(a) Police officers in municipalities shall be conservators of the peace. They shall have the power (i) to arrest or cause to be arrested, with or without process, all persons who break the peace or are found violating any municipal ordinance or any criminal law of the State, (ii) to commit arrested persons for examination, (iii) if necessary, to detain arrested persons in custody over night or Sunday in any safe place or until they can be brought before the proper court, and (iv) to exercise all other powers as conservators of the peace prescribed by the corporate authorities.
     (b) All warrants for the violation of municipal ordinances or the State criminal law, directed to any person, may be served and executed within the limits of a municipality by any police officer of the municipality. For that purpose, police officers have all the common law and statutory powers of sheriffs.

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Terms Used In Illinois Compiled Statutes 65 ILCS 5/11-1-2

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Municipalities: has the meaning established in Section 1 of Article VII of the Constitution of the State of Illinois of 1970. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.27
  • State: when applied to different parts of the United States, may be construed to include the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" may be construed to include the said district and territories. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.14

     (c) The corporate authorities of each municipality may prescribe any additional duties and powers of the police officers.