Search without a Warrant

Question 1

There are a number of powers that allow officers to search without a warrant. Covered in this section are:

Answer 1

Section 17 PACE – enter and search for people (either to arrest, recapture or save)

Section 18 PACE – enter and search for evidence after arrest (occupied or controlled)

Section 19 PACE – power to seize items from premises

Section 22 PACE – power to retain items seized

*Section 32 PACE – enter and search for evidence upon arrest (place of arrest)

UK Borders Act 2007 – power to seize and retain ID documents

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 – Power to seize and retain cash or other proceeds of crime

Question 2

Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002

One consideration that should always be in your mind when searching premises for any reason is…

Answer 2

Identifying cash or anything else that could be the proceeds of crime.

This is particularly relevant when searching premises occupied or controlled by or being used by those people involved in supplying drugs.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is the principle money laundering legislation in the UK and gives officers various powers in this area.

Question 3

Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002

Powers

Identifying cash or anything else that could be the proceeds of crime.

Answer 3

Section 289 says that if officers are lawfully engaged in searching premises and there are grounds for suspecting there is cash on the premises which has been obtained through unlawful conduct or intended by any person to be used in unlawful conduct, then the officers may search for that cash.

Section 294 gives officers the power to seize this cash so long as it is not less than the minimum amount stipulated by the Secretary of State. This amount is currently £1,000.

Question 4

Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002

Powers

Identifying cash or anything else that could be the proceeds of crime.

‘Cash’ in question must have been obtained through unlawful conduct or intended by any person to be used in unlawful conduct and includes:

Answer 4

• notes and coins in any currency,
• postal orders,
• cheques of any kind, including travellers’ cheques,
• bankers’ drafts,
• bearer bonds and bearer shares (must be found in the United Kingdom).

So, if you are engaged in a premises search and find cash that you consider to be over £1,000 you may seize it if the occupier fails to give a satisfactory reason for it.

Question 5

Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002

When searching premises under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, you should also make sure that you look for any financial clues that may assist you in verifying the wealth, criminal finances and movement of suspects.

Examples of such material might be:

Answer 5

• cheque books,
• receipts,
• bank paying in books,
• evidence of an extravagant lifestyle,
• documentation about travel arrangements e.g. ticket confirmations.

Question 6

Section 17 PACE Searches

What does this power give?

Answer 6

Gives officers the authority to enter any premises in order to either arrest people for certain offences, recapture people in certain circumstances, save life and limb, or to protect property from serious damage.

Question 7

Section 17 PACE Searches

This power gives officers the authority to enter any premises in order to either arrest people for certain offences, what may this be for?

Answer 7

• anyone wanted on warrant issued by a court
• anyone who has committed an indictable offence. (Indictable offences are the more serious criminal offences e.g. theft, robbery, serious assault, drugs offences).
• arrest a young person or child who has been remanded to local authority accommodation or youth detention accommodation
• arrest a person who has escaped from a prison, remand centre, young offenders institute, or secure training centre.

Question 8

Section 17 PACE Searches

This power gives officers the authority to enter any premises in order to recapture people in certain circumstances, what may this be for?

Answer 8

• anyone who has escaped from you or a colleague (ie after being arrested) and whom you are in immediate pursuit of

It is important to understand here that you must be in immediate ‘hot’ pursuit to use this power. This can be for any offence including anything not contained in the arrest section above.

The person MUST however have been arrested and then run away from you.

Question 9

Section 17 PACE Searches

This power gives officers the authority to enter any premises in order to save life and limb, what may this be for?

Answer 9

This needs to be situations where the person is at risk of serious injury or in need of immediate care.

It is usually used when someone needs immediate help and is either refusing it or is incapacitated and unable to allow you entry.

Question 10

Section 17 PACE Searches

This power gives officers the authority to enter any premises in order to protect property from serious damage, what may this be for?

Answer 10

As with saving life this needs to be instances of serious damage such as a major water leak or fire.

Question 11

Section 17 PACE Searches

This power gives officers the authority to enter any premises in order to either arrest people for certain offences, recapture people in certain circumstances, save life and limb, or to protect property from serious damage.

