Generally, each state has its own laws governing citizen arrest. Tennessee has the strongest law in the country. A citizen has a right to arrest another citizen for any law violation, permitted in his presence. I have written a citation to a reckless driver, that was observed by a citizen. the citizen called the police and followed the driver until the police stopped this person. the citizen signed the reckless driving citation. Citizens actually have more power than the police for this reason: if a citizen observes a crime committed(not a traffic offense)and decides to place this person under arrest, a citizen may use the necessary force to effect the arrest. this is the law that security people use in stores to arrest shoplifters. as a private citizen, i would make an attempt at a citizen arrest for a major crime, like homicide, armed robbery, etc. the only requirement, set by this statute, is the citizen must prove to a grand jury, why you did what you did. you also may have civil liability. so carefully consider the outcome, if you decide to make a citizens arrest. additionally, private citizens do not have to give the person arrested the Miranda Warning, like the police. Like i said, not all states are the same and its best to contact your Attorney General's Office for more information.

First off, some states do not allow citizens arrest. Secondly, there are no uniform procedures for a citizens arrest. As a general matter, you want to be very careful in attempting to engage in a citizens arrest. If you are wrong, or you don;t follow procedure, you can be civilly and criminally liable for false imprisonment/kidnapping. The one exception to this is for merchants who catch shoplifters. However, this really has little to do with citizens arrest. A merchant has a right to detain a person for a reasonable amount of time and in a reasonable manner if he has a reasonable suspicion that the person shoplifted. This is called the shop keepers privilege. Note that this is not a citizens arrest. A shop keeper is protected even if the person was not a shoplifter, so long as he followed the 3 reasonable requirements.

Forget the "citizen's arrest" language. Claim the right to do what a reasonable person would do! This is pretty fundamental to being a good citizen.

I learned all I needed to know about it from Andy Griffith, Sheriff of Mayberry. Citi---zens A---rest! Citi--zens A--rest! Makes you look like a real Gomer!