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‘Section 60 – Zone of Special Police Powers!’

Under Section 60 (5) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994) a Police Officer in uniform can: “stop any person or vehicle and make any search he thinks fit whether or not he has any grounds (for suspicion)” within a given locality…

Regarding the given locality – I have been unable to clarify what this means… presumably ANY vector of space might be described?

What I do know, is that officers of the law, above the position of superintendent, are able to invoke special “invisible” zones ANYWHERE and, within such zones, the normal rights and privileges of UK Citizens do not apply:

• I know this because, during 2009 I was subject to a “Section 60″ stop.  What became apparent from the interrogation and my research afterwards (including a failed Freedom of Information request) is that it is extremely difficult for citizens to know precisely where and when “Section 60″ powers are in force – since no notification is given – and this creates a panopticon scenario where everyone in the UK must assume that such powers are always in place.

In case you are wondering what “any search he thinks fit” means, it refers to the legal euphemism “intimate search” – which is basically an implied threat of sexual violence – “a search which consists of the physical examination of a person’s body orifices other than the mouth;”.  (Thankfully I was spared this – an account of my stop and search experience is linked at an earlier post.)

For the purpose of illustration, included below is the information provided by police explaining that “officers may stop and speak to you in the course of their duties…”  See how the explanation goes to great lengths to make it clear that you CANNOT be searched without reasonable suspicion only for the elusive “Section 60″ authorisations to undermine the established and understood relationship (between citizen and state).

This stark experience of behind-the-scenes actors ascribing seemingly unlikely ‘virtual zones’ onto public space and operating subversively in the civic, political and legal realm, stuck with me.  During the past year I have made my own attempts at invoking legally designated zones and some of these are described in the next two blogposts.