{"id":37379,"date":"2023-05-11T12:08:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/avocat-montreal.ca\/blog\/peace-officer-legal-definition\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T17:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:32:19","slug":"peace-officer-legal-definition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avocat-montreal.ca\/en\/legal-glossary\/peace-officer-legal-definition\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace officer: legal definition and example"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Definition\"><\/span>Definition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/avocat-montreal.ca\/en\/legal-glossary\/peace-officer-legal-definition\/#Definition\" >Definition<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/avocat-montreal.ca\/en\/legal-glossary\/peace-officer-legal-definition\/#Example\" >Example<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/avocat-montreal.ca\/en\/legal-glossary\/peace-officer-legal-definition\/#Legal_references\" >Legal references<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>A <strong>peace officer<\/strong> is a person who has the duty and powers to maintain public order and enforce the law, including police officers, sheriffs, prison guards, certain customs and fisheries officers and special constables. Peace officers have special powers of arrest, search and use of force, but they must respect the rights guaranteed by the Charter.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Example\"><\/span>Example<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A police officer of the Service de police de la Ville de Montr\u00e9al arrests a person caught in the act of theft. As a peace officer, they must inform the person promptly of the reasons for the arrest and of their right to counsel.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Legal_references\"><\/span>Legal references<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Criminal Code<\/em>, s. 2 (definition of peace officer), 25 (use of force) and 495 (arrest without warrant).<\/li>\n<li><em>Canadian Charter<\/em>, s. 10 (rights on arrest); Quebec <em>Police Act<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Definition A peace officer is a person who has the duty and powers to maintain public order and enforce the law, including police officers, sheriffs, prison guards, certain customs and fisheries officers and special constables. Peace officers have special powers of arrest, search and use of force, but they must respect the rights guaranteed by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-glossary"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Peace officer: legal definition and example | AM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Legal definition of a peace officer in Canadian law: police officers, special constables, powers of arrest, protection and obligations, with an example and references.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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