Someone—either a police officer or a citizen—who detains another person without the legal right to do so may have committed a false arrest, also called a wrongful arrest. The wrongly detained person has the right to sue for monetary compensation, but such lawsuits are often difficult to win.
Typically, lawsuits over false arrests arise when:
- a law enforcement official arrests the wrong person without reasonable justification (probable cause), or
- a private citizen, often a store security guard, detains an innocent shopper suspected of stealing merchandise.
Legal Grounds for Arrest
It’s legal for an officer to arrest someone if the officer:
- has an arrest warrant issued by a judge
- believes the subject is trying to flee after committing a crime
- believes there is probable cause for an arrest
The question of whether or not an arrest is justified is separate from the question of whether or not the arrested person is later found guilty of a crime. Even if all criminal charges are dropped or the defendant is found not guilty, it doesn’t mean the arrest wasn’t legal.
Probable Cause
To arrest someone, police must have what’s called “probable cause.” This term, which comes from the fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, means observable facts or evidence that would make a reasonable person believe that a crime has been—or will be—committed by the suspect.
For example, a police officer might say, “I received a report of a prowler in the neighborhood at 4 a.m., and ten minutes later saw the suspect running from a garage, carrying a bag and what looked like burglary tools.” That would likely be probable cause to detain the person seen running under these suspicious circumstances. In contrast, an officer who said, “I saw a man walking down the sidewalk and I just knew he was up to no good,” would not have had probable cause for an arrest. Similarly, a general suspicion based on a racial or gender stereotype is not probable cause.
Ultimately, it’s up to a judge to decide whether or not the officer had probable cause to arrest someone, based on the unique facts of every case. A judge who decides that an arrest was made without probable cause can order the charges dismissed and the suspect released.
Private security guards are usually authorized, by law, to stop shoppers if they have probable cause to believe that they have stolen something. They cannot detain someone because they think the person is going to shoplift—for example, because the person is heading toward the door with unpaid-for merchandise. To have probable cause, the store employee must have seen the person take merchandise it and leave the store without paying for it.
If a security guard doesn’t have probable cause to think you have stolen something, but asks you to stop and open a bag you’re carrying before you leave a store, you don’t have to comply. But if you do consent to open the bag or accompany the employee to a store office, you cannot later claim that you were falsely arrested or held.
Suing for False Arrest
Someone who has been the victim of a false arrest may bring a lawsuit against the officer and the officer’s employer—the city, county, state or other entity. The lawsuit might ask for compensation for lost wages, damage to your reputation, injury, or other losses. These lawsuits are tough to win. Usually, only someone who has suffered some physical injury while detained can expect a successful lawsuit for false arrest.
