1. Police Powers 2:
Powers of Arrest
Miss Hart
2012-3

2. Task:
Using your
understanding of
everything you
have been taught
so far, complete the
definitions sheets…
you will have to
give examples for
some of them!
28th Sept

3. Some extra information...
Citizen’s powers of arrest
s.24(a) PACE 1984 as amended
Only arrest for indictable offences
Some further
If there are reasonable grounds to believe the arrest is
necessary for a reason specified and information...
It is not reasonably practical for a constable to make the
arrest A legal guide to
citizen’s arrest
What is an acceptable reason? guardian.co.uk
To prevent D...
Causing physical injury to himself or any other person  R v Self 1992
Suffering physical injury http://www.rjerrard.co.uk/la
Causing loss of or damage to property w/cases/self.htm
Making off before a constable can assume
responsibility  Martin, J AS Law for OCR
BUT... Careful with the force you use!!!
(2nd Edition; Hodder
Education 2011) p.46

4. What is the purpose of an arrest?

5. Power One: Common
Breach of the Peace
law
“an act done or threatened to be done which either actually harms a person, or in his
presence, his property, or is likely to cause such harm being done”
Do these common law powers apply to private premises?
Bibby v Chief Constable of Essex Police (2000)
To arrest someoneof Greater Manchester must be...
McConnell v CC for breach of peace, there (1990)
 A sufficiently real and present threat to the peace
 Threat must come from the person arrested
 D’s conduct must clearly interfere with the rights of others & its natural
consequence must be not wholly unreasonable violence
 The conduct of the person to be arrested must not be unreasonable.

6. Power Two:
Arrest with a warrant
Magistrate’s Act 1980 s.1
Type of Who issues
crime? it?
How do you get the
warrant?

7. Power Three:
Arrest without a warrant
SOCPA changed the
powers hugely!
Before, D could only be
As amended by arrested for an arrestable
s.24 s.110 offence
PACE 1984 SOCPA 2005 rrdmue
htfet
Code G
ssoesspino fo nabcnis
PACE 1984 rubylagr
kitcet outt

8. How did they
change? Can you complete the
following tasks?
Under the new section, the police can
arrest, without a warrant:
When can the police arrest a suspect now?
What do you think of the changes? Why
might they have been introduced?
… although the police do retain a great
deal of discretion over when to arrest or
not.

9. Who can they now arrest?
Situation One: (a) Anyone who is about to commit an offence
(b) Anyone who is in the act of committing an offence
Present or (c) Anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be
Future about to commit an offence.
Situations (d) Anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be
committing an offence
Situation Two: a) Anyone who is guilty of the offence
b) Anyone whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be
Past guilty of it.
Situations
Situation a constable has reasonable grounds for suspecting that an
Three: offence has been committed, he may arrest anyone without a
warrant whom he has reasonable grounds to suspect is guilty of
Past Possible it
Situations

10. ... In summary
A police constable may arrest, without a
warrant:
Anyone who he reasonably suspects has
committed, is committing, or is about to
commit an offence;
Does a crime actually need to take place?

11. Err... Isn’t that a little on the wider side?!
That’s right, it is. And because the powers are broader, we need a limitation...
Even if s.24
applies, the PC can
only arrest if it is
necessary on
reasonable grounds
This is known as the
to arrest them on necessity test and is
one of the following so important that it isn’t
just in s.24, but also code
grounds... G!

12. So when might an arrest be ‘necessary’
To discover the name or
address of the suspect To prevent the suspect:
1. Causing physical
To prevent prosecution harm to himself or
being hindered by the others
disappearance… 2. Suffering physical
injury
3. Causing loss or
To protect child or damage to
other vulnerable property
person 4. Committing an
offence against
public decency
5. Causing an
To allow for the prompt & unlawful
effective investigation of the obstruction of the
offence or person’s conduct. highway.

13. Starter:
Complete the dominoes to check your stop
and search understanding.

14. The Answers!

15. Introduction:
Can you complete the following to recap the
powers to arrest?
The purpose of arrest is... a warrant, under s.24 PACE 1984
The common law power is... arrestable offences
s.110 Serious Organized Crime and
They may also arrest using a ... Police Act 3005
warrant, under s.1 Magistrates Act
Finally, they can arrest without... 1980
Though this only used to be available for... Arrest in breach of peace
But this changed under.... Any offence
To allow the police to investigate
Which allowed them to arrest for... behaviour and protect the public

16. Are there any limitations under
SOCPA 2005?
AO2: Does the ‘necessary’ condition impose enough limitations?
When might an
What is reasonable
arrest not be
suspicion?
necessary?
“known facts or
G v DPP 1989
information”

17. Plenary
Are these arrests necessary?
PC Bob is walking past a house when he sees Jim up a ladder leaning in a window. He
asks him to come down and for some ID. However, Jim has no ID, and no keys. PC Bob
arrests him for attempted burglary.
PC Bob sees Jane hit John in the fact with a fist, breaking his nose. He arrests Jane. At
trial Jane is acquitted as it turned out she was defending herself after John tried to rob
and assault her.
PC Bob receives information that a tall man with green hair is wanted in connection
with a serious assault which took place earlier in the day. He sees Louis, who is 6ft 7
and has green hair and arrests him.

18. Manner of Arrest
Manner? Protects the Individual’s Rights by… Any Problems?
The police may use…
The police must take the
suspect…
s. PACE 1984
The police may search for…
Caution Do you know the words?
The police must give them
the…
The police must make a ….
This should include…
The police must tell them…
Taylor v CC of Thames Valley Police (2004)
Remember: the police don’t have to arrest you. What else could they do?

19. You do not havehave toanything. But it may
You do not to say say anything....
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

20. Snowballing your AO2
Does arrest work?
Can you help your classmates?
The
necessity
You are going to annotate one of
test the bubbles and then throw it!
Who is most There are a
likely to be lot of
prosecuted? safeguards. *Warning: you will all be writing a summary at the
end so you might want to actually think about this!*
Look at each of
the following
statements and
add your own
thoughts...
Ethnic
monitoring Use of
of arrested police
persons. discretion
17.6% of
arrests end
in
conviction

21. Consolidation:
Have you understood the key
elements?
Manner
Common law powers Using your
understanding of the
topic, complete the
revision sheet!
Arrest with a warrant
Remember... If you are
not sureNecessity
ASK!

22. Plenary:
Can you be arrested for the following?
You are about to rob an old lady
You have been identified (wrongly) as being involved in a murder
You are drunk
You tell the police your name is HRH Elizabeth
Windsor
You tell them that you live at 10 Downing Street, Westminster
You urinate in the street

23. Are these legal arrests?
In groups of two or three, you are going to be given
a scenario

24. The End of Unit Question:
Describe the powers of the police to arrest a person on the street
[18]
After an incident in which a man was stabbed and seriously
hurt, a police officer grabs hold of Damon. When Damon
protests, and asks why the police officer says, "You know what
it's for." The police officer did not see the incident but was told
by someone else at the scene that Damon was responsible.
Advise Damon as to the lawfulness of his arrest.
What can you tell me about the marks and demands of each of these questions?

25. Describe the powers of the police to arrest a person on the street [18]
Introduction
Main Area Means? Examples or Origins… Explanation
Conclusion

26. After an incident in which a man was stabbed and seriously hurt, a police
officer grabs hold of Damon. When Damon protests, and asks why the police
officer says, "You know what it's for." The police officer did not see the incident
but was told by someone else at the scene that Damon was responsible.
Advise Damon as to the lawfulness of his arrest. [12]
Issue: key word? Because And ... However.. although
In conclusion: