D2 Muhammed Awais
D2 – Police Powers
In this assignment I will be evaluating the powers which the police have and also I will be saying what the good
and the bad things are about the powers which the police have.
Firstly I will evaluate citizen’s arrest.
Secondly, I will evaluate the protection of vulnerable people in the prisons. The Police and Criminal Evidence
Act states that all people bought into prison who are under the age of 18 will need to have an adult called in and
they will need to be treated as children. However, this isn’t always the case and so I will be evaluating this. This
law was bought about when two teenagers who were arrested committed suicide in the police station, they killed
themselves by hanging. In a year about 75,000 under 18-year olds are held or bought into prison. The home
office was told to bring about a change of how people are treated, and they estimated it would cost £20 million.
The owner of the just for kid’s law said that the estimated figures were too high, and they cannot be trusted, and
she estimated that it wouldn’t cost anymore than £1.5 million. The case to change the law was of Hughes
Cousins-Chang, in this case the 17-year-old was convicted of stealing a mobile phone and he was bought into
prison, he was kept in prison for 11 hours and he wasn’t allowed to speak to his parents as the police had
prevented this. This case shows how vulnerable under 18s were in prisons they were not allowed to speak to
their parents and they were young, so they didn’t know what they could in prison, they wouldn’t know what
their rights are. the new act states that any 17-year olds who have committed an offence cannot be kept in the
prison cell for a night and it is up to the police to find accommodation for the 17-year-old. This will ensure that
17-year olds will receive some protection while in prison. However, this isn’t always the case as the police don’t
always follow what the law says and therefore children are left to suffer due to this. The police have been
convicted of making people confess to the things which they didn’t do. They will then say that they did
something, but it will be under duress. People who are under 18 and those adults who have mental illness issues
will need to have an adult present with them while they are being interrogated by the police. They will also be
able too have a solicitor to support them. In the UK there is a long history of people not being treated well and
this is due to the things which they do. There is a lack of support which is available to vulnerable people and the
police are using this to their advantage by making people confess to things which they don’t do. This is because
the police will play with the minds of the people who have mental health issues and they will make them think
that they have done something which they really haven’t done anything. For example, in the case of Stephen
Downing who had mental health problems and learning problems, he was questioned by the police for 9 hours
and then he had confessed to killing the secretary. He spent 27 years in jail and after that period his conviction
was over turned. This shows the amount of help and support which is available for vulnerable people, there isn’t
any. So, people will mental health issues and people who are vulnerable will have no support for themselves.
Also, another case was of the case of Logan Peters. In this case the police had unlawfully arrested peters who
then hanged himself as retaliation to the police. This is another case of where a 17-year-old has suffered even
though the new law was brought about by the PACE act.
Thirdly I will evaluate the right of silence.
Also, I will evaluate legal privilege.
Lastly I will evaluate the DNA data base.
D2 – Police Powers
In this assignment I will be evaluating the powers which the police have and also I will be saying what the good
and the bad things are about the powers which the police have.
Firstly I will evaluate citizen’s arrest.
Secondly, I will evaluate the protection of vulnerable people in the prisons. The Police and Criminal Evidence
Act states that all people bought into prison who are under the age of 18 will need to have an adult called in and
they will need to be treated as children. However, this isn’t always the case and so I will be evaluating this. This
law was bought about when two teenagers who were arrested committed suicide in the police station, they killed
themselves by hanging. In a year about 75,000 under 18-year olds are held or bought into prison. The home
office was told to bring about a change of how people are treated, and they estimated it would cost £20 million.
The owner of the just for kid’s law said that the estimated figures were too high, and they cannot be trusted, and
she estimated that it wouldn’t cost anymore than £1.5 million. The case to change the law was of Hughes
Cousins-Chang, in this case the 17-year-old was convicted of stealing a mobile phone and he was bought into
prison, he was kept in prison for 11 hours and he wasn’t allowed to speak to his parents as the police had
prevented this. This case shows how vulnerable under 18s were in prisons they were not allowed to speak to
their parents and they were young, so they didn’t know what they could in prison, they wouldn’t know what
their rights are. the new act states that any 17-year olds who have committed an offence cannot be kept in the
prison cell for a night and it is up to the police to find accommodation for the 17-year-old. This will ensure that
17-year olds will receive some protection while in prison. However, this isn’t always the case as the police don’t
always follow what the law says and therefore children are left to suffer due to this. The police have been
convicted of making people confess to the things which they didn’t do. They will then say that they did
something, but it will be under duress. People who are under 18 and those adults who have mental illness issues
will need to have an adult present with them while they are being interrogated by the police. They will also be
able too have a solicitor to support them. In the UK there is a long history of people not being treated well and
this is due to the things which they do. There is a lack of support which is available to vulnerable people and the
police are using this to their advantage by making people confess to things which they don’t do. This is because
the police will play with the minds of the people who have mental health issues and they will make them think
that they have done something which they really haven’t done anything. For example, in the case of Stephen
Downing who had mental health problems and learning problems, he was questioned by the police for 9 hours
and then he had confessed to killing the secretary. He spent 27 years in jail and after that period his conviction
was over turned. This shows the amount of help and support which is available for vulnerable people, there isn’t
any. So, people will mental health issues and people who are vulnerable will have no support for themselves.
Also, another case was of the case of Logan Peters. In this case the police had unlawfully arrested peters who
then hanged himself as retaliation to the police. This is another case of where a 17-year-old has suffered even
though the new law was brought about by the PACE act.
Thirdly I will evaluate the right of silence.
Also, I will evaluate legal privilege.
Lastly I will evaluate the DNA data base.
