Security in criminals courts is unsatisfactory, and a separate court security force could be the answer, says a review of the criminal justice system in our November 2001 print edition.
Security in criminals courts is unsatisfactory, and a separate court security force could be the answer, says a review of the criminal justice system. Lord Justice Auld suggests a uniformed Sheriff Officer Service
?which, unlike present contracted court security officers, would be fully trained and have police powers. They could be based in court buildings and act under the general oversight of the court manager?. Such officers would act as bailiffs, guards and prison escorts, he added. He suggested alternatively that police might be given back the responsibility for visible court security, but said: ?In recent years chief constables, with their eyes on their own budgetary commitments, have gradually withdrawn their uniformed officers from court duty, taking the view that it is for the courts to provide their own security.? Crown courts have contract security guards with ?security arches, hand held searching wands and CCTV cameras?. Many magistrates courts do not have security staff or searches for weapons. ?The removal of police officers from crown court buildings has … left a potentially dangerous gap in security.? Security guards have fewer powers in a crown court than in magistrates courts – for instance, crown court guards lack the power to search in the court building. The Lord Chancellor should end this discrepancy, Auld said. A lack of a visible police presence could be linked to witnesses in fear of giving evidence, Lord Auld suggests.
You can view A Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales by The Right Honourable Lord Justice Auld at www.criminal-courts-review.org.uk
