Summary Part 3: Police powers etc.
11.Part 3 makes a number of changes to police powers set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and extends the powers of Community Support Officers (CSOs) and other persons designated or accredited under the provisions of Part 4 of the Police Reform Act 2002.
12.Sections 110, 111, 113 and 114 and Schedule 7 revise the framework of arrest and search powers in PACE. In particular they provide, in the case of a constable’s power of arrest, for all offences to be arrestable subject to a necessity test.
13.Section 112 introduces a new offence of failing to obey a police direction to leave an exclusion area.
14.Section 115 extends the powers of the police, in section 1 of PACE, to stop and search persons suspected of carrying prohibited fireworks.
15.Sections 116 to 118 enable the police to take photographs and fingerprints of persons away from a police station and to take impressions of a person’s footwear at a police station. The power to take photographs is extended to CSOs and accredited persons in limited circumstances. Section 116(3) amends section 64A of PACE to allow the police to pass a photograph to the court for the purposes of enforcing the orders of the court. This new power is in addition to that which already allows the police to pass a photograph to the court for the purposes of prosecution. Section 119 amends the definition of an intimate and non-intimate sample.
16.Sections 120 and 121 create a new category of designated person under the Police Reform Act 2002, namely a 'staff custody officer', thereby enabling police staff to undertake custody functions previously restricted to police officers.
17.Sections 122 and 123 and Schedules 8 and 9 extend the powers of CSOs, other designated police staff and accredited persons and enable police staff to access certain information relating to drivers, vehicle registration plate suppliers and motor insurance.