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Title

Policy, Practicalities, and PACE s. 24: The Subsuming of the Necessity Criteria in Arrest Decision Making by Frontline Police Officers.

Authors

Pearson, Geoff; Rowe, Mike; Turner, Liz

Abstract

PACE, as amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, establishes a complex framework of factors that police officers must consider during arrest decision making. Officers must possess a reason to arrest, it must be necessary to arrest for that reason, and they must give at least a 'cursory consideration' to alternatives. Based on a four-year ethnographic study of frontline officers from two forces in Northern England, we argue that the 2005 reforms have not achieved their aims. The new regime tasks officers with undertaking a complex legal assessment prior to arrest, but officers are often confused about the necessity criteria which, moreover, is typically a minor consideration in contrast to demanding practical and policy pressures. This means that unlawful and non-human-rights-compliant arrests continue to be regularly made and, equally significantly, many suspects are escaping the criminal justice system because officers are not considering arrest alternatives.

Subjects

POLICE; ARREST; POLICE reform; LAW enforcement; GREAT Britain. Serious Organised Crime Agency

Publication

Journal of Law & Society, 2018, Vol 45, Issue 2, p282

ISSN

0263-323X

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1111/jols.12087

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