Citizens do have the legal authority to stop each other from breaking the law.
I'd also be more likely to trust a that citizens arrest was appropriate than one effected by the police, for the simple reason that the police have protections against the consequences of either fucking up or outright breaking the law, which regular citizens do not have. Citizens will typically only step in if it is 100% clear they're provably in the right, whereas the police can do pretty much whatever the fuck they like and get away with it.
(, Tue 18 Jun 2019, 18:50, Share, Reply)