Explain How The Law Enforcement Powers And Responsibilities Act 2002 (Lepra)

Police makes the decision whether to investigate a crime based on the likelihood of success, available resources and priorities or the severity of the offence. Police can use several methods and authorised powers to assist their investigation. Most of NSW Police’s powers are listed out in the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW). Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW) is an act introduced in 2001, which outlines police powers and authority. Main police powers in investigating crime are: arrest, search and seizure, access to information (computerised operation policing system), interrogation and use force is necessary to carry out duties.

Throughout the past 50 years, there have been great changes in both the legal and constitutional status of the police forces within England and Wales, (Reiner, 2010:206) and parallel to this, the concept of accountability within the police forces has become a controversial yet universal concept with regards to the encompassing regulation of the police, their performance and the use of their approved legal powers (Jones, 2008). Specifically, within the last twenty years, many issues have triggered controversy within the general public with reference to police accountability within England and Wales, such issues including, corruption, abuse of powers, discrimination, racial bias, and the perceived effectiveness of crime control. In turn, these

The Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act 2002 (NSW) (commonly abbreviated as LEPRA), is a piece of legislation which was introduced into the State of New South Wales in response to the Wood Royal Commission enquiry into NSW Police. The Commission identified that there was a strong reliance on the common law in relation to the powers of law enforcement officers, and recommended that there was enough desirability to have these powers (and as a consequence the rights of ordinary citizens) more clearly defined via statute to protect both parties interests . These recommendations were made in an effort to better achieve social justice, and to ensure that there was a sufficient balance between what the police can legally do, and what

A detention is reasonable when the detaining officer can point to specific articulable facts that, under the totality of the circumstance, provide an objective basis for suspecting the particular person detained may be involved in criminal activity. (People v. Souza (1994) 9 Cal.4th 224.) As such, an investigatory stop based on mere curiosity, rumor or hunch is an unlawful seizure, even though the officer may be acting in good faith. (People v. Clair (1992) 2 Cal.4th 629.) Nonetheless, reasonable suspicion cannot be justified after the fact by evidence of criminal activity uncovered during the course of the detention. (People v. Gale (1973) 9 Cal.3d 788.) Moreover, mere proximity cannot be enough to create reasonable suspicion because proximity

Bulsey & Anor v State of Queensland [2015] QCA 187 signified the requirements of legal justifications when conducting unwarranted arrests, and further expresses the importance of the right to personal liberty as it is ‘the most fundamental of the human rights recognised under the common law.’ It was evident to the Judges that at least one officer held reasonable suspicion that “the suspect” had committed an indictable offence, but the lawfulness of the arrest was inevitably questioned as to whether an officer with reasonable suspicion was the arresting officer. The judgements in favour of the appellants heightens the need for officers to use their powers within the ‘confines of the law’ when ‘forcibly arrest[ing] and detaining’ a person as to preserve the right to personal liberty, for once this right is left in the power of any authority, to imprison arbitrarily whomever they suspect, ‘there would soon be an end of all other rights and immunities.’

If the magistrate issues a warrant, the police officer may then make the arrest, even if they have to use reasonable force to enter premises where they think the suspect might be. The majority of warrants issued in England and Wales are for matters such as matters such as:

The following paper is to discuss the statement by Brien (1999, p9)” the Rule of Law is one of the necessary elements of any decent, society civilized society. More specifically, it is an ideal and aiming to practice it is a necessary element in any liberal, democratic community”. The ethical policies and practices of the New South Wales Police Force (N.S.W.P.F), including the Oath of Office, Missions and functions, Statement of values and Code of Conduct and Ethics will be discussed in relation to the “Rule of Law”. Two real examples will also be discussed to demonstrate the ethical dilemmas that exist in the N.S.W.P.F.

The New South Wale’s police system have failed to meet the needs of its society due to the misuse and misconduct of its given powers. The police have a large amount of discretion

Issue: Do warrantless arrest and no probable cause determination allow for Police to detain a suspect for an extended amount of time?

Moreover, for police officers, those who are accused of crimes are protected by the Constitutional Rights that the Charter embeds and are permitted to challenge any actions police officers may have taken beyond their control (Griffiths, C. T., 2014, p.93). The Charter of Rights and Freedoms prevents them from abusing their power in multiple ways. This includes omitting any illegal evidence in court and making it inadmissible, creating a guideline for lawful arrests, and making sure that their use of force is proportionate to the situation and circumstances. (Griffiths, C. T., 2014, p.93-95). In addition, The Criminal Code permits police officers the right to arrest individuals in whom they think have committed an offence though before making an arrest they are to strictly contact the Justice Personnel although this changes within different circumstances (Griffiths, C. T., 2014, p.94-95). However, The Supreme Court of Canada implemented a guideline that police officers must follow when using a search warrant that ultimately includes reporting it and having it being given by a Justice Personnel before taking any action (Griffiths, C. T., 2014, p.98). Entrapment is not tolerated by the Criminal Code in circumstances in which an individual is nearly forced to commit a crime they wouldn’t have committed without the presence of an officer, although the advantage to using this mechanism would be that it cost-effective and may be more beneficial to the victim (Griffiths, C. T., 2014, p.102) The Criminal Code of Canada is also responsible for laying out the guidelines that permits police officers to use force. This includes being permitted to use one-plus-one use of force in situations where only it is applicable and requires an immediate response as well as the use of discretion in which the officer is free to choose the way they approach a situation

In this essay I will be describing some key legislation that has been put in place to protect citizens’ rights within society.

A striking aspect that differentiates the profession of policing from other forms of professions entails the legal authority bestowed upon the police to use force should situations call for it (Greenfeld 2012). According to 2009 Victorian police data, the situations involving the use of force was encountered in every 2.5 hours and for every 49hours, there was a critical incident related to the use of force by police (Office of Police Integrity 2009). These statistics show that at some point, the

For the police department to be effective in their varied missions, they depend on the trust and confidence of the community. The public’s trust and confidence are severely reduced when individuals’ civil rights are compromised (International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2006).

One of the groups of people within the legal system that have discretionary powers are the police force. The discretionary powers that they have can be found in the Law Enforcement (powers and responsibilities) act 2002 (NSW) also known as (LEPRA). They can use their discretion in various areas one of which is during the investigation process. They have the discretion to decide whether or not to proceed with investigations. The only situation that they have to investigate is anything relating to domestic violence. In these situations, police can’t use their discretionary

This paper will describe police power and police authority. I will also talk about police discretion as for as whom gets locked up and who is allowed to go free. This paper will discuss the different use of police force. In this paper I will also talk about police attitude, police misconduct, and physical abuse among police officers.