Police say they are not worried about a rise in vigilantism in Toronto following a pair of recent citizen's arrests in the city.

Const. Wendy Drummond of Toronto Police told ctvtoronto.ca she thinks it's prudent to base each situation on its own merits, and police don't consider the slight increase of incidents a concern.

"If the emerging trend is looking out for neighbours and stopping crime, then absolutely" it's not a concern, Drummond said. "But if the emerging trend is taking the law into their own hands and making citizen's arrests left, right and centre – I don't think that's the case."

Citizen's arrests are often motivated by a person's instinct to be a Good Samaritan, or from being a victim themselves in the past, police said.

"It's our duty to look out for our neighbours and our own property," Drummond said. However, she added she would never advocate citizen's arrest.

Const. Victor Kwong from Toronto Police told ctvtoronto.ca that many times the instinct to act is instant.

"Often it's happening in front of you and it's instinctual to want to do good."

In one case, a teenager was detained by a homeowner and his son following an attempted car theft from their driveway.

The two held the accused Sunday night outside their home in the Lawrence Avenue West and Glencairn Avenue area until police arrived.

Another man was charged after a concerned citizen saw him enter a car parked in a driveway on Wheatfield Road in the Mimico area on May 23.

The citizen grabbed the man from inside the car and then alerted the vehicle's owners who then called police.

Canada's criminal code clearly outlines the power of arrest citizens hold, Kwong said.

Section 494 states that any one may arrest without warrant:

  • a person whom he finds committing an indictable offence; or
  • a person who, on reasonable grounds, he believes
  • has committed a criminal offence, and
  • is escaping from and freshly pursued by persons who have lawful authority to arrest that person

Kwong said he thinks citizens having the right to make arrests can be a good thing.

"But having said that, every situation has different issues: Is the person comfortable with the situation? Are there weapons involved?"

Kwong said it's always best for a person to call police first and take safety into consideration.

"It doesn't mean you're not doing anything. You're being a good witness."

The issue of citizen's arrests came to light in Toronto recently when a Chinatown businessman was acquitted of assault charges after forcibly confining a man who shoplifted from his store.

David Chen, owner of the Lucky Moose Market on Dundas Street West, was arrested in May 2009 when he, and two other men, chased a known shoplifter down, captured him, tied him up and held him in the back of a van until police arrived.

Chen was acquitted of all charges in December 2010 in a trial that stirred debate around Canada's citizen's arrest laws.

A proposed bill calling for the laws to be expanded has been tabled after second reading in the House of Commons in March.