S24 Police and Criminal Evidence Act
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035762
I note you seek access to the following information:
I am seeking information in accordance with Section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Please could you advise on the following as a matter of urgency:
Should the relationship between a Victim and an Assailant impact the Metropolitan Police making the decision to carry out an arrest? Are the Metropolitan Police allowed to not make an arrest due to the Victim and the Assailant being family members?
Should the Metropolitan Police arrive with emergency services such as an Ambulance if the Victim clearly stated on the initial 999 call that they had been attacked? Under which circumstances should the Metropolitan Police arrive with an emergency service such as an ambulance ?
Should the Metropolitan Police carry out an arrest if the Assailant has a Mental Health Issue that the Metropolitan Police are aware of? Also if the Assailant carried out GBH unprovoked, and if they have committed previous serious criminal offences too? For example, GBH, Assault, Arson etc. I was under the impression that an arrest must be made shortly after the offence was carried out due to the interest of the General Public. This is due to the person potentially being a danger to others
Under what circumstances should the police not carry out an arrest if the crime had been noted down as GBH? Please note, the reasoning for this question is due to the fact that GBH falls under a Section 18 offence. As noted below:
'Section 18 Assault is known as grievous bodily harm as detailed in Section “18 and “20” of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The offence must include wounding with intent or with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. In UK law a Section 18 is the most serious form which can be committed'
What is the process if the Metropolitan Police refused to make an arrest despite attending with a large number of police units, seeing injury, blood on the walls, a witness giving them information in relation to the Assailant; including their name, criminal history and address ?
What is the process if the Metropolitan Police misplace the witness statement after attending the scene of the crime?
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
You have requested information related to very specific scenarios. Please note each incident the MPS deal with is unique, therefore there are no policies related to specific scenarios. Rather, the way in which an incident is dealt with will depend on the officer’s decision making at the scene, which will be in response to what they are faced with at that scene. Therefore, a complaint should be made if it is felt that the MPS failed to meet the standards required.
Complaints procedure
The MPS have a complaints procedure, please find the relevant information on this via the link below:
Website: MPS Website - Feedback - Complaints
Q1 - Should the relationship between a Victim and an Assailant impact the Metropolitan Police making the decision to carry out an arrest? Are the Metropolitan Police allowed to not make an arrest due to the Victim and the Assailant being family members?
There is nothing in policy stating that officers should not arrest the assailant if they are related to the victim. In many cases family members are arrested. The decision to arrest someone is solely the decision of the officer at the scene.
Q2 - Should the Metropolitan Police arrive with emergency services such as an Ambulance if the Victim clearly stated on the initial 999 call that they had been attacked? Under which circumstances should the Metropolitan Police arrive with an emergency service such as an ambulance ?
The MPS will respond to calls where a victim has been attacked. There are times when the 999 call is routed to the Ambulance Service first and then passed to the MPS and some occasions where the Ambulance Service are on scene and then request police assistance.
Q3 - Should the Metropolitan Police carry out an arrest if the Assailant has a Mental Health Issue that the Metropolitan Police are aware of? Also if the Assailant carried out GBH unprovoked, and if they have committed previous serious criminal offences too?
If a person has committed a criminal offence this does not negate the need to follow criminal justice procedures even if they have a Mental Health issue. Any offence committed where the suspect is mentally ill should be followed up through to summons or arrest and suitable case disposal unless the offence is of a trivial nature such as s5 Public Order Act. The fact that someone is mentally ill should not prevent a suitable investigation where appropriate.
Q4 - Under what circumstances should the police not carry out an arrest if the crime had been noted down as GBH?
The decision to arrest someone is solely the decision of the officer at the scene, regardless of the offence.
Q5 - What is the process if the Metropolitan Police refused to make an arrest despite attending with a large number of police units, seeing injury, blood on the walls, a witness giving them information in relation to the Assailant; including their name, criminal history and address ?
The decision to arrest someone is solely the decision of the officer at the scene. They will assess all the information at the scene to make a decision to arrest using the National Decision Making model.
Q6 - What is the process if the Metropolitan Police misplace the witness statement after attending the scene of the crime?
If an officer has misplaced a witness statement they will take all reasonable steps to trace/recover the statement. If the statement still cannot be found then a replacement statement should be taken which clearly states that this has been taken as the original statement has been misplaced.