In order to exercise this power of entry under any of the above circumstances, you must have…

Answer 11

Reasonable grounds to believe that the person whom you will arrest or recapture are on the premises that you want to enter (Sec 17.2).

However, when entering to save life or prevent serious damage to property you actually only need reasonable grounds to suspect that the someone is on the premises or that property will be damaged.

Question 12

Section 17 PACE Searches

Extent of search

Answer 12

When using this power, you may only enter and search to the extent that it is necessary to find the person to be arrested or recaptured. In addition, if the building has separate dwellings, e.g. a block of flats or a house which has private rented rooms, you may only enter the flat or room where you believe the person you are seeking may be, and any communal parts.

Question 13

Section 17 PACE example scenario:

Scenario 1: You receive a briefing that a well-known burglar is wanted for failing to appear at court. The court have issued an arrest warrant. You are tasked with attending his home address to carry out an arrest enquiry. During the briefing a colleague tells you that when the male was last arrested he was found hiding underneath his bed at the address. On arrival at the address some officers cover the rear access and you go to the front door. You knock loudly on the door for several minutes and shout through the letter box. There is no reply. You cannot hear or see any signs of anyone inside. One of your colleagues speaks with a neighbour who says they haven’t seen the occupant for a few days.

Answer 13

Answer 1: Without further information that the male is in his address NOW then you cannot use Sec 17 to enter and search for him as you do not have reasonable grounds to believe that he is inside. If you had seen or heard any ‘signs of life’ ( eg people talking / whispering, doors closing, curtains moving, TV / radio on) then you may decide that you believe that someone is inside the premises NOW and that they won’t open the door. With this added information you would be justified in using Sec 17 PACE to enter and search for the male in order to arrest them under the authority of the court warrant. Note that the court warrant gives you the power of arrest, but the power to enter comes from Sec 17.

Question 14

Section 17 PACE example scenario:

Scenario 2: You are on patrol in a vehicle when you suddenly see a young male aged about 15 running across the road in front of you and into a nearby housing estate. You then see a male chasing him. The male sees the police car, points at the 15-year-old and shouts “He’s robbed my phone”. You exit from your car and begin running after the young male. You see him go into a ground floor flat on the estate. You get to the door and bang it on shouting for it to be opened. There is no response, but you can hear a female and young male arguing inside the address.

Answer 14

Answer 2: It is reasonable in these circumstances to suspect that an indictable offence has been committed ie theft, robbery (powers of arrest only require grounds to suspect). It is also reasonable to believe that the person who committed that offence is inside a premises now. This belief comes from the fact that you saw him enter. In these circumstances you would be able to use Sec 17 PACE to enter and search the premises in order to arrest the male for an indictable offence. Once you had done this then you would be able to confirm what had actually happened and decide on your course of action.

Question 15

Section 17 PACE example scenario:

Scenario 3: You receive a call from a concerned resident that their elderly neighbour hasn’t been seen for two days. The resident reports that they always pop in and see their neighbour at the same time each day but today there has been no reply at the neighbours’ door and they do not have a key or details of any relatives nearby. The resident also reports that the elderly neighbour is immobile and unable to leave the house unaided. You attend the address and can get no reply to your repeated knocking and there no ‘signs of life’ inside.

Answer 15

Answer 3: This one needs a bit of consideration. Do we have enough information that the person we are wanting to save is on the premises now? We have information that they can’t go out unaided, but they may have been picked up by a friend or relative and taken out for the day and which the neighbour knew nothing of. Information that may give you additional grounds that someone is on premises now and needed help might include:

moans, shouts, screams for help,
calls to emergency services from someone inside the premises,
visible signs through the window or letter box of someone in distress,
more certainty from the neighbour that the elderly resident hasn’t left the house since they last saw them.

Question 16

Section 17 PACE Searches

This power gives officers the authority to enter any premises in order to save life and limb, or to protect property from serious damage.

A few examples of the many different reasons you will enter to save life and limb or prevent serious damage to property are:

Answer 16

• young children left home alone,
• information from the Samaritans or other charity that a person has called them threatening suicide,
• reports of a violent domestic incident taking place,
• high risk missing persons incidents,
  evacuating people in a block of flats that is on fire,
• a major water leak from a top floor flat causing serious damage to the properties below.

