Mention the words “citizen’s arrest,” and any faithful “Andy Griffith Show” fan will immediately flash to the episode of that title. It’s among the classics, of which there are many.
In it, after being ticketed by Barney for an illegal U-turn in his pickup, Gomer – shouting “Citizen’s arre-est! Citizen’s arre-est!” – turns the tables when Barney executes the same prohibited traffic maneuver in his squad car.
Andy soon arrives to sort things out, Barney calls Gomer a “boob” at least twice and much hilarity ensues. You should watch.
What you might not know is that a citizen’s arrest is an actual law enforcement method of sorts, authorized in Tennessee by statute:
“A private person may arrest another: (1) For a public offense committed in the arresting person’s presence; (2) When the person arrested has committed a felony, although not in the arresting person’s presence; or (3) When a felony has been committed, and the arresting person has reasonable cause to believe that the person arrested committed the felony.”
Another section of the law puts limits on how much physical vigor can be employed by the person attempting to pull off the arrest.
“A private citizen, in making an arrest authorized by law, may use force reasonably necessary to accomplish the arrest of an individual who flees or resists the arrest; provided, that a private citizen cannot use or threaten to use deadly force except to the extent authorized under self-defense or defense of third person statutes.”
Sen. Frank Niceley considers that provision inadequate, because “it only allows this for people who are physically stronger than their attacker.”
His proposed solution would introduce a gun into the equation, expanding the use or threat of deadly force by a civilian. (The word “vigilante” might come to mind here.)
“This is basically a women’s rights bill,” Niceley told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee the other day. I assume he meant that as a selling point, though I doubt that many non-police women – with or without guns – ever feel the need to insert themselves into a potentially volatile situation. That’s more of a male-ego kind of thing, which I do not intend as a compliment.
The hearing on the bill attracted a couple of interested parties. Elizabeth Stroeker, director of legislation for the Department of Safety, spoke first.
“The department is opposed to the bill for the simple reason of we do not think the bill is necessary due to current self-defense statutes,” she says. She described a potential situation in which someone pulls a gun while trying to make an arrest, then the person being arrested pulls a gun in self-defense, and then …
You can imagine the rest. A peaceable resolution would seem unlikely.
“We just do not see a need to complicate this and create this potentially dangerous situation for someone who thinks they are doing the correct thing and it may actually cause themself to end up fatally injured,” she said.
I would have said “dead” instead of “fatally injured,” but Stroeker’s point was otherwise well-taken.
Following her was Steven D. Crump, executive director of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference. He agreed with her assessment and also opposed the bill, describing for lawmakers the potential for warring gang members to engage in bullet-riddled “arrests.”
The bad news is, the committee members were not swayed by either witness. It passed 6-0, with three members – including two Democrats – present and not voting. (It always puzzles me when legislators fail to vote. Isn’t that their job?)
The good news is, after being placed on the Senate calendar, the bill was withdrawn. I don’t know why, but maybe it had something to do with the House version having been banished to the legislative Siberia of summer study.
For my money, you could scrap the whole idea of citizen’s arrests, except when needed for TV comedy. In the real world we don’t need boobs running around trying to put people in jail. And we especially don’t need boobs with guns trying it.
Joe Rogers is a former writer for The Tennessean and editor for The New York Times. He is retired and living in Nashville.