I’m wondering whether the changes would have given me any more powers when I caught a couple in our avo orchard a few months ago.
The message I got, was a neighbour, who has a couple of trees, said they could help themselves.
It hadn’t dawned on them that the difference between an orchard and a couple of trees was important, and having a rubbish bag full of avos, was a bit more than being neighbourly. We had a heated exchange, and being able to say “Drop what you’ve got there, and bugger off”, probably gave more satisfaction than any power of citizen arrest.
The implications of the proposed changes are not just related to shopkeepers.
If a citizen arrest defence is going to apply any time someone reasonably believed that a crime was being committed, then there’s a pretty wide field for some wannabe vigilante heroes.
It’s a scary thought, when the likes of Brian Tamaki and his mob, expresses “excitement” about the thought of “getting increased powers to police- where law and order has failed”.
I’m wondering how the citizens arrest possibility fits into the road safety space. The proliferation of the annoying activity of illegal dirt bikes on our roads, springs to mind.
These are unregistered and unwarranted bikes being ridden with no helmet or protective gear, often dressed in black and ridden at night.
They are sports bikes, illegal on the road, designed to be ridden off road, in controlled events or on motocross tracks.
No doubt there is huge skill and thrill in these competitions and they can be gained at a young age. It is somewhat alarming, though, to read of recent deaths of a 10-year-old, and a 12-year-old, through head injuries from riding in these events.
That aside, it’s when these bikes take to the public road and other public places, causing danger to themselves and others, that ”taking the law into their own hands” becomes tantalising for those affected.
Catching these delinquents though, is not so straightforward even for the police. These machines are fast and cross country manoeuvrable, and the police pursuit policy indicates, that when there is real danger to the offender or members of the public, as well as the significance of the crime committed, then there is a judgement call about continued pursuit.
Social media plays a big part in the portrayal of this adrenaline charged activity.
But police do have the authority to seize and impound, so long as the bike and/or its rider can be identified. There is a glorious YouTube clip, where the New York mayor made a public spectacle of crushing around 200 bikes that had been seized.
The police also are mindful, and have been specifically trained, in the use of reasonable force when making an arrest.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority regularly determines about reasonable force, which are mostly considered justified.
The citizens arrest provision brings into play the nature of reasonable force, and how do people who are untrained in this, make judgments about that.
The idea of increasing the powers of citizens arrest is certainly politically tantalising, but there are fishhooks and judgement calls needed, when you come across a situation where you reasonably believe a crime is being committed. The increased citizen arrest powers sound great but, the police are best trained to deal with that
