Clause 5 - X-rays and ultrasound scans: England and Wales
Drugs Bill
9:10 am
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 36, in page 5, line 22, leave out from 'officer' to 'has'.
I am getting tired of hearing my own voice, Mr. Illsley, for which I apologise; I hope that other hon. Members will contribute to our debates as the morning draws on.
Under clause 3, a drug offence search can be carried out by an officer or a constable, but when we move on to X-rays and ultrasound scans under clause 5 we suddenly find that the ranking has shifted. In subsection (1) of proposed new section 55A to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, we see that the officer has to be of
''at least the rank of inspector''.
In most police forces, the uniformed ranks in ascending order are police constable, police sergeant, inspector, chief inspector, superintendent and chief superintendent—and then on to the giddy heights of assistant chief constable, deputy chief constable and chief constable. That is the ranking in my force, the Thames Valley police force, but I understand that most police forces use the same ranks and symbols. Police constables wear their warrant number on their shoulders, as do police sergeants, but numbers are absent from the epaulettes for the rank of inspector and upwards. One has to identify the rank from a combination of diamond-shaped pips, crowns, wreaths and crossed staves—but they are firm rankings. The special constabulary also has firm rankings—special constable, section officer, area officer, chief area officer and chief officer. Then we come to police community support officers.
Subsection (1) obviously rules out certain police officers from deciding whether to make use of X-rays and ultrasound scans—particularly police constables and sergeants. Will the Minister say how she arrived at the rank of inspector; and will she explain the situation as it relates to police community support officers? The latter are being used increasingly, and although they do not have full police powers they may well be in and around the police station or area where arrests are being made.
The provision also states that the officer with at least the rank of inspector has to have
''reasonable grounds for believing that a person who has been arrested for an offence and is in police detention . . . may have swallowed a Class A drug''.
Placing that burden on an officer of at least the rank of inspector means that that individual has to rely on information passed to him or her by somebody who was around the suspect when they swallowed the package or whatever was swallowed or suspected of being swallowed. In my experience, an inspector will not necessarily be around at the time of arrest or when the suspect may have swallowed a class A drug. The inspector will therefore always rely on evidence that a junior or other officer reports to him.
If the Minister specifies a police officer of any description—indeed, a constable—the clause will work. I see no advantage in limiting the officer concerned to the rank of inspector. I hope that the Minister will consider accepting the amendment, which will add greatly to the scope of the Bill, tighten up the provisions and allow any police officer who is in the vicinity or around the subject to make the decision, thereby triggering the search of that suspect.