The prosecution of offenders against the peace
The Declaration
Every new recruit must be sworn in by a local magistrate to grant them
the full powers of a police constable. This is what's know as
the attestation ceremony which will be held at force Headquarters.
At this short, but important, ceremony you will be sworn-in as a constable
in the presence of a senior magistrate and chief police officer. Following
the service you will receive your warrant card and a declaration of service
certificate.
POLICE REFORM ACT 2002
The Declaration has now been changed under the above act. The new declaration
shown below will be sworn by new officers from October 1st 2002.
" I (NAME) of (TOWN) do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm
that I will well, and truly serve the Queen in the office of Constable,
with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental
human rights and according equal respect to all people; and that I will,
to the best of my power cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent
all offences against people and property; and that while I continue to hold
the said office I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all
the duties thereof faithfully according to law "
The Caution
The 'Notice to Detained Persons' (NDP), the English police caution
administered to suspects at the moment of arrest.
"You do not have to say anything
But it may harm your defence if you do not mention,
when questioned something which you later rely on in court.
Anything you do say may be given in evidence."
Make sure that what was said has been understood!
If they don't understand you need to explain it to them in simple terms.
The caution is made up of three parts:
The first part is
“YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING”
This means that even though I will be asking you questions, you don't have to answer them.
Do you understand this part?
The second part is
“BUT IF MAY HARM YOUR DEFENCE IF YOU DO NOT MENTION WHEN QUESTIONED SOMETHING WHICH YOU LATER RELY ON IN COURT”
This means that if this case goes to court and you tell the court something that you did not tell me during this interview that you could have told me, then the court can draw its own conclusions from you doing this.
Do you understand this part?
The third and final part is
“ANYTHING YOU DO SAY MAY BE GIVEN IN EVIDENCE”
This means that if this case goes to court, the court can be told about anything you say during this interview.
Do you understand this part?”
Arrest without warrant: Constables
The Serious and Organised Crime & Police Act 2005 changed the power to arrest in England & Wales. The main change was that the erm 'Arrestable Offence' has
now gone and any Constable can arrest for any offence.
For those who knew the old s.24 & s25 PACE powers will notice that the old powers and the new powers are
pretty much the same!
(1) A constable may arrest without a warrant-
(a) anyone who is about to commit an offence;
(b) anyone who is in the act of committing an offence;
(c) anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be about to commit an offence;
(d) anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing an offence.
(2) If a constable has reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed, he may arrest without a warrant anyone whom he has reasonable grounds to suspect of being guilty of it.
(3) If an offence has been committed, a constable may arrest without a warrant-
(a) anyone who is guilty of the offence;
(b) anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be guilty of it.
(4) But the power of summary arrest conferred by subsection (1), (2) or (3) is exercisable only if the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that for any of the reasons mentioned in subsection (5) it is necessary to arrest the person in question.
(5) The reasons are-
(a) to enable the name of the person in question to be ascertained (in the case where the constable does not know, and cannot readily ascertain, the person's name, or has reasonable grounds for doubting whether a name given by the person as his name is his real name);
(b) correspondingly as regards the person's address;
(c) to prevent the person in question-
(i) causing physical injury to himself or any other person;
(ii) suffering physical injury;
(iii) causing loss of or damage to property;
(iv) committing an offence against public decency (subject to subsection (6)); or
(v) causing an unlawful obstruction of the highway;
(d) to protect a child or other vulnerable person from the person in question;
(e) to allow the prompt and effective investigation of the offence or of the conduct of the person in question;
(f) to prevent any prosecution for the offence from being hindered by the disappearance of the person in question.
(6) Subsection (5)(c)(iv) applies only where members of the public going about their normal business cannot reasonably be expected to avoid the person in question.
Types of British Law
