Detention and custody powers.
Authorising detention, the 24, 36 and 96-hour limits, reviews, the rights to have someone told and to legal advice, searches of detained people, fingerprints, samples and drug testing.
10 powers · the conditions, who can use them and the safeguards
Quick reference
| Power | Legislation | Who can use it | What it allows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access to legal advice | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.58 | A superintendent or above (authorising delay) | An arrested person held in custody may consult a solicitor privately at any time, and a superintendent may delay this only for an indictable offence, on set grounds, for up to 36 hours. |
| Detention before charge | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.37 | A custody officer (sergeant or above) | Requires the custody officer to decide, as soon as practicable, whether there is enough evidence to charge an arrested person, and lets them authorise detention without charge only where it is necessary to secure, preserve or obtain evidence. |
| Drug testing in custody | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.63B | A police officer (inspector or above to authorise for a non-trigger offence) | Lets police take a urine or non-intimate sample from a detainee to test for a specified Class A drug, after arrest or charge for a trigger offence, or for another offence where an inspector suspects drug misuse contributed. |
| Intimate searches | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.55 | An inspector or above (authorisation) | Lets an inspector authorise a search of the body orifices (other than the mouth) of a person arrested and in police detention, to find a concealed item that could cause injury or a Class A drug held for supply or export. |
| Limits on detention without charge | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, ss.41–44 | A superintendent or above (to 36 hours); a magistrates' court on a constable's application (to 96 hours) | Sets the maximum time a person can be held in police detention without charge – 24 hours from the relevant time, up to 36 hours on a superintendent's authority, and up to 96 hours under warrants from a magistrates' court – for indictable offences only beyond 24 hours. |
| Reviews of police detention | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, ss.40–40A | An inspector or above (before charge) or the custody officer (after charge) | Requires the detention of every person held in police detention for an offence to be reviewed at set intervals, so it continues only while the legal grounds for it still exist. |
| Right to have someone informed when arrested | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.56 | An inspector or above (to authorise delay) | A person arrested and held in custody can have one person told where they are, and an inspector can delay this only for an indictable offence on specific grounds, for no more than 36 hours. |
| Searching detained persons | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.54 | The custody officer (search carried out by a constable) | Lets the custody officer find out and record what a detained person has with them, have them searched to the extent necessary, and seize items that could cause harm or are evidence. |
| Taking fingerprints without consent | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.61 | A constable (some routes need inspector or court authorisation) | Lets the police take a person's fingerprints without consent after arrest, charge, conviction or caution for a recordable offence, or on the street to check the identity of a suspect whose name is unknown or doubted. |
| Taking non-intimate samples without consent | Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.63 | A constable (inspector's authority in some cases) | Lets any constable take a non-intimate sample, such as a mouth swab or hair, without consent from a person arrested, charged, reported or convicted for a recordable offence, where the law's conditions are met. |
Tap a power for the numbered conditions, the safeguards and the key definitions.