SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1953 - SECT 72B
SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1953 - SECT 72B
72B—Special powers to prevent serious violence
(1) A police officer
may, for the purpose of locating weapons and other articles in an area to
which this section applies, carry out a search in relation to—
(a) any
person who is in, or is apparently attempting to enter or to leave the area;
and
(b) any
property in the possession of such a person.
(2) This section
applies to an area in relation to which the exercise of powers under this
section is authorised in accordance with subsection (3).
(3) A police officer
of or above the rank of Superintendent may authorise the exercise of powers
under this section in relation to an area if he or she has reasonable grounds
to believe—
(a) that
an incident of serious violence involving a group or groups of people may take
place in the area; and
(b) such
powers are necessary to prevent the incident.
(4) An authorisation
granted under subsection (3)—
(a) must
be granted in accordance with guidelines (if any) issued by the Commissioner;
and
(b) must
specify the area to which the authorisation relates (which must not be larger
than is reasonably necessary for the purposes of the authorisation); and
(c) must
specify the grounds for granting the authorisation; and
(d) must
specify a period of not more than 24 hours during which the
authorisation operates (the "authorisation period"); and
(e) may
be subject to conditions specified by the police officer granting the
authorisation.
(5) An authorisation
granted under subsection (3) may be varied or revoked by a police officer
of or above the rank of Superintendent at any time.
(6) An authorisation
granted under subsection (3) or a variation or revocation of such an
authorisation must be by instrument in writing unless the police officer
granting, varying or revoking the authorisation is satisfied that
circumstances of urgency exist in which case the authorisation, variation or
revocation may be oral, provided that it is reduced to writing as soon as
reasonably practicable.
(a) it
is proposed to grant an authorisation in relation to an area; and
(b) a
previous authorisation has been granted in relation to that area or a part of
that area,
the authorisation period specified in the proposed authorisation must not
commence within 48 hours of the end of the authorisation period specified
in the previous authorisation, unless the consent of the Commissioner has been
obtained in accordance with subsection (8).
(8) The Commissioner
may, by instrument in writing, give consent to the granting of an
authorisation of a kind specified in subsection (7) if the Commissioner
is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so.
(9) The following
information must be included in the annual report of the Commissioner under
section 75 of the Police Act 1998 (other than in the year in which
this section comes into operation) in respect of the period to which the
report relates (the "relevant period ):
(a) the
number of authorisations granted under subsection (3) during the relevant
period; and
(b) in
relation to each authorisation granted during the relevant period (identified
by location and date)—
(i)
the nature of the incident in relation to which the
authorisation was granted; and
(ii)
the number of people searched in the exercise of powers
under this section; and
(iii)
whether weapons or articles of a kind referred to in
Part 3A were detected in the course of the exercise of powers under this
section; and
(iv)
the types of weapons or articles so detected;
(c) the
number of occasions on which the Commissioner gave consent under
subsection (8) during the relevant period;
(d) any
other information requested by the Minister.