Clause 35 - Police powers for police authority employees
Police Reform Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Mr Norman Baker (Lewes, Liberal Democrat)
The hon. and learned Lady is right to draw attention to that implication. I agree that it exists, but I do not believe that it goes quite that far. Indeed, the powers given to the detention officers are far more intrusive to the individual and their civil liberties than the powers given to CSOs, for example, to deal with cordoned-off areas. That is why I am not unhappy with a tighter rein being held on detention officers in that context than on CSOs in the slightly less intrusive situation of dealing with a cordoned-off area. In reacting to the powers, I am considering at all points what is right in civil liberties terms and what is right realistically to allow the police to do their duty. That is where I draw the line; the hon. and learned Lady and others may draw it elsewhere.