Editing Vigelantism (section)

===Dangers===
Most law enforcement officials discourage anyone from performing a citizen's arrest, especially where physical force is involved. See Weber's theory of the state|Monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Doing so can subject a person to legal action, including charges of impersonating police, false imprisonment, kidnapping, or wrongful arrest, especially if the wrong person is apprehended or a suspect's civil rights are violated.

The level of responsibility that a person performing a citizen's arrest may bear depends on the jurisdiction. For instance, in France and Germany, a person stopping a criminal from committing a crime, including crimes against belongings, is not criminally responsible as long as the means employed are in proportion to the threat (note, however, that at least in Germany this results from a different legal norm: "self-defence" and "aid to others in immediate danger" - which are concerned with prevention not prosecution of crimes).

The act of making an arrest may be dangerous in several senses.  First and foremost is the likelihood that the arrest will be resisted, possibly with force or even a weapon.  Further, the typical private person is not trained or equipped to carry out an arrest safely &ndash; even most security guards who are familiar with citizen's arrests lack sufficient training.  Last but not least, many legal jurisdictions consider the citizen's arrest to be a special case where any mistake by the arresting party may result in civil or criminal liability.  Excessive force may result in criminal charges against the arresting party.

In areas where police services are available, anyone witnessing a serious crime is strongly advised for their own safety to notify the police rather than attempting direct intervention.  Even if intervention is attempted, the safest objective may be to scare off the assailant or criminal rather than to attempt to take them into custody.

In rural or other settings, a general call for help may be more appropriate.