OUT OF UNIFORM COPS HAVE POWERS OF ARREST?

Does  an out of  uniform policeman have the power to charge a driver for a traffic offence such as breaking a “No Entry” sign? The answer to this question attorney Gillian Lucky will have to research and then submit her findings to the Court of Appeal and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Depending on her findings, the DPP will then decide whether maxi taxi driver Peter Samuel will have to face a new trial for allegedly breaking a “No Entry” sign or drop the charge against him. Samuel was charged by PC David Caracciolo for allegedly breaking a no entry sign at Mucurapo Link Road, Port-of-Spain, on October 26, 1994. When the matter came up before Magistrate Ronald Perry in 1995, the Court heard how Caracciolo, dressed in plain clothes,  was in a private car driven by uniformed PC Roberts, when he observed Samuel committing the offence. Roberts  and Caraciciolo followed the maxi and when it came to a stop, Caracciolo told the driver of his observation and ordered him to the police station where he was subsequently arrested and  charged.

On January 24, 1995 magistrate Perry found Samuel not guilty. The State appealed but the magistrate did not give his reasons for his findings. However, it was raised in the Court of Appeal yesterday before Justice Lionel Jones and Rolston Nelson that former Magistrate Perry, in dismissing the matter, could have held the view that a policeman out of uniform did not have the authority in the circumstances  to arrest and charge Samuel. Although the Court ordered a new trial, it expressed its concern about the law and the powers of a policeman out of uniform. Lucky, representing the DPP  as a  special prosecutor, undertook to research the matter. It was agreed that if an out of uniform Caracciolo had no power to arrest and charge Samuel, the DPP will drop the charge. Otherwise, Samuel faces a new trial.