Use of Force, Arrest Authority, and Citizen's Arrest
Citizen's arrest under O.C.G.A. § 17-4-60
A private person may arrest an offender when the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge. If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private person may arrest on reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion. The arrested person must be delivered to a law enforcement officer or a magistrate without unnecessary delay. That delay requirement is tested constantly: holding a detainee in a back office for two hours while a manager finishes paperwork is a problem, not thoroughness.
Force in defense - O.C.G.A. § 16-3-21
Force, including deadly force, is justified when a person reasonably believes it is necessary to defend himself or a third person against imminent unlawful force. Deadly force is narrower: only when the actor reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury, or to prevent a forcible felony. Georgia recognizes no duty to retreat for a person who is not the aggressor and is lawfully present (§ 16-3-24.2). Defense of habitation (§ 16-3-24) has its own rules and does not transfer to a commercial parking lot.
The private officer's hard limits
- Deadly force is never justified to protect property alone.
- You may not shoot at a fleeing person who is not an imminent threat.
- Force used to detain must be reasonable, proportionate, and stop when resistance stops.
- Handcuffing is permitted only as part of a lawful detention or arrest, applied by trained personnel, and monitored for positional asphyxia.
- A guard who escalates a verbal argument into a physical one loses the self-defense claim.
Worked example
A shoplifter breaks free and runs through the parking lot toward a waiting car. He committed a misdemeanor-level theft in your presence. Reasoning: § 17-4-60 allows arrest for an offense in your presence, but reasonable force to effect it ends where the risk of injury to bystanders or you exceeds the value of the detention. Deadly force is off the table - no threat of death or great bodily harm, no forcible felony. Correct action: break off the pursuit at the property line, get the plate and description, call police, document.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing suspicion with immediate knowledge; chasing off the property; using restraints as punishment; failing to articulate the specific threat that justified force; believing a client's policy can authorize deadly force beyond the statute.