Policing and Crime Act 2017

Annex F - Existing powers of designated police staff

Community Support Officers - Standard powers

to issue fixed penalty notices for cycling on a footpath;

to issue fixed penalty notices for littering;

to require name and address of a person who the PCSO has reason to believe has i) committed an offence; ii) been acting, or to be acting, in an anti-social manner; or iii) failure to obey lawful traffic directions of a police constable or PCSO;

to require persons drinking in restricted areas to surrender alcohol;

to require persons aged under 18 to surrender alcohol;

to seize tobacco or cigarette papers from a person aged under 16 and to dispose of the tobacco/papers;

to seize controlled drugs (including power to require name and address of person in possession);

to enter and search any premises, in their police area, for the purposes of saving life and limb or preventing serious damage to property;

to seize vehicles used to cause alarm or distress (that is, careless and inconsiderate driving or prohibited off-road driving);

to remove abandoned vehicles;

to stop bicycles;

to control traffic for purposes other than escorting a load of exceptional dimensions;

to carry out road checks;

to place traffic signs;

to enforce areas cordoned under section 36 of the Terrorism Act 2000; and

to photograph persons away from a police station.

Discretionary powers

to issue penalty notices in respect of offences of disorder;

to issue fixed penalty notices for truancy;

to issue fixed penalty notices for excluded pupil found in a public place;

to issue fixed penalty notices for dog fouling on designated land;

to issue fixed penalty notices for graffiti and fly-posting;

to issue fixed penalty notice for relevant byelaw offences;

to detain a person for up to 30 minutes who fails to comply with a requirement to give their name and address, or who gives an answer which the PCSO reasonably suspects to be false or inaccurate, in order to wait for the arrival of a police officer (or alternatively to accompany the detained person to a police station);

to search detained persons for dangerous items or items that could be used to assist escape and to seize and retain any items found;

to enforce byelaws, including removing a person from a place if a constable would also have the power to enforce a byelaw in that way;

to deal with begging;

to enforce certain licensing offences (including a limited power of entry to investigate such offences);

to serve closure notice for licensed premises persistently selling to children;

to use reasonable force to prevent a detained person making off and to keep that person under control;

to disperse groups and remove persons under 16 to their place of residence;

to remove truants and excluded pupils to designated premises etc;

to use reasonable force in relation to detained persons to enforce their handover to a police officer or transfer to a police station;

to search for and seize alcohol and tobacco from minors;

to seize psychoactive substances;

to take possession of items used in the commission of offences under the Royal Parks (Trading) Act 2000 (Metropolitan PCSOs only);

to stop vehicles for testing of roadworthiness; and

to direct traffic for the purposes of escorting a load of exceptional dimensions.

to issue a fixed penalty notice for cycling without lights;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for failing to comply with traffic signs;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for carrying a passenger on a cycle;

to issue a fixed penalty notice to a cyclist for failing to comply with a traffic direction;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for parking in a restricted area outside schools;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for failing to stop for a police constable;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for driving the wrong way down a one-way street;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for sounding a horn when stationary or at night;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for not stopping engine when stationary;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for causing unnecessary noise with a motor vehicle;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for contravening bus lane prohibition or restriction;

to issue a fixed penalty notice for opening door so as to cause injury or danger;

to confirm the identity of a charity collector;

to issue a fixed penalty notice to an unlicensed street vendor;

to stop cycles;

to give a dispersal direction;

to direct a person to surrender alcohol or a container for alcohol in their possession or control in breach of a public spaces protection order;

to detain a person for up to 30 minutes failing to comply with either of the above directions, in order to wait for the arrival of a police officer;

to issue a Community Protection Notice;

Power to issue a fixed penalty notice for failure to comply with a Community Protection Notice; and

to issue a fixed penalty notice for failure to comply with Public Space Protection Order.

Investigating Officers (discretionary powers)

to obtain a search warrant under PACE or the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971;

to execute a search warrant under PACE or the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971;

to seize and retain things i) for which a search warrant has been authorised, or ii) on any premises where the officer is lawfully present;

to accompany named, undesignated individuals (for example, forensic IT or accountancy specialists) in the execution of a search warrant;

to obtain a production order under PACE;

to enter and search for evidence of an offence any premises under the control of an arrested person (PACE section 18);

to enter and search premises for evidence of nationality any premises under the control of an arrested person, or where that person was at the time of, or immediately before, their arrest (sections 44 to 46 of the UK Borders Act 2007);

to make a further arrest of an arrested person (that is, for a fresh offence);

to take custody of an arrested person at a police station for the purpose of progressing the investigation (for example, conducting an interview); and

to issue Special Warnings under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, to require a person to account for i) any object, substance or mark, or ii) their presence at a particular place, where the officer believes that may be attributable to the participation of the person arrested in an offence.

Detention Officers (discretionary powers)

to require a person to attend a police station to have i) their fingerprints or ii) other sample (for example, DNA) taken;

to take i) fingerprints or ii) non-intimate samples without consent;

to give warnings to detained persons in connection with i) the taking of samples, ii) the conduct of intimate searches or iii) the taking of investigative x-rays;

to conduct searches of persons answering to live link bail at a police station;

to conduct non-intimate searches of detained persons;

to conduct searches and examinations at police stations to ascertain an arrested person’s identity, including photographing any identifying mark;

to take photographs of detained persons;

to take impressions of a detained person's footwear without consent;

to keep control of detained person; and

where necessary, to use force to carry out any of the above powers.

Escort Officers (discretionary powers)

to take a person arrested by a constable to a police station; and

to escort persons in police detention.

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Policing and Crime Act 2017

Explanatory Notes

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Annex F - Existing powers of designated police staff

Community Support Officers - Standard powers

Discretionary powers

Investigating Officers (discretionary powers)

Detention Officers (discretionary powers)

Escort Officers (discretionary powers)

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Policing and Crime Act 2017

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Explanatory Notes

More Resources

Annex F - Existing powers of designated police staff

Community Support Officers - Standard powers

Discretionary powers

Investigating Officers (discretionary powers)

Detention Officers (discretionary powers)

Escort Officers (discretionary powers)