Does the Police and Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and its codes of practice successfully safeguard the rights of suspects against the abuse of police powers?

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Does the Police and Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and its codes of practice successfully safeguard the rights of suspects against the abuse of police powers?

The primary role of the police is to prevent the occurrence of the crimes, and when it occurs, quickly determine the perpetrators and gathering reliable evidence that will confirm the guilty and punish the criminal by the court. To apply their authority, police have to work according to the procedures of Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 (PACE). Police powers are the guidelines for the police on how to apply the law to arrest somebody, or how to treat somebody when suspecting a criminal behaviour. However police powers are also a safeguard for the suspect, ensuring that the person stopped or arrested by the police is treated good and there is no violation of human rights. The British police have the powers conferred by the government. The main duties of the police officers is to protect people and property, maintain public order, stop people breaking the law and the arrest of progressing in this way, as well as helping the people in need for assistance and providing them with information and advice.

Police power of stop and search is associated with the rights of a police officer to stop and search in any public place, of any person or vehicle and in this case including what is in or on the vehicle, and any person in the vehicle. The police may stop and search people to detect certain types of crimes. However, they should stop and search only if they have reasonable grounds that the person is carrying drugs, offensive weapons, or the stolen property, also a tool that could be used to make the offense, for example, when breaking into someone's home. However, police officer can not stop and search a person just because of their age, race, skin color, hair style, manner of dress, or because they made a crime in the past. (Jason- Lloyd, 2005)

These activities include not only people coming into conflict with the law, but also innocent individuals, therefore they should be conducted in a manner that violates the least personal interest of the person for whom they are taken this actions. Therefore when individuals are being stopped and searched by the police, the officer must tell them the reason of why they were stopped, and give them a full explanation of police powers to stop and search, as well as information about their rights. They should also state their name and police station to which they are attached, show proof of their warrant number, and provide a copy of search record. Furthermore they should treat everyone with respect, and always use their force reasonably, when required. Nevertheless, most of stop and search do not result in arrest. After a person being stopped and search, the police officer can established whether there has been committed any arrestable offence, and if such is confirmed they will arrest that person. However, if the person refuses to give his name or address to the police, or the officer believes that he gave false name or address, subsequently this person can be arrested. (Jason- Lloyd, 2005)

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“An arrest may be defined as the lawful deprivation of a citizen’s liberty, using whatever degree of lawful force is reasonable necessary and proportionate, in order to assist in the investigation and prevention of crime, to ensure that a citizen is brought before a court or to preserve a person’s safety or others or their property”(Jason- Lloyd, 2005; 61). Police have many categories of arrest, however, the main types of arrest are arrest without warrant and arrest with warrant. Arrest without warrant is the most common type of arrest.  Police officer have the power to arrest any person if ...

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