Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

An Act that established the Serious Organised Crime Agency (since replaced by the NCA), amended PACE to change the classification of offences for arrest purposes (removing the old distinction between arrestable and non-arrestable offences), introduced the citizen's arrest power in section 24A, and created the serious crime prevention order regime.

Key Provisions

• Replaced arrestable/non-arrestable distinction with single arrest power under PACE s.24
• Section 24A: citizen's power of arrest for indictable offences
• Serious crime prevention orders (civil orders to prevent serious crime)
• Provisions on financial investigations and asset recovery
• Part 4: powers to designate certain sites as protected places (Designated Sites Act)
• Sections 125 to 136: miscellaneous policing provisions

Relevance to Policing

Important for understanding the current arrest powers under PACE (the 2005 Act removed the old "arrestable offence" concept), the citizen's arrest power, and serious crime prevention orders.