I sure hope justice is served"

Ten months later there'd be a blurb about the cop getting a three month paid vacatio... administrative leave.

HighHorse over here obviously missed the point of the thread.

way to go HighHorse ... i mean Highground

Originally posted by LurkerMan
HighHorse over here obviously missed the point of the thread.

way to go HighHorse

... i mean Highground

I believe I directly addressed the point of the thread, and added quite a bit of more substance than your post has.

Stick to lurking.

Originally posted by alaskan
"Oooh it was horrible how that cop beat up that old man with everyone just standing around videotaping, I sure hope justice is served"

Ten months later there'd be a blurb about the cop getting a three month paid vacatio... administrative leave.

Because you see police beating up the elderly every day? How about at all?

I don't believe this thread was created to address the outliers, but the "corrupt" police as a whole.

There are hundreds of videos I could post to show instances where the cops more than deserved getting tossed to the ground and handcuffed, or at the very least restrained, but I've never seen that happen.
I've seen people getting beaten to a pulp for defending themselves from such criminal violence, people beaten for just blocking the attack (myself included) and people beaten for no reason at all by these thugs in uniform who seem to have nothing to fear once they're "in control."

This is what I was addressing, not the one-in-a-million situations that may crop up.

Sure, if you see a cop tasing a baby or beating down an old man who was just walking down the street, have at it; watch out for lead.

Another thing - you say they'll only get 10 days leave... Why do you think that would automagically be different if you detain them and bring them in?

If i was you guys, i would just walk away and leave the world to have as much scum as it wants.

Your asking for problems trying these things.

reply to post by Highground


really? i couldnt find a single relevant piece of information on the proper procedure for arresting and detaining a police officer in your post.

just more discouragement from attempting, which is not what the OP asked for.


now i know it may be impossible for you or any other police sympathizers to think of a situation where you all mighty angels are capable of wrongdoing, so ill help put it into perspective.

recently there was a situation at a bar with an off duty officer who seemed to not be able to comprehend that she was completely sh!tfaced and that it wasnt time for her to be shooting badguys. However this did not stop her from pulling out her handgun and popping off a few rounds ( at more police officers nonetheless)

now in that situation it could have easily been citizens she was firing at, and had i been one of the citizens whos lives put in danger, bet your ass i want to know the "proper way" to take them down, because im sure as hell not going to wait around for the other buddies to show up.

if anybody actually knows the answer feel free to chime in, but lets be sure to make an effort in separating fact from opinion.

Originally posted by Highground
Because you see police beating up the elderly every day? How about at all?

Pick up a dictionary and look up the word "typify." It was just what's known as an 'example.'
I'll make it easy for you...

Originally posted by Highground
I don't believe this thread was created to address the outliers, but the "corrupt" police as a whole.

There are hundreds of videos I could post to show instances where the cops more than deserved getting tossed to the ground and handcuffed, or at the very least restrained, but I've never seen that happen.
I've seen people getting beaten to a pulp for defending themselves from such criminal violence, people beaten for just blocking the attack (myself included) and people beaten for no reason at all by these thugs in uniform who seem to have nothing to fear once they're "in control."

This is what I was addressing, not the one-in-a-million situations that may crop up.

Sure, if you see a cop tasing a baby or beating down an old man who was just walking down the street, have at it; watch out for lead.

So anyone between toddler and old geezer is open game? It's acceptable for police to treat us however they wish because we're not frail and defenseless?

You know there are cops who beat up/extort women all day every day all across the country, right? Nevermind, that's just an example. Reread the dictionary entry before you take that and run with it.
If we see that or other atrocities taking place, we should just let it be, make a phone call later on, and hope that somebody gets a talking-to?

You must be such a badass in real life.

[edit on 11-7-2010 by alaskan]

Originally posted by alaskan
Pick up a dictionary and look up the word "typify." It was just what's known as an 'example.'
I'll make it easy for you...

Hmm...

Typ·i·fy   [tip-uh-fahy]
–verb (used with object), -fied, -fy·ing.
1.
to serve as a typical example of; exemplify.

Again, you see police typically beating up old men? Hmm...

So anyone between toddler and old geezer is open game? It's acceptable for police to treat us however they wish because we're not frail and defenseless?

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Your intellectual dishonesty is suffocating.

You know there are cops who beat up/extort women all day every day all across the country, right? Nevermind, that's just an example. Reread the dictionary entry before you take that and run with it.
If we see that or other atrocities taking place, we should just let it be, make a phone call later on, and hope that somebody gets a talking-to?

Again, you haven't answered a single one of my questions. If the cops are so corrupt, what makes you think that "arresting" them will make a lick of difference? Why will that prevent them from going right back out and beating the women up twice as badly now, and extorting them even more, because you just pissed them off? Either the system's corrupt and it's futile either way, or it's not; you can't have both.

You must be such a badass in real life.

Not really, why do you say that? Because I don't fantasize about sticking it to the fascist pigs?

[edit on 11-7-2010 by Highground]