PLOD - Police Law On Demand

The first claim anywhere in the World, concerning the use by police of automated facial recognition (“AFR”) technology has been heard by the Divisional Court. 

Automated Facial Recognition can match 50 faces per second, but its use has raised serious questions of human rights law. Dijen Basu QC and solicitor Daniel Berke discuss why, depending on the facts of each particular deployment, AFR is lawful. 

For more information, please also read Dijen’s blog https://www.ukpolicelawblog.com/index.php/9-blog/223-let-s-face-it-use-of-automated-facial-recognition-technology-by-the-police

The new Conduct and Complaints Regulations came into force in 2020 and introduced a move from blame to learning and reflection.  In this episode, Solicitor Deborah Britstone and Barrister James Berry discuss the new Reflective Practice Review process which encourages officers to focus on their learning and development if things go wrong and how this will work for officers involved.

The Home Office described it as legislation that will shake up how complaints made against the police are handled and improve the discipline system for officers.  The new Police Conduct Regulations, which came into effect on 1 February 2020, intend to ensure that complaints can be dealt with quickly, effectively and proportionately, not just for the benefit of the public but also for the police.  In this first episode of Series 2, Solicitor Deborah Britstone and Barrister Elliot Gold discuss some of the key sections of the new Regulations.

Do police officers have a right to a private life? When can that right be interfered with? Are officers entitled to have a reasonable expectation of privacy? Is the interference with the right to a private life necessary and in the pursuit of a legitimate aim?

In this podcast, Solicitor Deborah Britstone and John Beggs Queen’s Counsel examine the right to a private life and how far this extends to police officers both in respect of on duty and off duty conduct.

The Former Officer Regulations 2017 came into force on 15th December 2017. The Regulations have made a number of important changes to police misconduct procedures, allowing for misconduct investigations and proceedings that could have led to dismissal to be taken to their conclusion, notwithstanding the retirement or resignation of the police officer.

Is a former officer required to engage with the investigation? Does the former officer have to attend a hearing? What are the implications if the Panel finds that a former officer would have been dismissed if he or she had still been serving?

Solicitor Daniel Berke and Gerry Boyle Queen’s Counsel discuss the conditions under which these Regulations apply to former officers and their implications to those officers no longer serving.

In the year to March 2019, police forces in England and Wales recorded more than 47,000 offences involving knives: an 8% increase year on year and the highest total since records began. One way of trying to tackle this increase in violent crime is by the use of stop and search.  Why is stop and search so controversial?  What does the College of Policing Guidance define as appropriate use of stop and search powers?  The Government has recently authorised enhanced stop and search powers as part of the efforts to crack down on knife crime.  What are these enhanced powers? What are Knife Crime Prevention Orders and how will they be used in practice?
 
In this podcast, Solicitor Deborah Britstone and Barrister James Berry discuss the powers available to police officers to stop and search and the circumstances in which these powers should be used. 

Conducted energy devices or tasers, as they are better known, are one of a number of tactical options available to police officers when dealing with an incident with the potential for conflict.  Serious consideration must be given by police officers before deploying taser in line with the National Decision Model. Solicitor Daniel Berke and Tom Crowther Queen’s Counsel discuss the recent High Court case of Gilchrist v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and the importance of caution in the use of tasers by police officers.

The most common way for the police to obtain search warrants is by using s.8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (‘PACE’).  To do so, they must comply with the procedural rules set out in sections 15 and 16.  This podcast examines the importance of officers taking care and precision in framing search warrant applications.  Are search warrants granted too easily by Courts without sufficient scrutiny? If this is the case, does this leave search warrants open to challenge? Are there further requirements where the suspected offences concern the financial markets? How far does the duty of disclosure go?  Is the Court entitled to view PII material?

Pre-Charge bail is an effective tool in the investigation of crime and to protect the public. Lawyers Daniel Berke and Elliot Gold discuss updated operational guidance from the National Police Chiefs' Council and how the rules are affecting policing.

Every police officer knows that they must have reasonable suspicion that a person has committed an offence in order to arrest them, but this is only one consideration. There must also be a reasonable belief in the necessity for arrest. Recent Court decisions have looked specifically at the necessity requirement. Lawyers Deborah Britstone and Cecily White discuss what this means for police officers.

In 2018, the Supreme Court upheld landmark victories for two victims of the serial sex offender John Worboys against the Met Police, in the case known as “DSD and NBV”. The claimants alleged that Met officers had breached Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, by failing to investigate Worboys’ crimes properly and thereby failing to protect victims from “inhuman or degrading treatment” and hold the perpetrator to account. It was generally thought that police were “immune” from claims by individuals alleging “operational” failings in investigations. But the Supreme Court held that “obvious and significant shortcomings” can give rise to liability. When is an operational failing “obvious and significant”? How can investigators avoid such pitfalls? Solicitor Deborah Britstone and barrister Aaron Rathmell examine how this judgment affects the police.