[conspire] OT: More about conversations with police (was: Here in the 100-mile border zone)

[Nick Moffitt]

On 15Jul2019 06:08am (-0700), Rick Moen wrote:
> But you're of course right that the police statement you refer to is
> _also_ called a caution -- a caution on arrest of the right to silence.  
> And the bit about warning chargees that inferences _may_ be drawn from
> their silence reflects a sea change in UK criminal law that occurred in
> 1994, the 'Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994', sections 34-37,
> which you can read here:
> http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/part/III/crossheading/inferences-from-accuseds-silence

Sorry, yes.  I think people often refer to a "formal police caution" as the result of an investigation, but the police statement is often just colloquially referred to as "The Caution".

One of the riders on our 2016 bike ride from London to Amsterdam was a cadet with the Transport Police, and he very nearly whipped out his warrant card when we were harassed by a white van driver.  He would have likely issued what is called the "Caution Plus Two": basically telling the driver his rights, flashing the police credentials, and then tacking on two more statements telling him that there is no formal police action taking place and he's free to go with a personal warning from a constable.

The idea is that the official swagger and the authoritative language of being told your rights might be enough to "scare straight" some folks.  I'm not sure it has quite the force it used to, what with police in this country having been de-funded so dramatically by the Conservatives.