Report - Guardian

The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005 137- that the relevant person has not furnished a satisfactory address for service of asummons, or there are reasonable grounds for doubting that address;- where the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that arrest is necessaryto prevent the relevant persono causing injury to himself or anothero suffering injuryo causing loss of or damage to propertyo committing an offence against public decencyo causing an unlawful obstruction of the highway;- where the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that arrest is necessaryto protect a child or other vulnerable person from the relevant person. 360Where a person has been convicted of a recordable offence, has not been in detention ina police station and has not had his fingerprints taken, he can be required by the policeto attend at a police station to give his fingerprints.There are provisions yet to be brought into force in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 thatwill enable people arrested in the street to be bailed to a police station. It is believed thatthese powers await the availability of mobile fingerprinting facilities that will be carriedin police cars. Sections 116 and 117 Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005,when brought into force, will enable the police to take photographs and fingerprints ofarrested persons at places other than at a police station.It would appear that there exists no power to take a non-intimate sample (e.g. of DNA)without consent other than at a police station. However, with consent, it can be takenanywhere, as can photographs or fingerprints.The present policy seems to be that all who come into contact with the police should bephotographed, fingerprinted and swabbed for DNA (and tested for drugs). Fingerprintsand DNA are subjected to speculative searches to see if they have been found at scenesof unsolved crimes.Section 4 Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduces a new section 30A, which empowers apolice officer to release on bail any person arrested or taken into custody before hearrives at a police station (s30A(1) and (2)). No conditions can be imposed on bailgranted in this way (s30A(4)) save that the person must be required to attend at a anypolice station (s30A(3) and (5)).The Bail Act 1976 does not apply to street bail (s30C(3)) but a constable may arrestwithout warrant anyone who fails to attend at a police station as required (s30D(1)).Such failure to attend is not in itself an offence (although for the purposes of s30 ands31 PACE 1984 it is to be treated as an arrest for an offence simply to permit it to beintegrated into the procedure at police stations).Section 9 Criminal Justice Act 2003 extends s61 PACE 1984 to permit the taking offingerprints without consent if a suspect is detained at a police station in consequence of360 Section 25, PACE 1984.