Citizens and Businesses
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 person is going to commit a theft. In most jurisdictions, there must be some proof that a criminal act has actually been committed. For example, a guard does not have reasonable and probable cause if a shopper has not yet paid for merchandise they are carrying in the belief that the person intends to leave without making payment. Instead, there must be an actual act committed – the person must make an actual attempt to leave the store without paying for the merchandise.
Note though that some states have enacted "merchandise concealment" laws as a way around this limitation. Under these laws it is a criminal offense to merely conceal merchandise that has not been paid for, giving stores grounds to make an arrest even if the person has made no attempt to leave the store with the merchandise.
Read more about this topic: False Arrest
Famous quotes containing the words citizens and, citizens and/or businesses:
“Do you know what Agelisas said, when he was asked why the great city of Lacedomonie was not girded with walls? Because, pointing out the inhabitants and citizens of the city, so expert in military discipline and so strong and well armed: “Here,” he said, “are the walls of the city,” meaning that there is no wall but of bones, and that towns and cities can have no more secure nor stronger wall than the virtue of their citizens and inhabitants.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)
“To speak impartially, both sayings are very true: that man to man is a kind of God; and that man to man is an arrant wolf. The first is true, if we compare citizens amongst themselves; and the second, if we compare cities.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)
“One of the first businesses of a sensible man is to know when he is beaten, and to leave off fighting at once.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)