Who can arrest me and when?
The rights of people held in police custody in NSW are set out in a number of acts Acts and Regulations, including the Crimes Amendment (Detention after Arrest) Act 1997 and its Regulations 1998, and the Crimes Act 1900. Police officers can arrest you when:
they catch you committing an offence;
they have a reasonable suspicion that you have committed an offence, or that you are about to commit an offence;
they have a warrant for your arrest (eg for failing to appear at Court, for a past offence etc);
they know or reasonably suspect that you have breached bail conditions.Anyone else (security guards, store detectives, ‘bouncers’, and all other members of the community) can perform a ‘citizen’s arrest’ upon you if:
they catch you committing a crime;
they see you committing a ‘breach of the peace’; such as obstructing a police officer in his or her duties, ‘creating public alarm or excitement’, or committing an assault. Minor offences such as offensive language, disturbance and annoyance are not sufficient for a citizen’s arrest.
they catch you committing an offence;
they have a reasonable suspicion that you have committed an offence, or that you are about to commit an offence;
they have a warrant for your arrest (eg for failing to appear at Court, for a past offence etc);
they know or reasonably suspect that you have breached bail conditions.Anyone else (security guards, store detectives, ‘bouncers’, and all other members of the community) can perform a ‘citizen’s arrest’ upon you if:
they catch you committing a crime;
they see you committing a ‘breach of the peace’; such as obstructing a police officer in his or her duties, ‘creating public alarm or excitement’, or committing an assault. Minor offences such as offensive language, disturbance and annoyance are not sufficient for a citizen’s arrest.
For more information see:
