A citizen's arrest is a private person taking someone into custody in one of three narrow situations the law allows, not on general suspicion. California law allows it, but requires handing the person over to police or a magistrate without unnecessary delay, and it does not protect a private person from a lawsuit the way it protects a peace officer.

Penal Code 837 is short, and its exact words set the outer limit of the power:

"A private person may arrest another: 1. For a public offense committed or attempted in his presence. 2. When the person arrested has committed a felony, although not in his presence. 3. When a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it."

When can a private person make an arrest?

Each of the three grounds in Penal Code 837 covers a different situation, and the two felony grounds depend on a felony having actually been committed.

Caption: the three grounds in Penal Code 837 for a private person's arrest, and what each one requires before the arrest is lawful.

Ground What it actually requires
Offense in your presence Any public offense (a felony, misdemeanor or infraction) committed or attempted in your presence.
A felony not seen by you The arrested person must have actually committed a felony, even though you did not witness it.
A felony you believe this person committed A felony must have actually happened, and you need reasonable cause to believe this specific person did it.

Penal Code 834 is the general definition behind all of this: "An arrest is taking a person into custody, in a case and in the manner authorized by law. An arrest may be made by a peace officer or by a private person." Section 837 lists the cases in which a private person may make one. Penal Code 835 adds that an arrest is made "by an actual restraint of the person, or by submission to the custody of an officer," and that "the person arrested may be subjected to such restraint as is reasonable for his arrest and detention." A citizen's arrest that uses more force than is reasonable for the arrest and detention goes beyond what Penal Code 835 allows.

What must happen right after a citizen's arrest?

The person who makes a citizen's arrest has one clear duty afterward, and the law does not give them any power to hold onto the situation past that point.

Penal Code 847(a) states it plainly: "A private person who has arrested another for the commission of a public offense must, without unnecessary delay, take the person arrested before a magistrate, or deliver him or her to a peace officer." The statute sets no fixed time limit; it requires only that the delay not be unnecessary. In practice, that usually means calling the police and waiting for them to arrive rather than trying to take someone to a courthouse yourself. Once a peace officer takes custody of the person from you, the officer's own duties, including the rule that a person held in custody be taken before a judge within 48 hours, excluding Sundays and holidays (Penal Code 825), take over from there.

What if the arrest turns out to be wrong?

A citizen's arrest made without one of the three grounds carries real legal risk, because the statute shielding peace officers from false arrest suits does not cover private persons.

Penal Code 847(b) protects specific people from civil liability for false arrest or false imprisonment arising out of an arrest, when the arrest was lawful or they reasonably believed it was, among other listed circumstances. That protection, in the statute's own words, covers "any peace officer or federal criminal investigator or law enforcement officer described in subdivision (a) or (d) of Section 830.8." An ordinary private person making a citizen's arrest is not on that list. That means if an arrest falls outside the three grounds, for example because the felony you relied on never actually happened, you can potentially be sued for false arrest or false imprisonment, separate from any question of whether police or prosecutors later get involved.

The two felony grounds differ on this point: under the second, the person arrested must actually have committed a felony, while the third requires a felony that in fact happened plus reasonable cause to believe this person committed it, so a reasonable mistake about who did it does not by itself take that arrest outside the statute.

How is this different from a store detaining a shoplifter?

A merchant's power to briefly hold someone suspected of shoplifting comes from a separate, narrower statute aimed at stores, not from the general citizen's arrest power in Penal Code 837.

The firm's answer on store detentions before police arrive and its answer on shopkeeper's privilege cover how that merchant-specific power works, including the probable cause standard it uses and the limits on force and searches.

How does this compare to when police can arrest someone?

A peace officer has broader authority to make a warrantless arrest than a private person does, built around probable cause rather than the three specific grounds in Penal Code 837.

The firm's guide to Penal Code 836 covers when police may arrest without a warrant in more detail than fits on this page.

What to do now

Call the police right away if you made the arrest, and if you were arrested, find out from the officers what you are accused of.

If you were arrested by a private person and handed over to police, ask the officers who respond what offense you are accused of and whether you are now under arrest by the department itself. If you made or are considering making a citizen's arrest, call the police right away rather than holding the person for longer than it takes officers to arrive, and do not use more force than is reasonable to keep the person from leaving. Either way, write down what you saw and when, since the facts supporting one of the three grounds in Penal Code 837 are exactly what a court would later look at.

Frequently asked questions

Can anyone perform a citizen's arrest, or only store employees?

Penal Code 837 is not limited to store employees. Any private person can make an arrest under one of its three grounds, and store staff also have a separate merchant detention power for suspected shoplifting.

Does a citizen's arrest mean the person is automatically charged with a crime?

No. A citizen's arrest only starts the process of handing someone to police. Whether charges are filed is a separate decision made later by a prosecutor.

How much force can a private person use during a citizen's arrest?

Penal Code 835 allows only the restraint that is reasonable for the arrest and detention itself, not force beyond what is needed to take and keep custody of the person.

What happens if I refuse to go with someone who says they are making a citizen's arrest?

Resisting can raise its own separate legal questions depending on the circumstances. If you believe an arrest is not justified, the safer course is generally to cooperate with being delivered to police and raise the issue afterward, rather than resist on the spot.

Can a private person search someone they arrested under Penal Code 837?

Penal Code 837 does not itself grant a search power, but Penal Code 846 lets any person making an arrest take offensive weapons from the person arrested and deliver them to the magistrate. In a store, the separate merchant statute covered in the firm's store detention and shopkeeper's privilege answers sets its own search limits.

Does the person making a citizen's arrest have to say why?

Usually. Penal Code 841 requires the person making an arrest to state the intention to arrest, the cause and the authority, except when there is reasonable cause to believe the person is committing or attempting an offense or is pursued immediately after it or after an escape. The offense must be named on request.

Talk to a lawyer

The Law Offices of David S. Chesley offers a free consultation, is available 24/7, and offers payment plans. Se habla español. Call (800) 755-5174 or use the contact page to talk about what happened during the arrest and where things stand now.