Question 17

Section 18 PACE Search

Section 18 PACE covers occasions when:

Answer 17

A person is under arrest for an INDICTABLE offence.

There are grounds to suspect that there is EVIDENCE relevant to the offence they have been arrested for, or evidence of a similar or connected indictable offence(s).

This evidence is inside premises OCCUPIED or CONTROLLED by that person.

Question 18

Section 18 PACE Search

Points to note:

Answer 18

Mere suspicion or belief of occupancy or control is not sufficient. Before powers under Section 18 are used officers must be sure that the premises are occupied or controlled by the person under arrest (Code B).

There are summary, either-way, and indictable only offences. When you see the term ‘indictable offence’ being used, this is used to mean ‘either-way’ offences and/or ‘indictable only’ offences. Therefore, it does not include summary offences.

Question 19

Section 18 PACE Search

What is needed before a search can be carried out

Answer 19

The written authority of an inspector or above is needed before a search can be carried out under Sec 18 PACE (Sec 18.4) and is normally obtained after the arrested person has arrived at the police station and enquiries have been made as to where they live or into other premises they occupy or control where evidence may be being stored.

Question 20

Section 18 PACE Search

On some occasions the person who has been arrested will be…

Answer 20

…taken to the premises being searched as well to witness the search taking place and answer any immediate questions regarding items found.

Question 21

Section 18 PACE Search

Sec 18.5 importantly allows for what..?

Answer 21

Allows for occasions when it is more appropriate for the ‘effective investigation of the offence’ to conduct the search of their home or other premises before the person arrives at the police station. Sec 18(5) allows for the entry and search to take place without the Inspector’s authority.

If this happens then an inspector or above must be informed that the search has taken place as soon as practicable after the search has been conducted.

Once the person has arrived at the police station then Sec 18.5 cannot be used and the written authority from the inspector must be obtained.

Question 22

Section 18 PACE Search

In practical terms Sec 18.5 is used at what times?

Answer 22

Where officers feel it necessary to secure evidence that may otherwise be lost before such authorisation is obtained (e.g. a friend or family member has learned of the arrest and may discard evidence)

OR where carrying out the search before taking the arrested person to the police station is more effective (e.g. where a suspect has been arrested and is on way to a police station several miles away and his home address is nearby).

Question 23

Section 18 PACE Search

What does extent of search mean?

Answer 23

The search is restricted to that which is reasonably required to discover whatever is being sought. So, it would not be reasonable to look inside a small cupboard or drawer when searching for a stolen push bike. If, however you are searching for drugs or cash then a thorough systematic search of the whole premises is reasonable.

Question 24

Section 18 PACE Search

What does seizure mean?

Answer 24

You may seize and retain anything you were authorised to search for under this section.

Question 25

Section 18 Scenario Examples

Scenario 1: Jim commits a robbery. Police view the CCTV 3 hours later and immediately recognise Jim. They go to his home address to arrest him and are let in by his mum. Jim is not at home. Can the officers search the house for evidence of the robbery under Sec 18 PACE?

Answer 25

Answer 1: NO, because Jim is not under arrest for the robbery or a similar indictable offence. Once he has been arrested for the offence then Sec 18 can be considered.

Question 26

Section 18 Scenario Examples

Scenario 2: Bill is a drug dealer and is arrested for supplying class A drugs on the High Street. He is taken to the police station and booked in. The officers conduct checks on Bill and ascertain intelligence that he sometimes stores his drugs at a friend’s house, and that he stores the cash, stolen property and other proceeds of his drug dealing at his own house. The officers speak with the inspector and request authority to search Bills address and the friends address. Can the inspector grant authority to the officers to use Sec 18 to search Bills house and his friends house?

Answer 26

Answer 2: YES and NO. Sec 18 cannot be used to search the friends address as Bill does not OCCUPY or CONTROL these premises.

