Shannon W Unit 17: Police Powers D1
Report on evaluating police powers
Police officers are granted with various powers including; arrest, detaining individuals, searching
individuals and searching their property. Firstly, the power of arrest can be used by the police in
order to detain someone and take them into custody. These powers are not something to be abused
by the police or even by a citizen (when performing a citizen’s arrest.) Police can use the power of
arrest for the purposes of; anyone who is about to commit an offence, anyone who is in the act of
committing an offence, any who they have reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing an
offence or anyone who they have reasonable grounds for suspecting to be about to commit an
offence.
Stop and Search (searching individuals)
Another power which police are given is the power to stop and search. Stop and search is when a
police officer stops you in a public place as you are going about your business and searches your
bags and any items you are carrying. They are allowed to ask the suspect to remove 3 items, which
are; their outer coat, their hat and their gloves. It is believed that this power is being abused and
used to target certain people due to their race. Statistics have shown that you are 7-8 times more
likely to be stopped and searched if you are black. This can closely relate to the Stephan Lawrence
case back in1993, where a young black teenager was murdered in a racially motivated attack while
waiting for a bus. A quote from the ‘Guardian’ website said ‘they’re chasing after me, having a bit of
fun because I’m a black boy, but they should be following intelligence.’ This quote states that police
were abusing their powers and targeting one specific group. The ‘BBC’ news also have an article
which talks about stop and search and quoted ‘It concluded there were disparities in its use, such as
unrecorded and temporary stops of vehicles driven by black or Asian people.’ This is basically saying
that police where stopping vehicles which were driven by either black or Asian people under no
reasonable suspicion and that they were purely stopping them due to their race. The repercussions
for the police stopping more vehicles which are driven by either black or Asian people could be;
riots, unrest within the community or it can even lead to the police being accused for racism.
Overall, it will make the police out to be racist and the black/Asian community may think that they
cannot depend on the police because of their judgement. D
Overall, I think stop and search is a very valuable police power in the modern world because there
are much more knife crimes being committed however, a research suggested that stop and search
doesn’t significantly reduce knife crime (according to ‘independent.co.uk.) The study has also figured
that stop and search ‘is disproportionately used against people of colour’ otherwise known as
discrimination. On one hand, having police officers stop and search individuals will make the local
communities feel safer, on the other hand it will make certain individuals feel unhappy because they
might feel like they are being targeted more than others. If this power is used correctly, I think it can
be very efficient for helping to reduce knife crime.
Searching individual’s property
In general, the police do not have the right to enter an individual’s property without their permission
unless they get a warrant. However, there are cases when they can enter an individual’s property
Report on evaluating police powers
Police officers are granted with various powers including; arrest, detaining individuals, searching
individuals and searching their property. Firstly, the power of arrest can be used by the police in
order to detain someone and take them into custody. These powers are not something to be abused
by the police or even by a citizen (when performing a citizen’s arrest.) Police can use the power of
arrest for the purposes of; anyone who is about to commit an offence, anyone who is in the act of
committing an offence, any who they have reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing an
offence or anyone who they have reasonable grounds for suspecting to be about to commit an
offence.
Stop and Search (searching individuals)
Another power which police are given is the power to stop and search. Stop and search is when a
police officer stops you in a public place as you are going about your business and searches your
bags and any items you are carrying. They are allowed to ask the suspect to remove 3 items, which
are; their outer coat, their hat and their gloves. It is believed that this power is being abused and
used to target certain people due to their race. Statistics have shown that you are 7-8 times more
likely to be stopped and searched if you are black. This can closely relate to the Stephan Lawrence
case back in1993, where a young black teenager was murdered in a racially motivated attack while
waiting for a bus. A quote from the ‘Guardian’ website said ‘they’re chasing after me, having a bit of
fun because I’m a black boy, but they should be following intelligence.’ This quote states that police
were abusing their powers and targeting one specific group. The ‘BBC’ news also have an article
which talks about stop and search and quoted ‘It concluded there were disparities in its use, such as
unrecorded and temporary stops of vehicles driven by black or Asian people.’ This is basically saying
that police where stopping vehicles which were driven by either black or Asian people under no
reasonable suspicion and that they were purely stopping them due to their race. The repercussions
for the police stopping more vehicles which are driven by either black or Asian people could be;
riots, unrest within the community or it can even lead to the police being accused for racism.
Overall, it will make the police out to be racist and the black/Asian community may think that they
cannot depend on the police because of their judgement. D
Overall, I think stop and search is a very valuable police power in the modern world because there
are much more knife crimes being committed however, a research suggested that stop and search
doesn’t significantly reduce knife crime (according to ‘independent.co.uk.) The study has also figured
that stop and search ‘is disproportionately used against people of colour’ otherwise known as
discrimination. On one hand, having police officers stop and search individuals will make the local
communities feel safer, on the other hand it will make certain individuals feel unhappy because they
might feel like they are being targeted more than others. If this power is used correctly, I think it can
be very efficient for helping to reduce knife crime.
Searching individual’s property
In general, the police do not have the right to enter an individual’s property without their permission
unless they get a warrant. However, there are cases when they can enter an individual’s property
