“Flog the bastards in public, that might stop them,” one Facebook poster said, to a flurry of “likes”.

Others called for the formation of vigilante mobs to roam Wagga’s suburbs after dark and hunt down young crims.

The seething anger was understandable, albeit misguided.

Wagga had just endured a crime tsunami that gave the city the dubious honour of having a higher incidence of stolen cars than Sydney’s trouble-plagued Mt Druitt.

The robbery and arson attack on an elderly Ashmont couple’s home was the last straw.

The incident marked a flashpoint in an already incendiary debate.

If police weren’t resourced to collar the crooks and the courts were too soft to keep them off the streets, then locals thought it was only fair they take the law into their own hands.

It sounds good in theory.

Wagga’s top cop Bob Noble implored residents to not physically assault or restrain offenders unless it was “to protect life or wellbeing”.

The practice of citizen's arrest dates back to medieval England when sheriffs encouraged ordinary people to help bring law breakers into custody. 

While you don’t need a badge to perform a citizen’s arrest, you must use "reasonable" force that is not "disproportionate" to the crime and you must take the offender straight to the police or a court of law.

The citizen’s arrest performed by a Wagga waitress and her partner last week offers a sobering reminder of how perilous it can be.

Rebecca Leigh and Luke Thomas noticed a car thief breaking into a car and acted on instinct. Mr Thomas chased the thief down and narrowly avoided being slashed with a knife as he detained him.

It was courageous, it was commendable, but it was highly dangerous.

Criminals, by nature, are risk takers.

They can be drunk, drugged-up and unpredictable.

And ordinary residents don’t have the training, safety gear or weapons to be tackling someone like that.

What’s more, if a citizen's arrest is not carried out to the letter of the law, then there can be legal repercussions for those that make it.

The solution is simple: keep your hands to yourself and use them to dial triple-0.