The federal government introduced the Citizen's Arrest and Self-defence Act which increases the power of an ordinary citizen to make an arrest.
Under the new law, which came into effect on March 11, a person in possession of property or a person authorized by them is now allowed to arrest a person within a reasonable amount of time following a crime on their property or in relation to their property (when their property is stolen from a public parking lot, for example) as long as it's not feasible for a police officer to make the arrest.
Prior to the new legislation, citizens could make an arrest only if they caught a person while actively engaged in a crime.
The new law also clarifies the “self-defence” and “defence of property” provisions in the Criminal Code to help determine whether those who claim to have defended themselves, others, or their property, should be convicted of a criminal offence.
The self-defence provision allows a person to take reasonable action to protect themselves and others without being guilty of an offence. The courts will now consider the nature of the threat, how a person responded and whether it was proportionate to the threat or attack, whether there was a weapon involved and other factors to determine whether or not the provision applies.
The defence-of-property provision allows a person in “peaceable possession” of a property to take reasonable action (including the use of force) to protect that property from being taken, damaged or trespassed upon. The terms “peaceable possession” suggest possession is not likely to lead to a breach of peace and prevents the provision from being used inappropriately.
“Canadians want to know that they are able to protect themselves against criminal acts and the justice system is behind them, not against them,” Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Rob Nicholson said in a news release. “Those who have been the victim of crime should not be re-victimized by the criminal justice system.”
However, a local Citizens On Patrol representative feels the ordinary citizen should not get physically involved to help prevent crime. Bob Bartlett is the chair of the local Innisfail and District Citizens on Patrol and the vice-president of the Alberta Citizens on Patrol Association. Citizens On Patrol act as a second set of eyes and ears for the police.
The citizen's role in crime prevention, Bartlett said, should be limited to providing authorities with information that will help them do their job.
“The citizen's role is to help get evidence, to bring that evidence to court and to present it for the Crown so they can do their job, which is to protect the citizen,” he said.
“I would never ask one of my members of Citizens on Patrol to go out and try and physically arrest somebody. Our job is to assist the police in gathering evidence. If I see a crime being committed, I take all the information I can and give it to police but I'm not going to try and arrest anybody.”
He also feels skeptical that the redefined provisions for “self-defence” and “defence of property” will help protect individuals.
“I don't think the (new) law is going to work. The government should be in the business of hiring people to do the arrest and training and equipping those people.”
The Department of Justice encourages people to report wrongdoing instead of taking action on their own whenever possible. It also encourages people to carefully consider the risks involved with making a citizen's arrest. People should always report a crime to police when it's feasible. People should consider the risks to personal safety, should turn suspects over to police immediately and have reasonable belief of the suspect's criminal conduct.
