Arrest people suspected of committing an offence
Overview
This NOS is aimed at security and loss prevention service providers and
sets out the skills, knowledge and understanding for you to arrest people
of suspected of committing an offence.
This NOS covers the following activities:
Apprehend suspected people
Detention of suspected people
Preserve the integrity of potential evidence
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Apprehend suspected people
ensure the health, safety and welfare of yourself, others and the arrestee, when apprehending suspects
confirm that you have sufficient and valid evidence to apprehend people suspected of committing or having committed an offence
take appropriate action to apprehend suspects that is within the constraints of the law and in line with your operational instructions, particularly using only reasonable force
follow your instructions and relevant codes of practice when apprehending suspects, particularly related to what you say to them
protect scenes of crime and potential evidence, following approved policies, procedures and guidelines
inform the relevant people and authorities that you have apprehended a suspect, in line with your instructions and within required timescales
complete the required records relevant to the circumstances when you apprehend suspects, accurately, legibly and as soon as practicable
ensure that all witnesses are correctly identified and contactable
Detention of suspected people
ensure the health, safety and welfare of yourself, others and the arrestee, while detaining suspects, including searching them and their possessions for weapons in line with your organisation’s policies and procedures
allow detainees their legal rights at all times while you detain them
follow approved procedures for segregating and accompanying detainees
follow approved policies and procedures and guidelines when detaining people
ensure detainees do not destroy or dispose of potential evidence
perform a correct hand over of suspects to the relevant authority, giving clear and concise details of detentions, in line with your instructions and within required timescales
complete the required records relevant to the details of detentions, fully, accurately, legibly and within required timescales
Preserve the integrity of potential evidence
take all reasonable precautions to prevent potential evidence from being lost or removed by unauthorised persons
take all reasonable precautions to prevent potential evidence from being contaminated
prevent access to a scene of a suspected offence to unauthorised people
make sure that no alterations to a scene of a suspected offence are made
ensure that all witnesses are correctly identified and contact details obtained
complete the required records, accurately, legibly and within required timescales
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
Legal and organisational requirements
1. current relevant legislation (including those relating to data protection), regulations, codes of practice and guidelines relating to:
1.1 arresting and apprehending people
1.2 arrest and detaining people
1.3 preserving the integrity of potential evidence
2. your organisations policies procedures and instructions relating to
apprehending and detaining suspects
3. current relevant legislation relating to the rights of detainees, including the
restrictions on your searching them or their possessions
Apprehend suspected people
4. the situations where you are allowed to apprehend suspects and the limits of
your authority
5. the implications of wrongful arrest and the necessary actions thereafter
6. the concept of reasonable force, and when and how it may be used to
apprehend suspects
7. which authorities you should inform that you have apprehended a suspect
and how to contact these authorities
8. the importance of identifying any witnesses and effecting their co-operation
9. how and why it is important to make full and accurate notebook entries and
records as soon as practicable
10. how and why it is important to record full details when force is used
Detention of suspected people
11. where the dedicated detention area is and how it must be maintained within
your organisation’s policies and procedures
12. why and how you should monitor detainees to prevent their escaping or
destroying potential evidence
13. which authority you should inform that you have detained a suspect and
how to contact these authorities
14. how and why to restrain detainees using appropriate and approved
techniques and devices with reasonable force
15. the implications of the use of restraint techniques
Preserve the integrity of potential evidence
16. your responsibility to look after potential evidence and what you should do
to preserve this evidence
17. what constitutes potential evidence, including anything said by detainees
18. what actions you can take to preserve potential evidence
19. the importance of identifying any witnesses and effecting their co-operation
20. how and why to preserve a crime scene and evidence
21. how and why it is important to restrict access to a crime scene
22. how and why it is important to make full and accurate notebook entries and
records soon as practicable
23. how and why it is important to identify and preserve evidence and record
accurate details at the time you apprehend suspects and thereafter preserve
the ‘chain of evidence’ or ‘audit trail’
Scope/range
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Scope Performance
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Scope Knowledge
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Values
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Behaviours
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Skills
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Glossary
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Links To Other NOS
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