The Act Schedule 6: Specific offences which are arrestable offences Section 77: Application of the Police (Property) Act 1897 to NCS
389.This section amends the Police (Property) Act 1897 to provide that the Act applies to the National Crime Squad. This was recommended by the Home Affairs Committee in May 2002 (Second Report from the Home Affairs Committee Session 2001-02: Police Reform Bill (HC 612 [Incorporating HC 601]) – accessible via http://www.parliament.uk). The 1897 Act enables police forces to dispose of property that comes into their possession during the course of an investigation.
390.Subsection (1) introduces a new section 2A to the 1897 Act. This provides that the Act applies to property that has come into the possession of the National Crime Squad in the same way as it does to property that has come into the possession of a police force. It provides that a member of NCS may make an application to the court for an order to be made requiring the property to be returned to its owner or disposed of in some other way. The Secretary of State may make regulations about the disposal of property remaining in the possession of the National Crime Squad to cover circumstances in which ownership of the property cannot be determined and the court has made no order relating to its disposal. The Service Authority for the NCS will determine whether property should be retained for use by the Squad, rather than be sold, in the same way as a police authority makes that decision in relation to property in the possession of a police force.
391.Subsection (2) is a drafting change to reflect the fact that the Act has been repealed in relation to Northern Ireland.