Arrest.. police powers

Section 24 of PACE sets out the powers the police have to arrest suspects. These powers were amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA); Section 110 of SOCPA substituted a new Section 24 into PACE.

Firstly, an officer can arrest without a warrant under Section 1 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980 if a person has committed an offence, is in the act of committing an offence, is about to commit an offence or if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting one of these occurrences (even if no offence is actually committed).

However, whether an officer is arresting with a warrant or without they have to have reasonable grounds for suspecting it is necessary. These consist of the following: to enable the name and address of a suspect to be ascertained, to prevent physical injury, loss or damage to property, causing an offence against public decency…