Well, just to be pedantic:
Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 14.03(b) A peace officer shall arrest, without a warrant, a person the peace officer has probable cause to believe has committed an offense under Section 25.07, Penal Code (violation of Protective Order), or Section 38.112, Penal Code (violation of Protective Order issued on basis of sexual assault), if the offense is committed in the presence of the peace officer.
(c) If reasonably necessary to verify an allegation of a violation of a protective order or of the commission of an offense involving family violence, a peace officer shall remain at the scene of the investigation to verify the allegation and to prevent the further commission of the violation or of family violence.
All the other laws authorizing arrest use the word
may.
Logic dictates that a peace officer can be in only one place and do only one thing at a time, so he may have to chose between situations to intervene in. For example, if an officer is attending a car wreck and sees someone run a red light, he can't leave the scene to chase the offender.
- Jim