NCJ Number
178143
Journal
Crime & Justice International Volume: 15 Issue: 27 Dated: April 1999 Pages: 5-33
Date Published
April 1999
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article examines four recent legislative efforts at redesigning the British police.
Abstract
The article reviews the Police and Magistrates’ Courts Act of 1994, which strengthened the local policing system and devolved greater powers on local police authorities and chief constables to determine policy in their pespective communities and secured central control over the budgetary process and general stewardship over the accountability of local police in meeting their individually established objectives. It next considers the Sheehy Report of 1992, which examined the rank, structure, remunerative arrangements, and conditions of police service in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 elaborated police powers governing arrest, stop and frisk, search and seizure, and detention, and introduced procedural safeguards to protect the accused against police abuse of power. The Scarman Report of 1981 significantly affected the structure and operation of the police and made significant recommendations for changes in police staffing and procedures. The article also discusses new police goals, management principles, structures and privatization. References