Bills home address can be searched under Sec 18 for evidence of drug dealing of similar offences as:

• he is under arrest for an INDICTABLE offence. (supplying drugs),
• he OCCUPIES the premises (i.e. he lives there),
• there are REASONABLE GROUNDS TO SUSPECT (due to the circumstances surrounding his arrest and the additional available intelligence) that there is evidence of drug dealing at the address e.g. other drugs, money, scales, bags, electronic devices with messages / customers / sales.

Question 27

Section 18 Scenario Examples

Scenario 3: Sally is arrested for fraud after being detained at a bank with a cloned credit card. Sally is in possession of ID that gives her home address. The officers conduct intelligence checks via their radio and confirm this address. The officers suspect there will be other cloned cards and cloning equipment at her home address and suspect that her boyfriend may try and get rid of the evidence if he finds out she has been arrested. The police station is 12 miles away and officers know her home address is less than 2 miles away from the bank. Should the officers take Sally directly to the police station and obtain written authority from an inspector to search her house or should they take her straight to her home address and do the search without the authority?

Answer 27

Answer 3: Both options would be correct. Taking the arrested person to the police station and obtaining written authority prior to the search is never wrong, but on this occasion it would be reasonable and more appropriate to take Sally straight to her home address and search it before taking her to the police station. This would be to prevent evidence being discarded by her boyfriend and to negate the need to travel all the way back to her home address after she has been booked in.

Question 28

Section 32 Pace Searches

Section 32 PACE applies when?

Answer 28

The person has been arrested at a place other than a police station (which includes public areas such as the front desk).

It does not require specific authority from an inspector or above. It confers powers to search both person and premises. The powers to search a person are covered the ‘Person searches’ section and arrest.

Question 29

Section 32 Pace Searches

The premise:

Answer 29

Enter and search any premises in which the person was when arrested or immediately before arrest.

The power to enter and search premises can only take place if the arrest is for an indictable offence, and the constable has reasonable grounds to believe there is evidence relating to the offence for which they have been arrested on those premises – the search can include communal areas.

Question 30

Section 32 Pace Searches

So, in the context of searching premises under Sec 32 PACE, the following must thus apply:

Answer 30

• the person must be under arrest
• for an indictable offence
• they must have been arrested on the premises, or been on the premises immediately prior to arrest
• the evidence sought must be evidence of the offence
• they have been arrested for (reasonable grounds to believe

Question 31

UK Borders Act 2007

The UK Borders Act 2007 gives police officers and immigration officers the power to do what?

Answer 31

Enter and search premises after arrest to search for documents that establish an individual’s nationality.

This is a particularly useful power and enables officers to identify non-British citizens following their arrest, to assist the criminal justice process and increase the ability for them to be deported from the UK if appropriate.

Question 32

UK Borders Act 2007

What is Section 44?

Answer 32

Search for ID documents without warrant

Question 33

UK Borders Act 2007

Section 44 – search for ID documents without warrant

This section applies where…?

Answer 33

an individual has been arrested on suspicion of an offence and a constable suspects:

that the individual may not be a British citizen, and
that nationality documents relating to the individual may be found on:
(i) premises occupied or controlled by the individual,
(ii) premises on which the individual was arrested, or
(iii) premises on which the individual was, immediately before being arrested.

This power must have the written authority of an Inspector before it can be exercised.

Question 34

UK Borders Act 2007

A ‘nationality document’ means a document showing:

Answer 34

(a) the individual’s identity, nationality or citizenship,
(b) the place from which the individual travelled to the United Kingdom, or
(c) a place to which the individual is proposing to go from the United Kingdom.

Question 35

UK Borders Act 2007

What is Section 45?

Answer 35

Search for ID documents with warrant

Covers occasions when police officers or immigration officers can apply to a magistrate for a search warrant to search premises for ID documents. The circumstances need to be the same as those outlined in Sec 44 BUT where the documents are suspected to be in premises other than those listed in Sec 44.

Question 36

UK Borders Act 2007

What is Section 46?

Answer 36

Seizure and retention

A police officer and immigration officer searching premises under Sec 44 or 45 may seize any document which they think is a nationality document in relation to the person under arrest and retain it while they suspect that the individual may be liable to removal from the UK and retention of the document may facilitate their removal.

Material subject to legal privilege is exempt and cannot be seized.