NCJ Number
91436
Journal
Journal of Law and Society Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: (Summer 1983) Pages: 85-107
Date Published
1983
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Great Britain's proposed Police and Criminal Evidence Bill represents a keystone in the new proactive-corporate policing strategy required by the state to deal with the social and political consequences of mass, structural unemployment in the 1980's.
Abstract
The origins of several provisions in the Bill lie in the highly assertive evidence presented by various police spokesmen and pressure groups which, in turn, can be traced to police harassment of the black community and inner city areas. The Bill increases police powers in street activities, in stopping and searching individuals and vehicles, establishing road blocks, and arresting members of the public. It also gives the police extraordinarily wide powers of entry and search in respect to those arrested as well as individuals not suspected of any criminal activity. The Bill legitimates common police abuse of the Judges' Rules by giving them extended detention powers and the authority to forcibly search, fingerprint, and take body samples from detainees, including juveniles. Finally, the Bill's supposed restrictions and limitations placed on police do not protect citizens' rights, but actually license a wide degree of discretion by local police and safeguard them from external reviews. To cope with increased dissatisfaction and violent reaction throughout the inner city, the police have welded several disparate elements into a coherent strategy consisting of community policing which places more officers on the street, patrol officers' gathering information on the local community, a multiagency approach to crime prevention, and an increase in police weaponry and 'fire brigade' techniques. This strategy, coupled with the Police and Criminal Evidence Bill, implies the creation of numerous, localized police states to repress black and working class citizens. The paper includes 45 footnotes.