Holding cells in shopping malls are mooted by the Government.
The Home Office is reviewing the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). According to the Government, since the vast majority of people arrested spend less than 24 hours in police detention, it would make sense to have a number of places where they could be quickly processed and their identities verified.<br><br>These local centres – which would be in busy areas and places with what the Government terms petty crime such as shoplifting – could save police officers time. The consultation document stresses that the aim is to increase the amount of time police officers can spend responding to calls or walking a beat. As the Home Office admits, an arrest and identification of an offender can be hugely time-consuming.<br><br>The review document says: "A potential solution in dealing with high volume offending is to enable the police to make use of short term holding facilities (STHF) located in shopping centres or town centres. The STHF would be under the supervision of a custody officer and would consist of a number of secure holding areas within the accommodation. These would provide secure accommodation but would not equate to the standard cell design.<br><br>The document goes on: "The function of the STHF would be to <br>confirmthe identity of the suspect and process the person by reporting for summons/charging by post, a penalty notice or other disposal. Persons detained would be subject to detention <br>up to a maximum period of four hours to enable fingerprinting, photographing and DNA sampling. reported, charged, summonsed or convicted. Furthermore, a person who refuses to give their true name and address or whose identity is doubted or cannot be verified cannot have these samples etc taken and checked to see if they have previously come to police notice."<br><br>You can download the review document at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2007-pace-review<br><br>You have until Mat 31 to respond to the consultation: send your response to the consultation to: <br><br>[email protected]
