Short answer. Yes. Rule 113 allows an officer making a lawful arrest to orally summon as many persons as he deems necessary to assist in effecting it, and every person so summoned must assist — but only when he can render such assistance without detriment to himself. The duty has that built-in limit.
What the law says
An officer making a lawful arrest may orally summon as many persons as he deems necessary to assist him in effecting the arrest.
Rule 113, Section 10 — Officer may summon assistance. Read the full provision →
What the law says
when he can render such assistance without detriment to himself
Rule 113, Section 10 — Officer may summon assistance. Read the full provision →
The power to summon help
Rule 113, Section 10 provides: An officer making a lawful arrest may orally summon as many persons as he deems necessary to assist him in effecting the arrest. The summons needs no writing and no formality — an officer struggling to restrain a suspect can call on the tricycle driver, the storekeeper, the passers-by, on the spot. How many to call is left to the officer's judgment: as many persons as he deems necessary. The rule recognises a practical reality of policing, that arrests sometimes outmatch the officers present, and it deputises the public's hands for that moment.
A real duty, with a built-in limit
The second sentence makes the summons more than a request: Every person so summoned by an officer shall assist him in effecting the arrest — the word is shall. But the same sentence sets the boundary: the duty exists when he can render such assistance without detriment to himself. A bystander is not required to throw himself at an armed suspect, abandon a child in his care, or take on a risk the officer is paid and trained to bear. The law asks for the help you can safely give — holding a gate, lending a vehicle, helping restrain a subdued person — not heroism.
The arrest must be lawful
The power belongs to An officer making a lawful arrest. The section presupposes that the arrest itself rests on lawful ground — a warrant, or one of the recognised situations in which the Rules allow arrest without one. A summoned civilian is entitled to take the situation at face value: an identifiable officer effecting what appears to be an arrest. The civilian is the officer's helper for the moment, acting under the officer's direction and authority — which is also why the choice of what force to use, and against whom, remains the officer's responsibility, not the volunteer's.
If you are the one summoned
Assess in seconds what the law builds into the rule: can you actually help without harm to yourself? If yes, help within your limits and under the officer's direction — restrain, carry, block, call for more police. If no — the suspect is armed, the scene is violent, your own safety or dependants forbid it — the rule's own words excuse you. Afterwards, it is sensible to note the officer's name and unit and what you did, in case the arrest is later questioned and your small role needs explaining. Refusing help you could safely have given is where legal exposure begins; prudence is not refusal.