Privatisation... Police

[Stones of granite]

Here's a link to an already established private Police force that operates nationwide (with a separate organisation in Scotland) Private Police. Interestingly, their founding predates most official Police Forces in the UK.

[Sandydragon]

Nonsense, all the articles are recent.

And the point is the expansion of this private police force nationwide.

Everyone knows that Tories want a small state, it seems we can expect a minimalist police force with private forces syphoning more money off into shareholder profits.

Do these security guards have the same legal powers as a constable?

"has the power to arrest the perpetrator and launch his or her own investigation. "
https://www.standard.co.uk/my-local-bob ... 07166.html

but one major difference is that they don't need to go via crown prosecution to prosecute... therefore there can be commercial incentive to prosecute rather than public interest.

They are using private prosecutions, a concept already established in law. Their powers of arrest will come from PACE 1984, which are the same powers anyone in England and Wales has. They will not be able to interview suspects, collect evidence or investigate crimes for which they don’t have immediate proof. There is no requirement for anyone to cooperate with them. They remain with the same status as security guards except that they will be undertaking private prosecutions.

It’s a long way from being a constable. Much of this is scaremongering by lefties or by police federation for political purposes.

[Sandydragon]

"has the power to arrest the perpetrator and launch his or her own investigation. "
https://www.standard.co.uk/my-local-bob ... 07166.html

but one major difference is that they don't need to go via crown prosecution to prosecute... therefore there can be commercial incentive to prosecute rather than public interest.

This appears to rely on the powers of Citizens Arrest and Private Prosecutions. Not straightforward in England and Wales, and highly problematic in Scotland.

"Appears" i.e. You're just guessing.

If we had real journalism in this country this would be investigated properly.

The public don’t have PACE 84 powers of arrest on Scotland.

[Sandydragon]

Initially, all prosecutions were private, other than when the crown was the victim. With the formation of the police, they work over the role of bringing prosecutions. However, this historical hangup still continues today.

You way wish to consider Zhivago that a number of organisations bring private prosecutions today, the RSPCA tends to this this the most, although a cycling charity took a motorist to court for killing a cyclist a few years ago when the police declined to refer th case file to the CPS.

So this route has been in place longer than the formal system we have today, but it is very expensive which is why it’s laregly avoided. It’s also very risky as the ‘prosecution’ can only bring evidence that has been freely provided to them. They have no power to seize evidence, so unless it’s a simple case where the perpetrator is caught on camera and then is subjected to a citizens arrest by a private ‘policeman’ then their chances of success are slim.

Even if prosecutions are it forward with scanty evidence to assuage commercial concerns, a bit of a contradiction due to the expense involved but you seemed to think it would be a problem, the court will still operate the same way and the evidence on offer is likely to be less.

[BBD]

would they have the power to snort derisively as you protested your innocence and say "we got you banged to rights chummy! we've just tumbled your drum and the whole manor is squealing, tell us something interesting about Mr Big and we can do a deal" in an attempt to extract a confession

[SerjeantWildgoose]

No bastard private coppah is gonn'a take me alive!