Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 229
VI. HOW CAN I ASSIST LAW ENFORCEMENT?
A. Acting under a police officer’s direction
Almost without fail, as attorneys we are regularly asked about
whether you can make a citizen’s arrest, and how you can best assist
law enforcement in dicey situations. Since every legal situation
is unique, here we’ll just provide a brief summary of the general
law, as well as reference some of the statutes governing the use of
citizen’s arrests and how to assist authorities.
First, Texas Penal Code Section 9.51(a) states that you may detain
an individual who is committing a crime if you are authorized
and directed by a police officer to do so, and if you are in that
officer’s presence. This would appear to eliminate the very idea of a
“citizen’s arrest” in the traditional sense and looks much more like
a field-commission to deputy! In addition, be aware that this section
of the Texas Penal Code only authorizes you to use force; you are
not authorized to use deadly force. Finally, any person assisting
law enforcement must identify themselves as a person acting at an
officer’s direction, unless such identification is either impossible or
already known to the person being arrested.
Section 9.51(a) operates as the statute under which law enforcement
is able to use force against a suspect. In order to enable officers to
use all available resources at their disposal (such as an ordinary
citizen), the statute is expanded to include individuals acting at an
officer’s direction.
B. Not acting under a police officer’s direction
More in the area of authorizing a citizen’s arrest is the language
found in Texas Penal Code Section 9.51(b), the text of which is
found in the following box, and which removes the obstacle of
being in an officer’s presence.
218 | CHAPTER TEN
