In this assignment I will firstly be describing the difference between arrest with and without a
warrant and then I will be stating the rights of a detained person. Next I will be explaining the
powers the police have to search people and premises and explaining the requirements of
lawful arrest and detention. Finally I will be evaluating police powers of arrest, detention and
search.
P1
Arresting with a warrant-
This requires the police to make a formal application to a magistrates court in order to arrest
the suspected individual. There is an act which states how and why a arrest warrant can be
issued, this can be found in section 1 of the Magistrates` Courts Act 1980. The process of
arresting with a warrant involves writing a form with the person's name and what they have
done, this form will then go through a magistrates court and if they issue the police with a
warrant, the suspect will then be arrested even it is involves forceful entry and reasonable
force to enter the suspects property. The police must show the suspect the warrant and the
suspects name must be correctly written on the paper otherwise they cannot lawful arrest the
suspect.
Arresting without a warrant-
This is the most common form of arrest where police have no idea who the person is that they
are going to be arresting this is usually a swift process. The individual being arrested cannot
ask if they have a warrant because it will give the suspect time to get away. An example of
this would be if the police were to see someone dealing they will not have time to request a
warrant as by the time they do the suspect could have moved to a different location and all
traces of illegal substances can be discarded. One key thing that seperates arresting with and
without a warrant is the time it takes to arrest them, also arresting with a warrant also means
that the suspect is already known to the police and more searches will be done first because
requesting for a warrant. This type of arrest is also much safer than without a warrant as there
is less risk to the officers and themselves. On the other hand arresting without a warrant
requires officers to act quickly and stop the suspect while they are in the process of
committing a crime, which involves them to be arrested straight away to avoid losing the
suspect.
The police have the power to arrest without a warrant in situations such as-