Published By: BIIAB

A security officer will have a good working relationship with the police but that does not mean that security officers are considered to be law enforcement officers or part of the police force.

Security officers are civilians and must abide to and act within the constraints of the law, the same as any private citizen.

Because one of the main duties of a security officer is to ensure the prevention of crime, it is essential that they have a good working knowledge of the law.

A security officer must know:

• The extent of their authority (the same as a normal citizen)

• The difference between ‘indictable’ and ‘summary’ offences

• When a crime has been committed

• What type of crime has been committed

• When they can make a citizen’s arrest

• How to legally detain someone

• When they can use reasonable force.

   

Relevant Legislation

Civil Law

Civil law mostly involves disputes between people, companies or other organisations. If you sue another person or a corporation, or if somebody files a lawsuit against you, your case will end up in County Court in which civil cases are tried.

Civil law offences are not indictable and therefore are not offences for which offenders may be arrested..

Criminal Law

The most serious matters such as murder, assault, robbery and rape are tried under criminal law. These laws are enforced by the police and the courts, and those breaking them face very serious consequences, including time in prison.

A security officer should have a good understanding of criminal law. Anyone that commits an indictable offence is committing a crime that falls under criminal law and can therefore be arrested by an ordinary citizen

Common Law and Statute Law

The Common Laws of the United Kingdom have evolved over the centuries. These laws have been progressively developed by judicial decisions. Common Law offences include:

• Murder
• Manslaughter • Kidnapping.

The statue laws of the United Kingdom are defined and created by Acts of Parliament. These laws sometimes supplant common laws. The following crimes are indictable and therefore the power of citizen’s arrest can be used.

Offences Against the Person Act 1861

Assault: to use force, or threaten to use force against another without their consent.

Theft Act 1968

Theft: to dishonestly appropriate the property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving them of the property.

Robbery: to steal using force, or the threat of force, against a person.

Burglary: to trespass with the intent to steal, inflict grievous bodily harm or cause unlawful damage.

Aggravated Burglary: armed burglary.

Criminal Damage Act 1971

Criminal Damage: the unlawful intentional destruction or damage of another’s property. This includes arson, the destruction of property with fire.

Statute Law - Human Rights Act 1998

Human Rights Act 1998 gives people the right to take action against the British Government in British courts, with appeal to the European Court of Human Rights should that be necessary. In general, any organisations whose role is of a public nature, or companies undertaking activities on behalf of the state, or any group that spends taxpayers money or has a statutory function or has government appointees on its governing board, are affected by the Act and include local authorities; the Police, schools, universities and colleges; hospitals; and contract companies using CCTV monitoring.

The rights of a person under the Human Rights Act are defined by the European Convention on Human Rights. 16 articles of the Convention that have been written into the Human Rights Act. They are:

• The right to life- article 2

• A prohibition on torture – article 3

• A prohibition on slavery and forced labour –article 4

• The right to liberty and security – article 5

• The right to a fair trial – article 6

• No punishment without law – article 7

• The right to respect for private and family life – article 8

• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion – article 9

• Freedom of expression – article 10

• Freedom of assembly and association – article 11

• The right to marry and found a family – article 12

• Prohibition on discrimination – article 14

• Restriction on political activity of aliens – article 16

• Prohibition of abuse of rights – article 17

• Prohibition of restrictions on rights – article 18

   

Part 2 of these goes on further to protect:

• Property

• The right to education

• The right to hold free elections

• The abolition of the death penalty.

   

The Human Rights Act defines the scope of an individual’s rights in respect of their relation with the State, and in doing so, places limitations on the state in respect of its ability to interfere with those rights. To interfere with these rights, the State must demonstrate that:

• It must be necessary (not just desirable or convenient)

• It must balance public interest against the private rights of the individual (proportionality).

   

This leads to a situation where some of these rights are absolute, such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture and the right to a fair trial. Other rights are limited or are qualified where they compete with other rights and freedoms.

A security officer could infringe an individual’s rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 by, for example:

• Providing false or inaccurate evidence which, if used in court, could stop that individual receiving a fair trial

• Arresting someone without due cause which would be contrary to their right to liberty

• Using CCTV monitoring to record someone in their car would be contrary to the

  person’s right to privacy if it was done without permission of the subject or a warrant to perform ‘intrusive surveillance’ under the Regulations of Investigatory Powers Act.

  Security officers using CCTV in the course of their duties must also ensure that all monitoring is proportional, legal and non-discriminatory.

Statute Law - Data Protection Act 1998

The Data Protection Act 1998 governs the processing of personal data i.e. data about a living person who can be identified from the data. When dealing with people’s personal details, it is important to adhere to the following eight principles of the Act, which ensure that personal information must be:

• Fairly and lawfully processed (principle 1)

• Processed for limited purposes (principle 2)

• Adequate, relevant and not excessive (principle 3)

• Accurate and up-to-date (principle 4)

• Not kept for longer than is necessary (principle 5)

• Processed in line with the individual’s rights (principle 6)

• Secure (principle 7)

• Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection. (principle 8)

   

Data includes all information and images captured on CCTV, and the guidance includes acceptable time limits for retaining data. Once a retention period has expired the data must be removed or erased from the records.

