Clause 35 - Police powers for police authority employees
Police Reform Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Mr James Paice (South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
That is a perfectly good point, and I prefaced my opening remarks by saying that I recognise that there are arguments both ways. I wholly support the concept of local byelaws, and those that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, which are eminently sensible. It is a pity that not every authority has decided to go down that route, because such byelaws will be necessary if we are to restore the order that most of us ordinary, law-abiding peaceful civilians would like to have on our streets.
When talking about CSOs, we are discussing acts that are widely recognised by the public to be illegal, and not byelaws. There have been variations in byelaws for many decades; the public have got used to that. Byelaws are usually made visible, for example by placards or notices that say, ''No dog fouling. Penalty x, y or z,'' so people are aware of them. There is no way that someone will know what powers a CSO officer wearing a uniform has simply by looking at him.