Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Andrew Dickens: The Government's proposed changes to loosen citizen arrest laws lack detail

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Andrew Dickens: The Government's proposed changes to loosen citizen arrest laws lack detail · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So the power of citizens arrest was all the talk yesterday,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: and I think we all agree that poor old dairy
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: owners and small retailers who watch rat bags nicking their
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: stuff need the ability to be able to detain the thieves.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: But the announcement came without many details. The Justice MINISIP
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Paul Goldsmith says the changes will expand a person's ability
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to detain someone committing a crime to any time of
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the day and over any stolen goods. So what we've
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: got at the moment citizens arrest can be made right now,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: but it can't be made outside the hours of nine
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: pm to six am unless the goods being stolen are
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: worth at least one thousand dollars. And you can make
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: a citizens arrest, but you need to know your law.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: You need to know whether the crime committed is going
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: to attract a custody or sentence of more than three years,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: and you need to know the legal definition of reasonable.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: So when appearing on Ryan Bridges Show last night, the
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Minister stammered and under and ard and then stressed it's
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: only a proposal, and he seemed vague on the rules
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: of engagement, which is what we all wanted, and that
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: is critical information. In other interviews yesterday, the minister also
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: said the courts will provide guy and says to the
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: boundaries of the law. So in other words, he's saying,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: have a crack and if it all goes horribly wrong
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and the shopkeeper ends out in court, well we'll figure
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: out the rules better. No wonder. Many in retail say
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: it will change nothing. It is a big risk taking
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: on a criminal. You'll probably discover they're much more at
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: home with violence than you are. Already, though, we've seen
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: shopkeepers defend their shop from robbers with softball bats and
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: not get into trouble. So does it really help. We
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: will see when it's written. And at the very least,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: I'd like to see a good robust law that enables
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: shopkeepers to be able to stop customers leaving shops with
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: stuff in their bag. You may remember the well known
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: criminal Goalris Garriment got away with refusing a bag check.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: I hope that sort of thing stops, But so far
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: the citizens Arrest law. As I hate to say it,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: here comes that phrase. It's a bit of an announcement
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: of an announcement and it needs a lot more work.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
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• 1:55
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