'Citizens Arrest' of London Mayor, Sadiq Khan

[grixit]

Thanks for that blast from the past. He was quite well known here many years ago, along with Bob Newhart's comedy in a similar vein.

Bob Newhart's one side of the phone call skits could not improve on this.

London Police, how may i help you? You want to report a crime? What crime? Treason, ok. Malfeasance, got it. Er, no sir, there is no statute criminalizing "being a big meanie to the president of the United States". Sir, please don't shout like that, statute just refers to the written law as passed by Parliament. Sir, there is no common law about that either.

[Pottapaug1938]

One of the best courses which I ever took in college was an inter-semester course called "Supreme Court Decisions and Law Enforcement" taught by two Worcester (Massachusetts) police detectives. Among the topics covered was that of citizens' arrests. "If you have actual knowledge that a crime has been committed, and not just probable cause to believe so, then you have the power to arrest someone -- but you are fully liable to a charge of false arrest if you are wrong, or even only mistaken, about the crime being committed."