Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

New measures to put police officers back on the beat, along with tough new powers to fight crime and terrorism came into force as of Tuesday 20 January 2004. Changes to police powers in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 will cut unnecessary paperwork, give police greater powers to crackdown on crime and anti-social behaviour, and allow them more time to detain suspected terrorists for questioning.

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 received Royal Assent on 21 November 2003. These measures will keep more police officers on patrol with more powers, making communities safer and will help rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of victims and the public.

New measures introduced in the Criminal Justice Act will give police the extra time they need to investigate terrorist suspects. This will help the police protect against those who would seek to harm the public, by making sure that crucial detention time is not lost.

Detention of terrorist suspects is never taken lightly, and this power will be used in a small number of cases with proper controls in place to ensure its appropriate use.

Other important measures in the Criminal Justice Act will help tackle and reduce crime that blights the lives of so many communities, such as persistent vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

The new measures will:

• extend existing 'stop and search' powers for tools used by vandals such as spray paint cans

• give police officers a new power to grant bail at the point of arrest ('street bail') allowing officers to remain on patrol and better plan their investigations

• extend the time for which a suspect may be detained from up to 24 hours to a maximum of 36 hours for arrestable offences on the authorisation of a senior police officer

• extend the maximum possible period of detention without charge under the Terrorism Act (2000) from 7 to 14 days

• enable senior police officers to authorise continued detention when away from the police station by telephone, saving senior police officers' time particularly in rural areas

• allow police civilian staff to help officers with search and seizure operations, particularly when specialist knowledge may be required

• allow custody officers discretion in deciding how much detail to include when recording a detained persons' property

• enable simpler, less bureaucratic updates and reviews of Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) codes.

Further information is available from the Home Office Justice and Victims department: Criminal Justice Act 2003