If you have been arrested, because you were caught committing an offence; or there is a warrant for your arrest, you will then be taken to a police station. Here you will be given your right to inform someone of your arrest; and your right to consult a solicitor in private and the fact that independent, legal advice is available free of charge. And your right to look at the police codes of practice. You can be detained initially for 24 hours, with permission from a senior officer to hold for a further 12 hours. And for serious offences the police can apply to a magistrate who can order further detention of up to a maximum of 96 hours. When at a police station the custody officer can decide whether a more thorough search is needed – intimate searches may only be carried out by staff of the same sex as the detainee. Body orifices other than the mouth may be searched only: if authorised by an officer of inspector rank who has reasonable grounds for believing that the person may have concealed on themselves anything which they could and might use to cause physical injury to themselves or others at the station; or a Class A drug which they intended to supply to another or to export; and the officer has reasonable grounds for believing that an intimate search is the only means of removing those items.
Q2. Discuss whether the balance between the rights of the individual and the power of the police to detain and interview a person at the station is satisfactory.
The relevant law relating to police powers can be found in the Police And Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the Codes of Practice found in s66 of PACE. PACE originally aimed to strike a balance between the interests of the community on the one hand, and the rights and liberties of the individual suspect on the other. PACE has been amended many times since then, most recently by the Criminal Justice Act 2003. If any police powers are abused: The evidence obtained by the police may be inadmissible in court. You may make an official police complaint. You may be able to bring a civil action against the police. You may be able to bring judicial review proceedings against the police.
If you are arrested and taken to a police station or if you are arrested at a police station, the custody officer must, determine whether you are in need of medical treatment, require an appropriate adult or an interpreter to help. The custody officer has to make a risk assessment showing the categories that you are a risk to – for example self harm, this is done for the detainees safety so they cannot injure themselves whilst being kept at a police station. During your questioning and treatment by the police in custody, the police are prohibited from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, you also have the right to a fair trial and the right to privacy.
Powers of entry and search must be fully justified before use and the police should always consider whether their objectives could be met by other less obtrusive means. If the police exceed their powers any evidence obtained as a result may not be able to be used as evidence in a trial.
The police also must observe a Code of Practice on stop and search, although if they fail to observe it, the remedy is usually to make a police complaint – done at the police station that it occurred at. Or if prosecuted to raise an objection in court - rather than to take legal proceedings against the police; but this can also be done, and you can sue the police as you could any other citizen.
