UK News 13-08-2004 Police Given Power To Arrest Anyone who: Home Office minister Hazel Blears what: Announces proposed plans to implify police powers of arrest where: LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: "Police will be given tough new powers," reports The Independent, "including the right to arrest anyone committing an offence and to take fingerprints in the street - under proposals published yesterday by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary." "But the Association of Chief Police Officers warned that it would not want to see powers that threatened community support for local police forces," says The Financial Times. "The association also said the proposals on arrest, which appeared to be providing the power of arrest for every offence including dropping litter, were nothing new." "The police minister, Hazel Blears, said the changes over the power of arrest were designed to resolve confusion over the law rather than result in many more arrests," explains The Guardian. Crimes with sentences of at least five years currently carry the power of arrest, but Ms Blears calls that "complex and often bewildering". "Tory critics last night slammed Mr Blunkett`s failure to crack crime, saying he has introduced 155 law and order policies," says The Sun. "But violent crimes have now broken the one million mark, an increase of 83 per cent since Labour came to power in 1997." The Sun`s chief rival appears to take credit for the whole idea by saying the announcement "follows the Daily Mirror`s Reclaim our Streets campaign which highlighted Britain`s yob culture". [... more]

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