Procedure explained

The National Letters

FOR clarity and public consumption, let me explain the Police force’s fundamental duties and responsibilities of their arrest procedures.
Every policeman/woman who passes out from Bomana Police Training College should have learned this.
Police perform a constitutional function because once a person is arrested, charged and detained, their rights and freedom are immediately removed as empowered to them Under Section 3 of the Arrest Act.
The Act stipulates that any policeman/woman can arrest anyone at anytime, anywhere if;

  • A person has committed a crime in the past or;
  • is in the act of committing a crime or;
  • Is about to commit a crime (on suspicion).

There are only three ways of bringing offenders to the court of law when people commit a crime and that is;

  • Arrest by physical or verbal apprehension of the offender;
  • through an arrest warrant; and,
  • Through a court summons.

The first method is applied to persons that become involved in any general criminal offences such as violent crimes etc.
The second arrest procedure is applied under two type’s circumstances and they are;

  • When a court issues a warrant for police to arrest the offender who is out on court bail but fails to appear on the court date of hearing. The prosecutor calls his/her name on three occasions and there is no response from within the court precincts, the court may use its discretion to issue the warrant of arrest.
  • Where police detectives apply direct to the district court (senior magistrate), through an ex-parte application process, for an arrest warrant to be issued similar to the search warrant process. This is a standard police procedure that is provided in the Criminal Code Act for them to arrest persons for official corruption cases only and not for other criminal offences.

The District Court magistrate only endorses and grants this arrest warrant after been satisfied of the grounds applied by the police criminal investigation officer, including the details of the crime committed, the evidence substantiated with facts in an affidavit format etc.
Summons is a legal document served to a person to appear in criminal trial or very popular in the Civil Courts processes. It is also issued by police for traffic offences only.
It becomes a complicated and a controversial issue when money sucking private lawyers obtain ‘stay orders’ thus twisting and turning the standard police arrest procedures thus creating unusual scenarios attracting comments from citizens.
The courts have no power to stop a police from effecting an arrest but it can preside and adjudicate only after the arrest process is completed and when the person is brought before the courts.

Private Investigator