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A week ago, I saw a creep crouching down outside of the womens washroom and staring inside. Can I tackle and physically restrain him until police arrives?

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1 Answers1

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One can execute a citizen's arrest when finding someone committing an indictable offence

Criminal Code, s. 494 allows for what is known as a "citizen's arrest."

494 (1) Any one may arrest without warrant

(a) a person whom he finds committing an indictable offence

Voyeurism is an indictable offence

Voyeurism is an indictable offence (it can also be tried as a summary offence). See Criminal Code, s. 162:

162 (1) Every one commits an offence who, surreptitiously, observes ... a person who is in circumstances that give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy, if ... the person is in a place in which a person can reasonably be expected to be nude, to expose his or her genital organs or anal region or her breasts

This does not require the person being observed to actually be nude. It is enough that the person being observed be in a place where a person may “reasonably be expected to be in such a state, such as a changing room, toilet, shower stall, or bedroom” (R. v. Downes, 2023 SCC 6, para. 32).

The degree of force used must only be what is reasonably required

As for the degree of force permitted, See R. v. Theriault, 2020 ONSC 3317, paragraphs 232-233

Where an arrest requires the use of force, the person conducting the arrest must use only the amount of force that is reasonably required in the circumstances. ...

Assessing whether the degree of force used to conduct an arrest is justified is not an exercise of exactitude. The court should not hold a person conducting an arrest to a standard of perfection. A person conducting an arrest is often placed in a dangerous, fast-paced situation where it may be difficult, if not impossible, to measure the degree of force required with precision. ...

A tackle is one way of executing a citizen's arrest

It will not always be reasonable or even safe to do so, but a tackle is one way of executing a citizen's arrest. See e.g. "Toronto man tackle's gun-wielding suspect during citizen's arrest"; see also R. v. Willness, 2023 BCSC 1216, where a group of people tackled a person to execute a citizen's arrest.

Caution

The Government of Canada provides the linked caution about executing a citizen's arrest.

Jen
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