Clause 23 - Police powers for designated police support staff
Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland, Liberal Democrat)
I shall be brief. When I first saw the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Spelthorne, I thought along the same lines as the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr. McCabe). However, the remainder of the section confers substantial powers on the investigating officer and others, which one would not normally expect to be given to support staff. Fingerprint experts, scene of crime officers and forensic scientists do not normally have to be given guidance on the reasonable use of force.
I am concerned that compartmentalising the different functions of policing in that way will ultimately be bad for police morale. We seem to be saying that parts of their job can be taken in isolation because they are not that difficult. That approach is not unique to Northern Ireland: it comes through in many aspects of government policy on policing, and I consider it to be unhelpful.