ACTIn ForceAct
Crimes Act 1900
221Use of force in making arrest
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 221
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Crimes Act 1900.
221 Use of force in making arrest
(1) A person shall not, in the course of arresting another person for an
offence, use more force, or subject the other person to greater
indignity, than is necessary and reasonable to make the arrest or to
prevent the escape of the other person after the arrest.
(2) Without limiting the operation of subsection (1), a police officer shall
not, in the course of arresting a person for an offence do anything that
is likely to cause the death of, or grievous bodily harm to, the person,
(a) the officer believes on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to
do so to protect life or to prevent serious injury to the officer or
another person; and
(b) if the person is attempting to escape arrest by fleeing—the
person has, if practicable, been called on to surrender and the
officer believes on reasonable grounds that the person cannot be
apprehended in any other way.