2.2 Guard Authority vs. Police Powers and Detention Rules

Quick Answer: A guard is a licensed civilian employee whose company is limited to preventive protection (Article 12, Federal Law No. 37 of 2006). A guard cannot arrest people, question them or search them. The Criminal Procedure Law gives every person, guards included, one narrow right. Article 49 lets you hand a person caught committing a felony or misdemeanour in flagrante delicto to the nearest public authority officer without a warrant. Hold the person only as long as it takes to hand them over. Call 999 at once, look after them safely, and do nothing a police officer alone may do.

Where a guard's authority comes from

A guard's authority has three sources, and each is limited:

1. The client's property rights. The occupier can decide who enters and on what conditions, such as a bag check. The guard enforces those conditions by refusing entry. Refusing entry never means using force to inspect someone.
2. Rights every person has under general law. These are the handover of an offender caught in the act (Article 49) and legitimate defence (Section 2.3).
3. The private security legislation. It defines the guard's role, uniform, equipment and licence.

Outside the client's boundary, a guard has no more authority than any other resident.

Guard versus police officer

The flagrante delicto rule

Article 43 of the Criminal Procedure Law treats a crime as caught in flagrante delicto in these cases:

• It is seen being committed, or shortly afterwards.
• The victim chases the offender, or the public chase them with shouts, right after the crime.
• The offender is found shortly afterwards carrying tools, weapons, items or belongings that show they committed or helped commit it.
• There are traces or signs at that time showing the same.

Article 49: "Whoever watches the Perpetrator in Flagrante Delicto while perpetrating a felony or a misdemeanor … shall turn him/her over to the nearest public authority officer with no need for an Arrest Warrant." Public authority officers then hand the person to the nearest judicial police officer (Article 50). Some offences can be prosecuted only on a complaint by the victim. For those, Article 51 allows an arrest only if the person entitled to complain authorises it.

The executive order's definition of a "security guard" includes retaining people suspected of stealing goods or money (Ministerial Decision No. 557, Article 1). Read it together with Article 49: holding someone is lawful only as a short bridge to the police. It is never a punishment and never an investigation.

When a guard must NOT hold anyone

• On suspicion, a hunch or the way someone looks.
• For an incident that ended hours or days ago and was only discovered later, for example on CCTV review. Report it to the police instead.
• In a civil dispute, such as an argument over a bill or a contractor's invoice.
• Because someone refuses a bag check or refuses to show ID. The correct response is to refuse entry.

Unlawful detention is a serious crime

Article 395 of the Crimes and Penalties Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021) punishes anyone who unlawfully kidnaps, seizes, detains or deprives another person of liberty. The penalty is temporary imprisonment. It rises to life imprisonment in aggravated cases, including where the offender assumes a public capacity or pretends to perform a public service. A guard who tells a suspect "I am the police" or locks someone in a storeroom therefore takes an enormous legal risk. Ministerial Decision No. 557 also bars companies from using the words police, detectives, intelligence, police officer or officer in their advertising (Article 39).

Restraints and weapons

• Article 105: a security employee may not possess any firearm, any part of one, or any weapon that fires, while on duty.
• Article 106: a security employee may hold "strict weapons" only if the company issues them and the Competent Authority approves them. These are a truncheon or baton no longer than 24 inches (60 cm), and handcuffs or other restraining devices. Their use requires training and authorisation from the Competent Authority.
• Article 16 of the Law (as amended in 2017) requires security-body approvals and licences for both company and employee before any weapon is carried.

A newly licensed basic guard should assume that none of this equipment is authorised unless the employer has issued it under an approval. Never improvise restraints with cable ties, tape, rope or belts.

Duty of care while waiting for police

Once you restrict someone's movement, you are responsible for their safety:

1. Call 999 immediately, and inform the control room and your supervisor.
2. Keep the person in a lit, ventilated, air-conditioned room covered by CCTV, never outdoors in summer heat or in a closed vehicle.
3. Offer water and a seat, and allow supervised use of a toilet.
4. Call 998 for an ambulance at any sign of illness or injury: chest pain, breathing difficulty, bleeding, fainting or diabetic symptoms.
5. Protect the person from bystanders, filming and insults.
6. Do not question them, search their bag or pockets, or take their phone or wallet. If goods were taken from the store, ask them to place the items on a table in view of the camera.
7. A female suspect should be supervised by a female staff member. The Criminal Procedure Law requires a female accused to be searched only by a woman (Article 53), and the same standard applies to any contact.

Handover to police

When officers arrive, step back and give a short factual briefing: who was involved, what you saw, when (time of the act and of the 999 call), where, and how. Record the officers' names or numbers, the station and any incident reference. Then complete the occurrence book entry and incident report.

Case study: shoplifting at a Yas Island mall

Guard Mansour watches a man put two phones in his bag and walk past the tills without paying. The offence is in flagrante delicto because he saw it committed. Mansour stops the man just outside the shop and calmly asks him to come to the customer service office. His colleague calls 999 and the mall control room. Mansour offers the man water and a chair. He refuses a suggestion to "settle this privately", does not open the bag and asks no questions about motive. When police arrive ten minutes later, he gives the facts and the time of the call and points out the CCTV coverage. He then records the officers' details and completes his report.

Section summary checklist

• No arrest, questioning or forced search powers. The company's role is preventive (Article 12).
• Article 49: hand over a person caught in flagrante delicto to the nearest public authority officer, without a warrant.
• Article 43 lists the flagrante delicto situations.
• Article 395: unlawful detention is a serious crime, and claiming to be police aggravates it.
• Firearms are banned (Article 105). Batons (60 cm maximum) and cuffs are allowed only if company-issued, approved, and the guard is trained (Article 106).
• Call 999, look after the person, and hand over with a factual briefing.