LAW ENFORCEMENT

1.Arrest-seizure or forcible restraint; an exercise of the power to deprive a person of his or her li
berty; the taking or keeping of a person in custody by legal authority, especially, in response to 
a criminal charge.
2. As a general rule, arrests should be made on any day of the week and at any time of the day
or night.
3. Arrest without a warrant
This occurs when a police officer is entitled to arrest an accused person without a warrant.
While there are a number of grounds, the police usually arrest without a warrant any person
who has been, or is reasonably suspected of having been involved in an arrestable offence.
An arrest without warrant must be made on the grounds of credible information or reasonable
suspicion must be based on definite facts and founded on some definite fact which throw
suspicion upon the person arrested.

Arrest with a warrant

Where the offence is not an arrestable offence, either a warrant or summons will be required to
be issued in the first instance. Without obtaining a warrant, the police are not allowed to make
an arrest.
PRIVATE ARREST
In most cases, you must find a person either in the act of committing a crime, or escaping from
and freshly pursued by persons who have lawful authority to arrest that person, in order to
lawfully make a citizen's arrest. In particular, if you are arresting a person for an indictable
offence, which is the most serious type of offence and includes violent offences, you can only
make the arrest at the time you witness the person committing the offence. It is against the law
to arrest a person after any lapse in time for having committed an indictable offence, unless it is
relation to your property.
4. Only judges are authorized to issue Warrants of Arrest and Search Warrants.
5.Prior to any questioning, the person must be warned that he has a right to remain silent, that
any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him, and that he has a right to
the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed.

QUIZ 1
Private arrest
The right of private arrest exists only in two situations.
In the first situation, a private person is allowed to arrest any person who commits a non-
bailable and arrestable offence in his view or presence. The person making the arrest must
hand over the offender to the nearest police officer or police station without unnecessary delay.

As long as a private person is in such close proximity that he can be certain an offence has
been committed, the right of private arrest will vest in him notwithstanding that he did not
actually witness the offence.
In the second situation, the victim can apprehend a person, who commits an offence against the
victim or the victim’s property. In order to make an arrest, the name or residential address of the
person being apprehended must be unknown; or his residential address must be outside
Singapore; or there is reason to believe that the name or residential address he has given is
false.

1. A search warrant is a warrant issued by the competent authority authorizing a police

officer to search a specified place for evidence even without the occupant’s consent.
2. The warrant should be served during daytime, unless there is a provision in the warrant
allowing service at any time of the day or night.
3. The warrant shall be valid for ten (10) days from date of issuance and may be served at
any day within the said period. Thereafter, it shall be void. If, in the implementation of the
search warrant, its object or purpose cannot be accomplished in one day, the search can
be continued the following day, or days, until completed provided it is still within the ten
(10) day validity period of the search warrant. If the object or purpose of the search
warrant cannot be accomplished within the ten (10) day validity period, the responsible
police officer conducting the search must file, before the issuing court, an application for
the extension of the validity period of said search warrant

1. (1) The discovery of the item must be "inadvertent"

2. the item to be seized must be "immediately apparent" as contraband or evidence of a
crime