Use of Force for Security
New York State allows security guards and all other private persons to use force to effect a citizen’s arrest pursuant to New York State Penal Law Article 35.30 [4] which reads as follows:“A private person acting on his own account may use physical force, other than deadly physical force, upon another person when and to the extent that he reasonably believes such to be necessary to effect an arrest or to prevent the escape from custody of a person whom he reasonably believes to have committed an offense and who in fact committed such offense”.
There may be times when security guards are in a position to legally make an arrest and may have to use reasonable and necessary force upon a person to make that arrest, but there may be a company policy prohibiting them from the use of force or affecting an arrest. This issue should be resolved by the security guards and their employer. Please keep in mind that if a security guard uses too much force to make an arrest, he/she may be sued and/or have criminal charges filed against them.