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12
Misde- meanors,
Power to prevent Felonies.
Felony in view;
Charge of another,
No charge; Suspicion of Constable.
At night,
Offences, such as common Assaults, Affrays, and riots, are called Misdemeanors.
As it is more important to prevent and punish the Commission of great Crimes than of the lesser Offences, the Constable has a greater Power in Cases of Felonies than in those of mere Misdemeanors.
But the first Duty of a Constable is always to prevent the Commis- sion of a Crime.
We shall therefore now show him what Power he has to arrest a Party whom, from his Situation and Character, the Law judges to be likely to commit some felony.
The Constable may arrest one whom he has just cause to suspect to be about to commit a Felony. Thus, when a drunken Person, or a Man in a violent Passion, threatens the Life of another, the Constable should interfere and arrest.
He should arrest any Person having in his Possession any Picklock Key, Crow, Jack, Bit, or other Implement with Intent feloniously to break into any Dwelling House, Warehouse, Coachhouse, Stable, or Outbuilding, or any Person armed with any Gun, Pistol, Hanger, Cutlass, Bludgeon, or offensive Weapon, or having upon him any Instrument with Intent to commit any felonious Act.
Every person found in any Dwelling House, Warehouse, Coach- house, Outhouse, or Stable, or in any enclosed Yard, Garden, or Area, and being there for an unlawful purpose, may be arrested.
In each of these cases the Constable must judge from the Situation and Behaviour of the Party, what his Intention is. In some Cases no Doubt can exist, as when the Party is a notorious Thief, or acting with those who are Thieves, or when the Party is seen to try People's Pockets in a Crowd, or to attempt to break into a house, or to The endeavour to take any Property secretly from another. Constable will not act hastily, in case the Intention is not clear, but- content himself with watching closely the suspected Party, that he may discover his Design.
The Constable must arrest any one whom he sees in the Act of committing a Felony, or any one whom another positively charges with having committed a Felony, or whom another suspects of having committed a Felony, if the Suspicion appear to the Constable to be well founded, and provided the Person so suspecting go with the Constable.
Though no Charge be made, yet if the Constable suspect a Person to have committed a Felony he should arrest him, and if he have reasonable Grounds for his Suspicion he will be justified, even though it should afterwards appear that no Felony was in fact committed; but the Constable must be cautious in thus acting upon his own Suspicions.
Generally, if the Arrest was made discreetly and fairly, in pursuit of an Offender, and not from any private Malice or Ill-will, the Constable need not doubt that the Law will protect him.
If after Sunset, and before Sunrising, the Constable shall see any one carrying a Bundle or Goods which he suspects were stolen, he should stop and examine the Person and detain him; but here also he should judge from circumstances (such as the Appearance and Manner of
the Party, his Account of himself, and the like), whether he has really got stolen Goods, before he actually takes him into Custody.
The Constable must make every Exertion to effect the Arrest; Powers to and the Law gives him abundant Power for the Purpose. If the arrest. Felon or Party accused of Felony fly, he may be immediately followed wherever he goes; and if he takes Refuge in a House the Constable may break open the doors, if necessary, to get in, first stating who Breaking he is, and his Business; but the breaking open outer Doors is so Doors. dangerous a Proceeding that the Constable never should resort to it except in extreme Cases, and when an immediate arrest is necessary.
There are some Cases in which a Constable may and ought to break into a House, although no Felony has been committed, when the Necessity of the Case will not admit of Delay, as when Persons are fighting furiously in a House, or when a House has been entered by others with a felonious Intent, and a Felony will probably be committed unless the Constable interfere, and there are no other Means of entering; except in such Cases it is better, in general, that the Constable should wait till he has a Warrant from a Magistrate for the Purpose.
Aid.
If a Constable finds his exertions insufficient to effect the Arrest Demanding he ought to require all Persons present to assist him, and they are bound to do so.
If a Prisoner should escape he may be retaken, and in immediate Escape. Pursuit the Constable may follow him into any Place or any House.
nors.
In Cases of actual Breaches of the Peace, as Riots, Affrays, Misdemea Assaults, and the like, committed within the View of the Constable, he should immediately interfere (first giving public Notice of his Office, if he be not already known), separate the Combatants, and prevent others from joining in the Affray. If the Riot, &c., be of a serious Nature, or if the Offenders do not immediately desist, he should take them into Custody, securing also the principal Instigators of the Tumult, and doing everything in his Power to restore Quiet.
A Constable, in Cases of Assault which have not been committed Assault. in his Presence, or Within his View, is not authorised to arrest or assist in arresting the Party charged, nor is he to receive a Person so charged into his Custody, unless the Party has been arrested by some other Constable who saw the Assault committed.
He may arrest anyone assaulting or opposing him in the Execution of his Duty.
If a person forcibly enter the House of another the Constable may, at the Request of the Owner, turn him out directly; if he have entered peaceably, and the Owner request the Constable to turn him out, the Constable should first request him to go out, and unless he do so he should turn him out, in either Case using no more Force than is necessary for that Purpose.
When the Offence has not yet been committed, but when a Breach Persons of the Peace is likely to take place, as when Persons are openly preparing break the
about to
to fight, the Constable should take the Parties concerned into Custody: Peace.
if they fly into a House, or are making Preparations to fight within the House, the Constable should enter the Honse to prevent them, and likewise take the Parties into Custody; and should the Doors be