Opinion By Emily Hoeven : sfchronicle – excerpt
California’s citizen’s arrest process has significant implications for how law enforcement handles lower-level crime. And how victims are treated
Joseph Shapiro heard the screaming first.
But, as the then 68-year-old law firm administrator stepped out of a cab in front of his downtown San Francisco office one morning last October, he didn’t think much about it. He’d recently moved from Pennsylvania to a neighborhood not far from the Tenderloin, where such sounds were commonplace enough that he barely registered them anymore.
Then came the hard crack of something hitting his head — and the sudden, sharp sensation of pain in his skull and shoulder…
Dazed, Shapiro grabbed his phone and called 911. Police arrived on the scene about six minutes later — during which time Shapiro observed the aggressor continuing to scream and threaten people with a broomstick, according to a call transcript I obtained from the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
To Shapiro’s astonishment, however, police told him he had to sign a citizen’s arrest form for the alleged offender, identified as 45-year-old Billy Jiles Holdman III of San Francisco, to be taken into custody…
California’s citizen’s arrest process — a little-understood procedure that’s been in place since 1872 — has significant implications for how law enforcement handles lower-level crime.
Under the state penal code, without a warrant, law enforcement officers can’t arrest someone for most misdemeanor crimes unless the offense happens in their presence — or unless a witness signs a citizen’s arrest form…
In a statement, the District Attorney’s Office said, “When we are unable to get in touch with victims or witnesses, we proceed in good faith, and work to advance justice in accordance with professional and ethical guidelines.” The office added, “We only bring forth charges that we can prove.”
For Shapiro, the experience solidified “everything I’ve been hearing about street crime in this city — that it’s not being dealt with.”
“I thought when they replaced the DA … part of this was about finding somebody who was going to pay more attention to street crime,” Shapiro said. “But this happened under the new one, so …”…(more)