Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 901.18 (2025)

Officer may summon assistance.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
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901.18 Officer may summon assistance.A peace officer making a lawful arrest may command the aid of persons she or he deems necessary to make the arrest. A person commanded to aid shall render assistance as directed by the officer. A person commanded to aid a peace officer shall have the same authority to arrest as that peace officer and shall not be civilly liable for any reasonable conduct in rendering assistance to that officer.
History.s. 18, ch. 19554, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 8663(18); s. 7, ch. 70-339; s. 1462, ch. 97-102.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 26 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1969–2025 · leading case: Creedle v. Miami-Dade Cnty., 349 F. Supp. 3d 1276 (S.D. Fla. 2018).
Creedle v. Miami-Dade Cnty., 349 F. Supp. 3d 1276 (S.D. Fla. 2018). · cites it 10× “" Fla. Stat. § 901.18 . Mr. Creedle argues that the County's position with respect to this provision of Florida law is "untenable" because the County's interpretation would "require every person who is asked to make an arrest to make that arrest" and, thus, "[t]here would be no…”
C.F.C. v. Miami-Dade Cnty., 349 F. Supp. 3d 1236 (S.D. Fla. 2018). · cites it 10× “" Fla. Stat. § 901.18 . Plaintiffs argue that the County's position with respect to this provision of Florida law is untenable because the County's interpretation would "require every person who is asked to make an arrest to make that arrest" and, thus, there would be no limit…”
Huebner v. State, 731 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). · cites it 6× “Section 901.18, Florida Statutes (1997), authorizes a "peace officer" making a lawful arrest to command the aid of persons he deems necessary to make the arrest, and confers on persons so commanded the same arresting authority as is held by the peace officer.”
Jeffrey L. Poulakis v. Michael Rogers, 341 F. App'x 523 (11th Cir. 2009). · cites it 2× “2006) (citing Florida appellate decisions construing Florida’s “fellow-officer” rule, Fla. Stat. Ann. § 901.18 ); Migut v. Flynn, 131 F.”
State v. Phoenix, 428 So. 2d 262 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). · cites it 2× “NOTES [1] Another important exception is embodied in § 901.18, Fla. Stat. (1979). Pursuant to this section, persons acting on the commands of a police officer have the same authority to arrest as the police officer.”
State v. Boatman, 901 So. 2d 222 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). · cites it 2× “As a result, the rule is related to the provision in section 901.18, Florida Statutes (2003), which permits an officer making an arrest to "command the aid of persons she or he deems necessary to make the arrest.”
Riehle v. State, Dep't of High. Saf. & Motor Vehs., 684 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). · cites it 10× “Because the circuit court’s order erroneously interprets section 901.18, Florida Statutes (1993), thus improperly sustaining the legality of the arrest, we grant certiorari relief.”
State v. Steffani, 398 So. 2d 475 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). · cites it 3× “[7] See, Section 901.18, Florida Statutes (1979) ("A peace officer making a lawful arrest may command the aid of persons he deems necessary to make the arrest.”
Goodman v. State, 399 So. 2d 1120 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). · cites it 2× “By virtue of Section 901.18, Florida Statutes (1979), Ortenzo had, under these circumstances, the same authority as that of the deputy sheriffs.”
State v. Eldridge, 565 So. 2d 787 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). · cites it 2× “15(5) (presence requirement specifically relates to violations of chapter 316, traffic offenses). The defendant contends that since Martinez did not see him in actual physical control of the truck, his arrest by Martinez was unlawful.”
Kirby v. State, 217 So. 2d 619 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969). · cites it 2× “1967, Section 901.18, F.S.A., as an officer summoned to aid Deputy Bowling in making the arrest.”
Morris L. Williams v. The Miami-Dade Police Dept., 297 F. App'x 941 (11th Cir. 2008). “Fla. Stat. Ann. § 901.18 ; see, e.g., Voorhees v.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.

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