False arrest

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False arrest is a common law tort, where a plaintiff alleges he or she was held in custody without probable cause or an order issued by a court of appropriate jurisdiction. Although it is possible to sue law enforcement officials for false arrest, the usual defendants in such cases are private security firms.

In most jurisdictions, the arrest powers of police and police agents are in excess of those afforded to ordinary citizens (see citizen's arrest). However, even the powers of police officers to arrest are not unlimited. Generally speaking:

Anyone may arrest a person if they possess an arrest warrant issued by an appropriate court. In the United States, this includes bounty hunters (agents of bail bondsmen) acting under the authority of a bench warrant to bring a criminal defendant who has skipped bail to court for trial.
A police officer, or a person authorized by a jurisdiction's police powers act, may arrest anyone whom the officer has reasonable and probable cause to believe has committed any criminal offence. However, in the case of a misdemeanour, summary conviction offence, or non-criminal offence (such as a municipal by-law offence) the officer may only arrest the suspect long enough to identify them and give them a summons to appear in court, unless there is reason to believe they will not appear in answer to the summons.
Any person may arrest someone suspected of committing a felony or indictable offence, as long as they believe the suspect is attempting to flee the scene of the felony. A person cannot be arrested on suspicion of committing a felony well after the fact unless the arresting officer possesses an arrest warrant.

Most cases of false arrest involve accusations of shoplifting, and are brought against security guards and retail stores. A guard cannot arrest someone merely on the suspicion that they have committed a theft. In most jurisdictions, there has to be some proof that a felony has actually been committed, such as someone noticing missing merchandise. For example, a guard does not have reasonable and probable cause if they believe that a shopper has put something into their pocket from the store's stock. Instead, there has to be an indication that something is actually missing from the store.

Bounty hunters have been subject to suits for false arrest when they attempt to execute a bench warrant outside of the United States. In Canada and Mexico, only police officers are permitted to execute bench warrants, even though American bench warrants issued by any court are valid in any U.S. state. There have been at least two prominent cases where bounty hunters were successfully charged with kidnapping after taking custody of a bail jumper outside of the United States and bringing them back to the court that issued the warrant.

There have been some cases where police officers or bounty hunters have executed valid arrest warrants against the wrong person. Although many false arrest suits result in only nominal damages, such mistakes usually result in large awards against the arresting officers.

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