CCTV equipment should only monitor what it is supposed to monitor and operators must be aware of the purpose of the scheme and are only allowed to use the equipment for the intended purpose. They must also ensure that all data collected is adequate, relevant and not excessive.

Dealing with a Trespasser

It is very important that the security officer is aware of the legal constraints and the limit of their powers when dealing with a trespasser. If the security officer does not act correctly it may be them that will be prosecuted for breaking the law.

Despite signs stating that ‘Trespassers will be prosecuted’, trespass is not a criminal offence but it is an offence under Civil law. Trespassers cannot usually be prosecuted but they can be sued. However, this is very rare due to the expense and inconvenience.

Trespassing is applied to a piece of land open to the public which is not common land, open access land, or a public right of way. Generally land in this country belongs to someone. If you go on to land without the owner's permission, you are trespassing unless there is some right of access for the general public.

Even if the land is owned by a public body, such as the local council, this does not mean necessarily that the general public have a right to be on it at all times.

If the place closes at a certain time and a visitor remains after that time, they can then be considered to be trespassing – the fact that they entered legally earlier that day does not mean that they can remain as long as they wish. Good access and egress control will enable security officers to establish how any trespasser gained entry to the site.

If a visitor contravenes site rules and refuses to leave when asked to do so by a security officer, that visitor becomes a trespasser because they no longer have the landowner's permission to be there even if they entered legally.

The security officer, as the representative of the landowner, can remove an individual from their site. This should only be done under extreme conditions and only with reasonable and necessary force.

Because reasonable force must be both necessary and justifiable if, as a security officer, you do forcibly eject an individual or an individual’s possessions or both you are leaving yourself liable for criminal proceedings for undue force and damage. It is good practice to avoid using force of any kind.

When confronted by a suspected trespasser:

• Ensure you own health and safety only approach the person if you feel it is safe to do so

• Ensure you have an exit route if the person proves to be dangerous

• Inform your control room

• Ascertain the identity of the person and the reason they are there – they may not be a trespasser

• Physically block their path from any direction other than the exit

• Politely ask them to leave

• Inform them that if they do not leave they are trespassing.

   

If they refuse to leave they are trespassing:

• Continue to tell them that you would rather they left peacefully

• Continue to physically block their path from any direction other than the exit, ensuring that you do not put your own safety at risk by doing so

• Escort them from the premises without using any physical intervention and note which way they go

• Do not use force, unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.

   

Justification for the use of force may include:

• Their health and safety could be at risk – due to dangers on the site

• Others health and safety could be at risk – depending on the site, its relevant dangers and the actions of the trespasser

• The reasonable belief that the trespasser may cause a criminal offence.

   

If the situation does not resolve itself the police will have to be called. If the police do attend they can only act as observers. They cannot assist in the removal of the trespassers or their property from the site, but their presence may encourage the trespasser to leave and they can also bear witness to whether any force used could be deemed as necessary and reasonable.

Arrest Procedures

Security officers are ordinary citizens, they do not have the same powers as the police. However, any person may arrest anyone found committing, or reasonably suspected to be in the act of committing, an indictable offence. For example:

• A person found to be in the possession of stolen property

• A person found in the act of attempting to cause criminal damage by starting a fire

• A person found to be threatening another person with a weapon

• A person discovered climbing into an open window committing burglary

• A person discovered cutting a hole in a security fence line.

To arrest someone means that you are taking away or depriving a person of their freedom and there are serious legal implications to doing this. For this reason, an arrest should only be carried out as a last resort and then only if safe to do so.

The person being arrested must be informed of the following by the security officer making the arrest:

• The name of the arresting security officer – forename and surname

• The fact that arrest is taking place

• The reason for the arrest.

​​For example “I, Eric Smith, am arresting you for attempted arson”.

After an arrest has been made the security officer has a responsibility for the arrested person’s safety. The arrested person must be observed and monitored continuously until the arrival of the police. This is to ensure that the arrested person does not:

• Attempt to escape

• Inflict self harm

• Pose a risk of injury to anybody

• Dispose of or tamper with evidence

Reasonable Use of Force

In England and Wales, anyone can use "reasonable" force when it is necessary to:

• Protect themselves

• Protect others

• Protect property

• Prevent a crime

• Carry out an arrest.
   

What is considered reasonable force depends on the individuals and the circumstances:

• A heavy weight boxer cannot justify using the same amount of force and ferocity against a professional jockey as the jockey could against the heavy weight boxer

• A five-foot four woman may be able to justify the use of a weapon in defence against an unarmed six foot male assailant, but a six foot male may not be able to justify using a weapon against an unarmed woman.

Reasonable use of force can be used to make a pre-emptive strike on a potential assailant if there is a genuine belief that an attack was imminent and the use of force was absolutely necessary. You do not have to wait to be attacked before you can defend yourself, or another, but you do have to consider stopping or reducing the use of force if and when the ‘need’ to use force no longer exists or the amount of force can be reduced.

