Can private security can use force?

Can private security can use force? Where do they get their legitimacy to do so? If they can't use force, what good are they? What if the board of directors is out of bounds in what they are asking private security to do? What if there is a dispute about who the legitimate board of directors is, such as in the article in the news section, "Will real Alta Sierra (CA) leadership please stand up?" What if two groups of private security are fighting each other? A horrified onlooker is assured: Don't worry. They are licensed professionals.

People tend to call the police because they want immediate action, only to learn that the police don't enforce HOA rules. There problem, as I see it, is that the courts move slowly, while actions continue in HOA's that cannot be easily undone, such as entering into contracts, major remodeling, cutting down trees, or excluding homeowners from meetings. Yet unless there is only one government with a monopoly on the use of force, there will be legally uncontrolled fighting.

What if there is no specific issue but the topic might be interesting for those who like to be prepared when "what if" becomes "what now?"

I don't recall the specfic issue but sooner or later it will happen as some of the larger HOA's try to use private security to enforce their rules.

This may vary from state to state, but in Arizona a private security guard has no more authority to arrest than a private citizen does. His right to use force is found in the same statutes that apply to private citizens making arrests.

The AZ statutes allow anyone to make an arrest for a felony and allow the use of force, including deadly force, as needed to subdue the suspect. The statutes authorize a person attempting to arrest a felon to break into a home if the alleged criminal has fled and taken refuge there. The courts have held that the statutes are a codification of common law rights.

Misdemeanor arrests are much trickier as there are only some crimes where a private person is allowed to make an arrest. Security personnel and other employees in retail stores are granted the power to arrest for shoplifting while non-employees do not have that same power. There is no right for a private citizen or security guard to arrest for traffic violations.

A person who arrests another does so at his own peril. I have seen situations where the citizen who made an arrest found himself prosecuted as an assailant or kidnapper. God help you if the felon dies. When you take a life you can expect to find yourself in front of a jury trying to justify what you did.

If you are in HOA patrolled by private security you would be well advised to know what state laws govern the situation should you have a confrontation.

This is slightly off topic but a sign of how goofy things can get.

A few years an Arizona driver was charged with impersonating a public official. The problem was that he was, in fact, employed by the state, had a state-issued badge, and was driving a clearly marked state-owned car.

He had been driving from Phoenix to Tucson when he was run off the road by the driver of a shuttle van who continued on as if nothing had happened. Unsure of what damage the car may have suffered, the state employee chased after the shuttle van, pulled up next to it, and gestured for the driver to pull over. When the driver refused, the state employee displayed the badge issued to him by his employer, the Registrar of Contractors. The shuttle van pulled over but the driver called for the highway patrol. The police charged the van driver with making an unsafe lane change and charged the state employee with impersonating a public official. The county prosecutor declined to prosecute the state employee.

Private security does not have arresting powers, so they cannot hold anyone, at least not indefinitely.