Police Powers Flashcards
what is (police) discretion
It is the power to make a choice. When a police officer suspects that a person has committed an offence they will exercise judgement (or discretion) as to how best to proceed
what are the three main roles of the police
- prevent and deter crime from occurring by maintaining a public presence
- investigate criminal activities
- assist in the prosecution of offenders
LCMID legislation - Who grants power to police
The Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW) ensures the rights of suspects by needing police to adhere to a code of practice
aka LEPAR act, which outlines various powers, such as :
- the power to arrest: a person cannot simply be arrested for questioning, police must either have a warrant, or they must be arresting a person for the purpose of taking them before a court based on reasonable grounds
- issue cautions and warnings: for smaller offences, such as public order offences
- search and seizure: confined to situations where police have reasonable grounds to suspect that a person/ vehicle is carrying an illegal article. Once the search is complete, the person is either detained or released, disallowing further questioning by the police
what are some roles of discretion for police
- areas to patrol
- decisions made by individual officers (e.g. let an offender go without caution investigate certain behaviour, charge suspect)
- whether to handle with force
- to draw a gun
why are there instances of misuse of police discretion
because of the exercise of discretion, police may discriminate or appear to discriminate against different groups in society. This may occur because
- a policy of over-policing, in that there are more police per head of population in certain areas as opposed to others
- a concentration of crime in certian areas, whihc means that an offence in these areas is more likely to be noticed than an offence in other areas
- historical aspects of police can create conflict with certain people in society (e.g. ATSI people, the poor, the young, and other minority groups.)
why do people not report crimes
- fearing the consequence of reporting, considers the offence as not serious enough to warrant police attention, does not want to become involved, unable to report the crime (e.g. an abused child)
what are serious crime prevention orders (serious CPO)
In 2016, the nSW government passed new laws that further restrict the rights of citizens, witnessing the increase of police powers. The govermmet argued that these laws were necessary to combat an increasingly complex situation in an environment of heightened risks to punlic safety.
The Crimes (Serious Crime Prevention Orders) Act 2016 (NSW) allows the police to apply for court orders that restrict the activity of a suspect, baed on allegations of their involvement in criminal activity. These orders can alos be used as a post-conviction control.
In summary:
- the court has an open-ended power to impose whatever prohibitions, restrictions or requirements it thinks will prevent/ restrict/ or disrupt the person FOr example, orders can ban the suspect from certain types of locations, restrict their movement and subject them to ongoing curfew for up to five years.
arguments for and against serious crime prevention orders (+LCMID)
FOR:
- the high court of australia ruled that the CPOs are not invalid and are lawful
- the issuing of CPOs allow for police to control the movement of suspects and through this restriction might allow for public safety. for example, the issuing of CPOs to the Hamzy and rival Alemaddine gang families have been applied to people involving gang violence has been a deterrent to further public unrest
AGAINST:
- an infringement on suspect rights and freedoms as they are put on severe restrictive lifetyles with extensive punishments in their breach
