Legal Powers and Regulation of Security Guards in the UK, Lecture notes of Acting

Download Legal Powers and Regulation of Security Guards in the UK and more Lecture notes Acting in PDF only on Docsity!     Private Security Security  guards  generally  do  not  have  any  more  legal  powers  than  any  member   of  the  public  (but  see  Community  Safety  Accreditation  Schemes  below).   This  means  they  can  only  make  a  “citizens'  arrest”  (covered  by  section  24A  of   the  Police  And  Criminal  Evidence  Act  1984)  using  'reasonable  force'  to  prevent   a  crime  from  occurring  or  if  they  have  a  reasonable  suspicion  that  an  offence   has  been  committed.       However,  they  must  also  call  the  police  and  can  only  detain  someone  if  there  is   a  risk  of  injury,  damage  to  property  or  that  the  person  is  likely  to  escape  before   the  police  can  take  over  responsibility.  Any  suspected  offence  must  be   indictable  (serious  enough  for  trial  at  a  Crown  Court)  but  this  does  include   criminal  damage  and  aggravated  trespass.  As  most  security  guards  are   inadequately  trained  and  unlikely  to  know  the  limits  of  their  powers,  their  run   the  risk  of  acting  unlawfully  if  they  attempt  to  make  a  “citizens'  arrest”,     Again,  like  other  members  of  the  public,  security  guards  can  also  use   'reasonable  force'  to  remove  civil  trespassers  from  private  property,  acting  as   agents  for  the  property  owner.       What  constitutes  'reasonable'  force  and  'reasonable'  suspicion  is  subjective.   However,  the  courts  have  often  been  more  willing  to  allow  security  guards  to   act  more  forcefully  than  the  average  member  of  the  public.  Crown  Prosecution   Service  guidelines  on  self-­‐defence  also  recommend  “special  care  when   reviewing  cases  involving  those,  other  than  police  officers,  who  may  have  a   duty  to  preserve  order  and  prevent  crime”,  which  includes  private  security   guards.     In  practice,  the  police  often  step  in  to  arrest  protesters  to  ‘prevent  a  breach  of   the  peace’  for  refusing  to  leave  private  property  when  there  is  a  confrontation   with  security  guards,  even  if  no  other  criminal  offence  has  been  committed.         In  most  cases,  security  guards  that  anti-­‐fracking  campaigners  are  likely  to   encounter  will  be  licensed  by  the  Security  Industry  Authority  (SIA),  because   they  provide  “manned  guarding”  roles  covered  by  the  Private  Security  Industry   Act  2001.  This  includes  both  security  personnel  at  a  drilling  site  and  also  staff   employed,  for  example,  at  shopping  centres  that  your  campaign  might  have  a   stall  outside  of.       Front-­‐line  staff  (those  on  the  ground  who  guard  property  or  premises)  must   wear  a  credit-­‐card-­‐sized  licence  where  it  can  be  seen.  Failure  to  do  so  is  a   breach  of  the  licence  conditions  and  may  be  reported  to  the  SIA.       Community Safety Accreditation Schemes   The  Police  Reform  Act  2002  allows  Chief  Constables  to  accredit  people  working   in  security  roles  to  receive  limited  powers  under  an  approved  ‘Community   Safety  Accreditation  Scheme’  (CSAS)  for  “combatting  crime  and  disorder,   public  nuisance  and  other  forms  of  anti-­‐social  behaviour”.       Overwhelmingly  local  councils  employ  these  Accredited  Persons  as   enforcement  officers  or  parks  wardens,  although  there  are  accredited  schemes   that  also  cover  shopping  centre  and  industrial  estate  security  staff.  Their   powers  include  the  ability  to:     • issue  a  penalty  notice  for  disorder  for  behaviour  likely  to  cause  harassment,   alarm  or  distress   • issue  a  fixed  penalty  notice  for  graffiti  and  fly  posting   • require  the  name  and  address  of  a  person  who  has  committed  a  criminal   offence  that  causes  injury,  alarm  and  distress  to  another  person  or  damage   or  loss  of  another's  property,  or  to  whom  a  penalty  notice  has  been  issued   • require  the  name  and  address  of  a  person  acting  in  an  anti-­‐social  manner     Accredited  Persons  must  wear  a  uniform  approved  by  the  police   when  exercising  their  powers  and  carry  an  ID  card  that  also  shows   the  powers  they  are  authorised  to  use.  The  logo  on  the  right   indicates  a  security  guard  is  CSAS  accredited.     Currently  we  are  unaware  of  any  specific  incidence  of  CSAS  accredited  staff  at   fracking  sites  but  we  know  that  security  companies  working  with  the  industry   are  training  staff  for  CSAS  accreditation.