2 ms·

The only reason police can detain people is because they are citizens. They don't have any special status that other Americans don't enjoy.

scarface74 4y ago
https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-qualified-immunity-and-what-does-it-have-do-police-reform https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-qualified-immunity-and-what... You really think any random person can detain someone? Do you also think you can force someone to stop for speeding? You can arrest someone for smoking weed as an ordinary citizen? Do you think you can sleep with a prostitute and then arrest them? https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/20/cops-prostitutes/99424728/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/20/c...
- btilly 4y ago
  A police officer has better legal protections, and in practice can get away with a lot more. But in theory, what they are supposed to be able to do is surprisingly similar. On detaining a random person, quoting https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/citizen%27s_arrest https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/citizen%27s_arrest, In general, the ability to perform a citizen’s arrest is the same for a regular person as it is for a police officer without a warrant.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    So let’s say that I was going 80 miles per hour in a 55. I stopped at the gas station and you tried to detain me when I got out of the car. Let’s also say I have a licensed firearm. Also let’s say it was caught on camera that I was minding my business pumping my gas when you tried to detain me. How do you think that’s going to end up both right then and in a court of law? This is completely hypothetical, I don’t own a gun. But, because of the incident I posted. Even the very red GA and the Republican governor thought that it might not be a good idea to let any random yokel detain someone https://apnews.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-georgia-arrests-government-and-politics-276c5e51f5363112537ceab4159f9dc5 https://apnews.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-georgia-arrests-gov...
    - happyopossum 4y ago
      Driving 80 in a 55 isn’t an arrestable offense, so a Citizens Arrest wouldn’t really be appropriate would it?
      - scarface74 4y ago
        Let’s say 85 in a 55 then that could qualify as reckless driving.
ncallaway 4y ago
Qualified Immunity would have a large word with you. If an Officer makes a wrongful arrest in the line of duty, Qualified Immunity will go a long way to shielding them, whereas a citizen without Qualified Immunity would be subject to wrongful arrest lawsuits and kidnapping charges.
- pc86 4y ago
  This is an excellent argument for getting rid of qualified immunity, but not a very good argument against citizens' right to detain those they see committing crimes. I don't think there's much chance the cashier here grabbed the wrong person.
  - ncallaway 4y ago
    I was responding to this statement: “They don't have any special status that other Americans don't enjoy.” That’s false, for the reasons I’ve outlined. The courts have created a specific special legal status that applies to police, but not to ordinary people.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    So you would rather give more people the right to take away your freedom?
SpelingBeeChamp 4y ago
That is false. The police can detain people on reasonable suspicion. You cannot legally conduct a Terry stop if you are not a police officer.

scarface74 4y ago

https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-qualified-immunity-and-what-does-it-have-do-police-reform https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-qualified-immunity-and-what... You really think any random person can detain someone? Do you also think you can force someone to stop for speeding? You can arrest someone for smoking weed as an ordinary citizen? Do you think you can sleep with a prostitute and then arrest them? https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/20/cops-prostitutes/99424728/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/20/c...

btilly 4y ago
A police officer has better legal protections, and in practice can get away with a lot more. But in theory, what they are supposed to be able to do is surprisingly similar. On detaining a random person, quoting https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/citizen%27s_arrest https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/citizen%27s_arrest, In general, the ability to perform a citizen’s arrest is the same for a regular person as it is for a police officer without a warrant.
- scarface74 4y ago
  So let’s say that I was going 80 miles per hour in a 55. I stopped at the gas station and you tried to detain me when I got out of the car. Let’s also say I have a licensed firearm. Also let’s say it was caught on camera that I was minding my business pumping my gas when you tried to detain me. How do you think that’s going to end up both right then and in a court of law? This is completely hypothetical, I don’t own a gun. But, because of the incident I posted. Even the very red GA and the Republican governor thought that it might not be a good idea to let any random yokel detain someone https://apnews.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-georgia-arrests-government-and-politics-276c5e51f5363112537ceab4159f9dc5 https://apnews.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-georgia-arrests-gov...
  - happyopossum 4y ago
    Driving 80 in a 55 isn’t an arrestable offense, so a Citizens Arrest wouldn’t really be appropriate would it?
    - scarface74 4y ago
      Let’s say 85 in a 55 then that could qualify as reckless driving.

ncallaway 4y ago

Qualified Immunity would have a large word with you. If an Officer makes a wrongful arrest in the line of duty, Qualified Immunity will go a long way to shielding them, whereas a citizen without Qualified Immunity would be subject to wrongful arrest lawsuits and kidnapping charges.

pc86 4y ago
This is an excellent argument for getting rid of qualified immunity, but not a very good argument against citizens' right to detain those they see committing crimes. I don't think there's much chance the cashier here grabbed the wrong person.
- ncallaway 4y ago
  I was responding to this statement: “They don't have any special status that other Americans don't enjoy.” That’s false, for the reasons I’ve outlined. The courts have created a specific special legal status that applies to police, but not to ordinary people.
- scarface74 4y ago
  So you would rather give more people the right to take away your freedom?

SpelingBeeChamp 4y ago

That is false. The police can detain people on reasonable suspicion. You cannot legally conduct a Terry stop if you are not a police officer.