Use of force and detention

There has been a lot of comments in this forum about whether or not security guards have the lawful authority to detain/arrest and to use force against a person.

First of all, your company policies or relevant jurisdictional laws do not change the laws and policies for somebody in a different state/country. My laws allow me to detain somebody for a reasonable duration if they are inside of a building which did not reasonably appear to be open to the public, and to arrest someone I witness committing a felony, or a malicious trespass, or a misdemeanor which is also a breach of the peace. My company allows force to be used for any lawful purpose. Your jurisdiction and your company will have different rules.

Not all security guards are do nothing observe and report shirt fillers. There are plenty of us who have the ability to enforce policy and (elements of) law, and do so without being try hard tacticool sheepdogs.

Learn your limitations, and don’t assume that those limitations apply universally.