This is because the courts may consider that you were unable to make a fully considered judgment at the time and the amount of force used will be considered to have been reasonable if the individual can show that they acted honestly and instinctively.

Reasonable force can also be used if it is necessary to prevent another person from harming themselves.

Any force used will may need to be justified in a court of law. Always remain professional and cool headed and err on the side of caution.

Before resorting to the use of force consider the following:

• Is the use of force necessary?

• Do you have the right to use force?

• What is the minimum amount force needed?

• Can you reduce the amount of force once you have the person under control?

Different Types of Evidence

Evidence can be described as ‘anything produced before a court which tends to prove or disprove the guilt of a person charged with an offence’. In the same vein that we comply to ‘best practices’ so we can adopt the same principals to understanding evidence.

The Best Evidence Rule

The ‘best evidence’ is ‘real’ evidence. ‘Real’ evidence is the ‘eye witness’ account of events or the actual property that was stolen or the weapon that was used to commit the offence. Other terms that you might hear used to describe ‘real’ evidence are ‘direct’ evidence which can sometimes be used in relation to witness statements; and ‘primary’ evidence which is a term sometimes used to describe items such an actual pieces of stolen property.

‘Secondary Evidence’ comes in 6 different forms:

• Circumstantial- ​Evidence of a series of non-direct facts that can go together to prove the fact.
• Documentary- Documents, such as ‘Incident Books’, or ‘Search Registers’ etc, but includes copies of CCTV footage, ‘data’ stored on VHS tapes or DVD discs.
• Expert- This sort of evidence will only be accepted when the court agrees that the person presenting the evidence is indeed an expert. Evidence gathered forensically is recognised as being gathered by experts. 
• Opinion- Evidence of Opinion can only be given by someone considered to be an 'expert'. 
• Corroboration- Evidence that strengths or confirms already existing evidence.
• Hearsay- Evidence from a third party. It the only type of evidence that is not normally admissible in a court of law. The only exception to this is ‘dying declaration’. This is where the third party is repeating the words said by someone on their deathbed, immediately before they died.

Preservation of Evidence

The importance of preserving evidence

The crime scene is a highly important source of physical evidence. A forensic examination of a crime scene is an important part of the investigation which can reveal evidence that can lead to a conviction. It is therefore essential the scene is preserved.

The necessity to preserve evidence by a security officer can arise in a number of ways. It may be by the discovery of a security breach whilst on patrol, or being asked to attend a security breach, the scene of an assault or the discovery of a suspicious package.

Items suspected of being stolen may be discovered during search procedures of people/premises/vehicles etc.

Evidence and scenes of crime need to be preserved to allow police forensic examination and to safeguard the integrity of the evidence.

Action to be carried out at the scene of a crime or incident

• Remain calm and assess the situation – take notes in your pocketbook of what you see and do

• Advise the control room of the situation

• Ensuring medical assistance to any victim (a priority)

• Unless absolutely necessary don’t enter buildings or rooms and restrict others from doing so

• Do not disturb, interfere, touch or destroy anything at the scene and avoid disturbing the approach also. (There may for instance be footprints or blood). However consider ways of protecting evidence from bad weather as this may destroy or contaminate it

• If you’re able to identify what has been moved, removed or left behind do so and make notes in your notebook

• Secure the scene and continue to control access until you have been relieved from duty or the police have completed their investigations/examination. Back up your access control by commencing an entry and exit log. Use your pocket book if necessary. This will greatly assist evidence gathering.

• Continuity of evidence/evidence bags/records – evidence e.g. seized from a suspect should be place in an evidence bag which is then sealed. Date and time should be written on the bag and then signed by the person seizing the item

• Complete notebook.
   

Reporting Procedures Following a Crime

If during your work as a security officer you discover or become aware of a crime or incident on your assignment – there is clearly a need for you to report it to someone. But, when do you do this? Who do you report to? And what do you report?

When do you report?

If the situation involves you making an arrest this must be reported to the police immediately in order that the prisoner can be handed over to their custody with the minimum delay. This is a legal requirement. All details together with any evidence (stolen property/articles used in the commission of the offence etc should be handed over to the police with the prisoner).

Where an arrest is not involved it still may be important that the police are called immediately e.g., the seriousness of the crime, a situation where a forensic examination of the scene is necessary or where the offender(s) may be still in the area.

Incident reports should be completed as soon as practical from pocket book notes (taken at the time) and certainly before you go off duty. All entries in a pocket book and the incident report itself must be signed and dated by the security officer completing the report.

In some instances the police may also ask security officers to complete a witness statement.

Who to report to?

Could be some or all of the following:

• The Control Room

• Management

• Customer

• Police.

   

What to report?

The details of a crime should initially be recorded in the security officer’s notebook and should include:

• Date, time, place of incident

• Details of the crime or incident – (theft/burglary/criminal damage etc)

• Details of victims

• Details/descriptions of suspects

• Details of witnesses

• What you did – Report in ‘direct speech’ any statement made by suspect.

• Details of any evidence recovered (stolen property, weapons, instruments used for breaking and entering)

• Details of who reported to.

• Time of arrival of police etc

• Action you took when the police arrived e.g. handing over evidence etc.