Citizen's Arrest in Security: What You Must Document Before, During and After

Under Section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, any person — including a security operative — can make a citizen's arrest in specific circumstances. What most operatives do not fully understand is that the moment you exercise that power, you have also accepted the legal burden of justifying it.

That justification lives or dies in your documentation.

I spent fourteen years in the Metropolitan Police. In that time I saw citizen's arrests made correctly, and I saw the aftermath of ones that were not. The difference was rarely in the action itself. It was almost always in what was — or was not — recorded.

When Can a Security Operative Make a Citizen's Arrest

Section 24A allows a citizen's arrest where an indictable offence is being committed or has been committed, and it is not reasonably practicable for a constable to make the arrest instead. The person making the arrest must have reasonable grounds to believe that arrest is necessary to prevent the person causing physical injury to themselves or others, suffering physical injury, causing loss of or damage to property, or making off before a constable can assume responsibility.

That is a specific legal test. Every element of it needs to be documented.

What to Record Before the Arrest

Your record needs to establish what you observed that gave you reasonable grounds. Not what you assumed, not what you suspected — what you actually observed.

Specifically: the time you first observed the subject. What they were doing. What was said. What you witnessed that constituted the indictable offence. Why you formed the view that a constable could not make the arrest in time.

That last element is critical and frequently missing from documentation. If police were available and you still made the arrest, you need to be able to explain why you did not wait.

What to Record During the Arrest

The time the arrest was made. The exact words used to inform the subject they were under arrest and the reason for it. This is a legal requirement — an arrest without a stated reason is an unlawful arrest. Any force used, how it was applied, and why it was proportionate. Any injury, to the subject or to yourself. The names of any witnesses present.

What to Record Immediately After

The time police were called. The force reference number. The time police arrived. What was handed over and to whom — name and collar number of the receiving officer. The time the subject was released into police custody.

Do not leave the scene until you have a police reference number. Do not rely on memory for the officer's details. Write everything down at the time.

The Specific Risk for Security Operatives

A citizen's arrest that does not meet the Section 24A test is not just an operational error. It is a false imprisonment. That is a civil wrong and potentially a criminal one. Your SIA licence is also at risk — the SIA takes a serious view of unlawful detention.

The only protection you have is a contemporaneous record that demonstrates your grounds were reasonable, your belief was honest, and your actions were proportionate.

Original Note structures the incident report to capture every element of that justification at the point of occurrence — before memory starts to edit what happened.

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Or download our free SIA incident report template to see the full documentation structure.