Police to gain new powers under Home Office revamp
New Home Office proposals, published on Thursday, would give the police greater powers of arrest and search.
Under the proposed shake-up police would be able to arrest any individual they suspect of a crime, including minor offences such as graffiti.
At the moment, broadly speaking, the police only arrest individuals they suspect of a crime that carries a minimum five-year jail sentence.
The Home Office argues that the current guidelines governing arrest are a “complex and often bewildering array of powers and procedures” and the change would clarify the situation for both police and public.
It emphasises that there would still be stringent guidelines to ensure that all arrests are “necessary”.
Although the proposals are only contained in a consultation document, Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said that the Government would be looking to legislate on them at the “earliest possible opportunity”.
On search powers, the Government suggests that police should be able to apply for warrants to search all properties linked to a suspect, rather than being required to apply for different warrants for each address.
Other ideas floated include greater powers for special constables to deal with minor offences like begging, the power to require suspects for certain offences to take a drug test on charge, limiting chief constables’ personal liability under health and safety law and allowing roadside fingerprinting.
Launching the consultation, Ms Blears said that today’s measures are designed to “strengthen the link between the police and the community, increasing the accountability and responsiveness of the service and building the confidence and awareness of the community.
“Protecting the public is our top priority – everyone has the right to live in a safe and secure environment. The chance of being a victim of crime is at its lowest for more than 20 years, but we are determined to do still more to cut crime.
“We need to maintain the crucial balance between the powers of the police and the rights of the individual, but we also need to make sure the police and other investigative agencies have the powers they need to tackle crime.”
The closing date for responses to the consultation is October 8th.
Len Duvall, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority said that they “welcome the continuing debate, and wholeheartedly agree with the intention to further strengthen the link between the police and the community, increasing the accountability and responsiveness of the service, and building the confidence and awareness of the community.
However he added the caveat that “we will want to be satisfied that any new powers introduced are both appropriate and workable, and will make a significant contribution to creating a more efficient, transparent and accountable service.”
