Comprehensive Notes on Arrest Procedures, Good Faith, and Court Security

Arrest Decision Making

  • Arrest Reasons:
    • Witnessing an event.
    • Reasonable probable grounds to believe an indictable offense has been committed (e.g., someone tells you).

Acting in Good Faith

  • Definition: Acting on information from another peace officer, sheriff, or judge without question.
  • Example: If a peace officer states someone has a warrant, you act on that information.
  • Real Example:
    • Officer gets a call about an inadvertent release from correctional.
    • Individual had warrants for PA court and Melford Court.
    • Released on all charges at Melford Court.
    • Found in Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan.
    • Acting in good faith: Deputies at the front of the screen don't need a warrant, they are acting in good faith.
    • If anything goes wrong with the arrest, it's on the officer who provided the information.
  • Another Example:
    • Driving to the courthouse and another officer is chasing someone.
    • The officer says "Stop that guy, Murphy; he's escaping."
    • No further information is needed to tackle the person.
  • Scenario: Arresting someone based on information from others.
    • Arrest them for what you're told (e.g., unlawfully at large, warrant).

Two Reasons for Apprehension

  • Seeing an event.
  • Someone else saw it and informs you.
  • Example: That guy just got punched in the face by that other guy. Is that guy arrestable? Yes.

Testament Instrument

  • A will or legal document; not essential to focus on at the moment.

Relevant Criminal Code Sections

  • Mischief in excess of $5,000: Section 487
  • DNA: Will be covered in week nine; skipping for now (detention for DNA sample).

Section 494 - Citizen's Arrest

  • Anyone may arrest without a warrant a person who:
    • Is found committing an indictable offense.
    • Is reasonably believed to have committed a criminal offense and is escaping from and freshly pursued by persons who have lawful authority to arrest that person.
  • If it is a non peace officer arrests the person though warrant shall forthwith deliver the person to a peace officer.
  • Details:
    • Restrict freedom, but cannot break legs.
    • Can hold someone (e.g., drunk person passed out in vehicle) until proper authorities arrive.
    • Must witness the event and they must be escaping.

Section 495 - Arrest by Police Officer

  • 495(1) states police officer may arrest without warrant:
    • A person who has committed an indictable offense or who, on reasonable grounds, they believe has committed or is about to commit an indictable offense.
    • A person whom they find committing a criminal offense.
    • A person in respect of whom they have reasonable grounds to believe that a warrant arrest or committal in any form set out in part, x x v I I, in relation thereto is enforced within the territorial jurisdiction in which the person is found.
  • A: Based on the past, someone hit someone, and we have reasonable grounds to believe.
  • B: We find them committing a criminal offense that includes all criminal offenses.
  • C: There's a warrant that has jurisdiction.
  • Decision-making process:
    • Is he breaching the peace? Is it violence or sexual assault?
  • Authority of a peace officer is defining what section? Subsection two.
  • Authority of justification of action from Section 25.
  • What's 26? Criminally responsible for excessive force.
  • 27 is what? No reasonable force.
  • How much force justified? As much force as necessary to court.
  • Reasonable, necessary, and proportional.
  • Also mentions sections 30, 31 (peace officers), 430, 487.04, 494 (arrest without warrant for indictable offense by any person), and 495 (arrest by peace officer).
  • The speaker indicates that you don't have to memorize this stuff, but you need to know that when you're called to a situation, you have all that legislation behind you.

Saskatchewan Court Security Act

  • Section 3: Powers of the sheriff.
  • Section 8: Reasonable force.
    • Court security officer can use reasonable force to: Refuse entry, evict from court facility, and seize a weapon.
  • Sheriff may screen individuals, seize weapons, evict, refuse entry if there are no grounds to believe they're a threat, they may disrupt operations inside the courthouse or a restricted zone.
  • Cannot arrest anyone under the Court Security Act.
  • Powers of arrest come from violating the Criminal Code of Canada while acting under the Court Security Act.
  • If there's a reason you're removing them from the courthouse or evicting them from the courthouse, there's probably a criminal code reason that'll back you up to arrest them.
  • Criminal code is stand alone from the court security act. Basically, the criminal code is stand alone from the court security act, but they're gonna mess with if you're dealing with somebody and if you're dealing with somebody.

Disturbing the Peace Inside the Courtroom

  • Discussion on how to handle someone disturbing court proceedings.
    • A few examples were the disturbance inside the courtroom such as talking loud, acting obnoxious and not leaving when asked.
  • The court can ask the individual to leave. The court security gives them authority to use forced when they refuse to leave.
  • If someone is disturbing the operations court, it's your job to keep the operation of the court running without disruptions. (Eight of the court security act)

Deputy Sheriffs and Peace Officer Status

  • Importance of knowing how to handle situations legally.
  • Supervisors may not understand the legalities due to the new peace officer status of deputy sheriffs.

Articulating Justification

  • If someone is "doing nothing," they are still doing something (e.g., not listening to commands, hat on, phone in hand).
  • This can be considered enough for eviction.
  • Start small with the Court Security Act; escalate to the Criminal Code if necessary.

Golden Rule

  • Before going hands-on, tell them they're under arrest.
    • Exercising authority under the Criminal Code to use force.
    • Justifies actions legally.
  • If you touch somebody without placing them under arrest first, you're opening yourselves up.
  • They have to be you're under arrest. We're not quite there in that in the PowerPoint that has a has a cop.
  • As you guys are peace officers, you guys are cops too, as soon as you two turn tell somebody you're under arrest, I am now, me, I've decided to exercise my authority under the criminal code to use force on your ass, and you've been warned.

Eviction vs. Arrest

  • Scenario: Evicting someone under the Court Security Act.
    • Tell them they are being evicted to change the powers that you have available through the Court Security Act.
    • Threshold: Reasonable force.

Tactical Communication Hint

  • If you can verbally "ear punch" someone, you'll start winning.

Detention of a Person

  • They're not free to go because they're under investigation, but they're not as role of someone's movement directly? Like, you're not fully arresting him.
  • Arrest for a reasonable amount of time.
  • Respection of their freedoms for the purposes of an investigation.
  • Definition: Liberty is deprived of physical constraints or where the state assumes control over the movement of a person by demand or direction, which may have a significant legal consequence and which prevents or impedes access to counsel.
  • Types of Detention:
    • Physical Detention
    • Lawful Detention
    • Psychological Detention
    • Investigative Detention

Types of Detention Explained

  • Physical: Holding someone against their will physically.
  • Lawful: Example: "You're not free to go."
  • Psychological: Police lights, officer presence.
  • Investigative: Reasonable grounds to suspect something is going on.

Investigative Detention

  • Reasonable grounds for the crimes were committed and you just wanna like, there's a guy who might kinda match the description. So you just stop him when you talk to him. It's not free to go while you're carrying out your investigation, but he's not under arrest yet because you haven't formed the grounds to arrest them at this point. It's a real blow of grounds. You got to detain somebody.
  • Traffic stops have total different rules.
    • If you are pulled up by the police and not under traffic law.
    • They can't tell you to come back to ticket tomorrow.
  • Have to be able to articulate justification to show time.

Reasonable Amount of Time

  • Depends entirely on the situation.
  • Factors:
    • Severity of crime.
    • Threat to public life.
    • Information needed.
    • Discretion.
    • Case law.