Recent Book: The Policeman's Powers: “The Constable's Pocket Book Guide to Powers of Arrest and Charges”
| Published date | 01 January 1979 |
| Date | 01 January 1979 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X7905200112 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
RECENT BOOKS
AN APOLOGY
Unlike almost every
other
periodical on the market, we do not carrya review
at this time of
Sir
Robert
Mark's
book"IN
THE
OFFICE
OF
CONSTABLE".
This
is no prejudice on the
part
of this
journal,
simply
that
no review copy
was received!
ERICST.J
OHNSTON:
One Policeman's Story. Barry Rose (Publishers) Ltd £8.75
The
police service, for all its efforts to
recruit graduates, has not produced very
many intellectuals in the past 50 years - in
fact, you could
number
them
on the
fingers of one hand!
Strangely
enough,
two of them,
completely
contrasting
in character, have
produced
their
autobiographies
almost
contemporaneously.
What
is even stranger, it is the public
school
graduate
who comes
through
with
the'
stronger
sense of compassion
and
obviously to have
had
much
more
concern for his men
that
the
grammar
school boy from a working class family.
The one
thing
that
could
have
improved
Sir
Eric's
book
was less of
some
of the
more
trivial anecdotes and
more
of those quite
breathtaking
concepts he would occasionally
produce
of the police service and how he saw its
possible organization
and
admin-
istration.
This
man
had such a brilliant mind and
could have given the service so
much
more
than
he was either permitted or
decided to do.
His
book
is fascinating, but like the
man himself, you
cannot
help feeling,
how
much
more
might have been.
Nevertheless, it is
worth
every penny
and a most
important
contribution
to the
history of the police of England
and
Wales.
GRAHAM
VAUGHAN
THE POLICEMAN'S POWERS
FREDCALVERT.
M.B.E.,
Q.P.M.,
Order
of St.
John
(S.B.)
"The Constable's Pocket Book Guide to Powers
of
Arrest and Charges"
Published by Butterworths Price £1.95
Mr.
CALVERT
is already well
known
to Police Officers for his previous
editions of
"Powers
of
Arrest
and
Charges".
This
sixth
edition offers the
same
excellent service as its predecessors.
It
provides in its 138 pages a compact,
easily
understandable
reference to the
powers
of
arrest,
detention
and
formulation
of charges for most offences
that
Police Officers are in daily
contact
with. Worthwhile practical
comments
are
made
in relation to each offence
following the
formulation
of the charges.
The
book
is pocket size and facilitates
carrying by an officer in uniform.
The
author
has gone to
great
pains to
ensure
that
the contents are correct in law
and
up to
date
with regard to the
more
recent legislation: for example,
The
Bail
Act 1976
and
Criminal
Law Act 1977.
This
book
will prove invaluable to the
practical
working
Policeman in his
everyday duties and will be a welcome
addition
to any
Training
School
Library
for use by students in
preparing
projects
on charging,
court
cases, as well as a
quick reference
book
on his powers of
arrest.
The
index containes
joint
references to
the subject
matter
and its
appropriate
January 1979
legislation.
Faults
I)
Page
56 -
The
charge of
Drunk
and
Disorderly.
This charge is now
contrary
to Section
91,
Criminal
Justice Act 1967 which was
introduced by commencement
order
No.
4 since 1.2.78.
The
maximum
penalty is
£50 fine since
that
date.
2)
Page
38 - Criminal
Damage
No
mention
is
made
of the fact
that
since the implementation
ofthe
Criminal
Law Act, criminal
damage
under
£200 is
triable as a
summary
offence in certain
cases, with a penalty of £1,000 fine
and
or
6
months
imprisonment.
It
is still,
however, an arrestable offence because
the Criminal Law Act specifically says
so.
3) Page 123 - Grievous Bodily
Harm,
Section 18 Offences Against the
Person
Act 1861
It
is no longer one of the 'intents' of the
section to maim, disfigure or disable - all
this should be deleted.
Addition
I feel
that
5A of the Public
Order
Act
1936
should
be included with reference to
Racial
Hatred,
bringing to
attention
the
role of the Attorney General. A.C.
87
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