Part 19

Entry, removal and detention powers

Removal to place of safety

Removal from public place
297
1
Where—
a
a constable reasonably suspects—
i
that a person (referred to in this section and in section 298 of this Act as a “relevant person”) who is in a public place has a mental disorder; and
ii
that the relevant person is in immediate need of care or treatment; and
b
the constable considers that it would be in the interests of the relevant person, or necessary for the protection of any other person, to remove the relevant person to a place of safety,
the constable may remove the relevant person to a place of safety.
2
A relevant person removed to a place of safety under subsection (1) above may, for the purposes of enabling—
a
arrangements to be made for a medical practitioner to carry out a medical examination of the relevant person; and
b
the making of such arrangements as the medical practitioner considers necessary for the relevant person’s care or treatment,
be detained there for a period ending not later than 24 hours after the time at which the relevant person is removed from the public place by the constable.
3
If a relevant person absconds—
a
while being removed to a place of safety under subsection (1) above; or
b
from the place of safety,
a constable may, at any time during the period mentioned in subsection (2) above, take the person into custody and remove the person to a place of safety.
4
In this section, “public place” means a place to which the public, or any section of the public, has, or is permitted to have, access (whether on payment or otherwise); and includes the common parts of a building containing two or more separate dwellings.
5
If no place of safety is immediately available, a constable may, under subsection (1) or (3) above, remove a relevant person to a police station; and in any such case, any reference in this section and in section 298 of this Act to a place of safety shall be construed as being a reference to a police station.