The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 - Essay Example

Care must however be taken by policemen in the exercise of the powers assigned to them in the Act. This is because non-conformity with the specific terms of the act may bring about a criminal liability and on the other hand searching, arresting, detaining and interviewing suspects outside the provisions of the act may render the evidences produced inadmissible in court. Perpetrators of serious crimes like murder, treason and the like were being arrested without warrant following an act of parliament in 1967.

Further update of the police powers relating to the common law ,particularly as contained in the act of 1967,were carried out by a Royal Commission headed by Sir Cyril Phillips. Following an upsurge in crime particularly of burglary and robbery in 1981 in the Brixton area, a London-wide campaign was initiated code-named "Operation Swamp 81" picking its name from remarks made in 1978 by the Prime Minister Margareth Thatcher. Consequent on the Act of 1967, 943 were stopped and 118 of them were eventually arrested, the bulk of these people stopped and arrested were blacks .

This brought about an increase in the complaints about harassment and racism. Relations between the black community and the police suffered a setback. Stop and search powers given to the police in the Act of 1984 had a wide coverage .under this section of the act a constable is given the right to stop and search persons vehicle e.t.c at any place and time but however does not include dwelling. These powers can however not be exercised except on the grounds pf suspicion that he might find something stolen or prohibited in the course.

The person may be detained for this same while this is being carried out. Riots in British towns and cities did not in 1981.Further skirmishes occurred in 1985 in which P.C Keith Blakelock was killed was killed. The location of the far-right British national Party in the southeast London in 1993 resulted in a massive demonstration that left Stephen Lawrence a black teenager dead.The Police and Criminal evidence Act has since undergone certain degrees of review .one of such reviews was the police Police Reform Act 2002 some of whose main provisions take care of annual policing plans practice removal of the bars on the employment of non-British nationals into the force A longer title for the police reform act 2002 goes thus "An act to make new provision about the supervision, administration, functions and conduct of police forces ,police forces and other persons serving with, or carrying out functions in relation to, the police; to amend police powers and to provide for the exercise of police powers by persons who are not police officers :to amend the law relating to anti-social behaviour order; to amend the law relating to sex offender orders; and for corrected purposes. e.t.c. In 2005 a further modification of PACE was made in the form of Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 replacing nearly all pre-existing powers of arrest; of significance in this Act is the new general power of arrest for all offences.

Discrimination, unemployment and poverty were fingered by the Scarman enquiry as the major culprits of the Brixton riots. While dismissing allegations