Police security officers

Police security officers are appointed under Part 9A of the Police Act 1998 (SA) to protect certain people, places or vehicles. They are not police officers and cannot exercise the broad powers of the police. Police security officers instead have only those powers necessary to ensure the protection of the person, place or vehicle they are protecting. This includes giving reasonable directions for the purpose of maintaining or restoring security, such as directing a person attempting to enter a protected place to produce identification and submit to a search [s 63Q].

A person who fails to comply with a police security officer’s lawful direction may be refused entry, removed from the protected place or detained until they can be handed over to the police. Reasonable force may be used. It is an offence to hinder or obstruct a police security officer in the course of their duties, refuse their lawful directions or provide a false identity, with a maximum penalty of $2,500 or imprisonment for 6 months [s 63V].

Security guards and others

In some circumstances private citizens may make a lawful arrest (known as a citizen’s arrest):

Suspecting someone of having committed an offence is not enough for a citizen's arrest. The civilian must see the offender commit the offence. Anyone exercising a power of arrest must be careful because a person wrongly arrested can sue for false arrest and obtain damages or compensation. If a citizen's arrest is made the arrested person must be handed over to the police without delay and a full explanation given of the reasons for the arrest.