Recent Book: At the Beginning: “Police Law Primer”
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300318 |
| Published date | 01 July 1980 |
| Date | 01 July 1980 |
| Author | A. W. Chuck |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
definition and explanation. Those who
continue to hold false beliefs in spite of
continued and convincing evidence that
they are wrong. are in desperate need
of, if you will pardon the expression,
treatment and rehabilitation".
MAURICE NORTH
AT THE BEGINNING
KENNETH
Sl.OAN:
"Police Law Primer".
Butterworths. £4.95.
This is a book of law in which the
author has made an admirable job of
condensing all-of the relevant law for the
everyday Policeman into one compact
volume.
Whilst realising Mr. Sloan's aims in so
condensing the vast volume of law. the
book suffers in some respects from over-
precis of important factors. in particular
Police Powers. which sometimes do not
feature at all. and on other occasions are
over-simplified so as to be incomplete
and therefore should be read with
caution.
I would not suggest that an officer
studying for promotion examinations
should use this book as his only law
reference book - he would find himself
very short of detail in covering the
syllabus. If one bears this in mind. and
the student has to resort to more detailed
books of reference, then one wonders on
the necessity of purchasinganother book
at all.
In his preface. Mr. Sloan mentions
that time has proved that there is a
necessity for this type of book, especially
for Probationer Constables. Idoubt if
District
Training
Schools
would
recommend initial students using this
book with the objective learning system
in being as it is. As for the next two years.
certainly in my Force, this book would
not be detailed enough in quite a lotof its
content, again with emphasis on 'some
important Police Powers. Ithas ofcourse
the advantages of compactness and
cheapness.
As a quick reference book for everyday
duties it could be most useful, but one
would have to know its shortcomings in
lack of detail and not rely on it entirely.
The Road Traffic Law contained in the
book is first class, and right up to date.
I would most certainly buy the book as
an addition to my library, and it is
288
obvious that with just a little more
attention to detail this book could be
more useful - and what ismore, reliable
without recourse to other much more
complicated and expensive works,
without detracting over much to the
compactness of the book and the idea
behind it.
A.W.CHUCK
A List
of
Errors
Some are minor and inconsequential.
some merely opinion, others are wrong in
law.These are not intended asa criticism,
only as helpful observations.
Page 22 No mention that most warrants
cannot be executed at night.
Page 79"Permissive Lights" - should be
"Permitted".
Page 97 Sale of unroadworthy vehicles
- final line "y" missing.
Page /34 Powers of Arrest - 3rd
line-
should not now mention "Dangerous
Driving".
Page /38 Line 3 - as above -
"Dangerous Driving".
Page /79 Post Office Act 1953- 2nd line
-"hybrid" -"Triable either way"?
Page /86 Powers of Arrest for S.6 and
S.7 Criminal Law Act 1977 are different
from that in S.8. See Section 8(4)
Serious omission -
S.II
Power of Entry
and Search, and no power of Entry and
Searchfor S.9 offencewithout permission,
Page 202 Firearms - Police Powers.
Too
condensed
and
sometimes
misleading. What about first stage -
handover for examination - if not.
arrest?
Page 222
Common
Services -"Police
Staff College"
Page226
ASSQU/(s
on
Constables
-Power
of Arrest - only arrest at Common Law
when accompanied by Breach of Peace
or likely to cause Breach of Peace.
Recent case law where Constables have
Police Journal July /980
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