In California, can a guard remove you from a bar?

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Can a guard remove you from a bar?

The short answer is no, generally speaking. Here’s why.

Private security guards are not police. Don’t forget that. They are employees of a private business open to the public. They are not police.

Security guards are there to prevent, observe, and report. In that sense, security guards have no greater right than you to perform a civilian’s arrest. If they perform a civilian’s arrest, security guards must use reasonable force. Otherwise, a security guard should not touch anyone, unless the guard is trying to protect a person, the employer’s property, or act in self-defense. If they do touch someone, they may have committed an assault or battery, a civil and criminal wrong.

Because a bar is private property, however, you have no right to be there. If bar management tells you to leave and you don’t, arguably you’re trespassing. At that point, a security guard should call the police. But he or she may argue that you were a danger to others and had to be physically removed before the police could arrive. That scenario, however, should be rare. Most cases simply involve a security guard removing a person from a bar. Generally speaking, they are not supposed to do that.

There’s more to discuss, but this is a general introduction.

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