Citizen’s arrests opened up to tackle retail crime, Govt announces

Retailers and members of the public will soon have beefed-up rights to detain and arrest suspected thieves by using “reasonable force”, the Government has announced.

It says the measures will help tackle retail crime.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the coalition would implement the first suite of recommendations from its retail crime advisory group.

The changes recommended by the group included:

Under existing laws, ordinary people could detain someone they found committing a Crimes Act offence at night between 9pm and 6am. The provision also applied to crimes where the maximum punishment was at least three years imprisonment.

“Currently, no one, including retailers and security guards, is protected from civil or criminal liability if they arrest and detain a person stealing goods valued at less than $1000 during the day,” Goldsmith said.

“The operation of the Crimes Act 1961 hinders people from stopping offending as it occurs right in front of them.

“This initial package of reforms, put forward by the ministerial advisory group for victims of retail crime, will give Kiwi businesses additional tools to deal with those that are robbing them of their livelihood and economic growth.”

Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said the “sensible” reforms would help protect the 230,000 people who worked in the retail sector, saying further changes were coming.

“The recommendations the group has come up with are sensible reforms that will enable retail offenders to be more readily stopped and deterred from future offending.

“This is just the first suite of initiatives put forward by the ministerial advisory group that the Government will be implementing.”