— Also termed breach of peace; disturbing the peace; disturbance of the peace; public disturbance. See disorderly conduct under CONDUCT. [Cases: Breach of the Peace 1–14. C.J.S. Breach of the Peace §§ 2–13; Domestic Abuse and Violence§§ 3, 6.]
“A breach of the peace takes place when either an assault is committed on an individual or public alarm and excitement is caused. Mere annoyance or insult is not enough: thus at common law a householder could not give a man into custody for violently and persistently ringing his door-bell. It is the particular duty of a magistrate or police officer to preserve the peace unbroken; hence if he has reasonable cause to believe that a breach of the peace is imminent he may be justified in committing an assault or effecting an arrest.” R.F.V. Heuston, Salmond on the Law of Torts 131 (17th ed. 1977).
“The beginning of our criminal justice … was concerned very largely with the problem of keeping the peace. Because of this fact all early indictments included some such phrase as ‘against the peace of the King’; and until recently statutory provisions for simplification, indictments in this country were thought to be incomplete without some such conclusion as ‘against the peace and dignity of the state.’ As a result of this history all indictable offenses are sometimes regarded as deeds which violate the public peace, and hence in a loose sense the term ‘breach of the peace’ is regarded as a synonym for crime.” Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 477 (3d ed. 1982).
