Jan. 12.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 33

aiding or assisting any person so assaulting or obstructing him. (See section 38, “Police Offences Act, 1884.”)*

FORCIBLE ENTRY.

30. If a person forcibly enter the house of another, the constable may, at the request of the owner, turn him out directly; if he entered peaceably, but having no right to enter, and the owner request the constable to turn him out, the constable should first ask him to go out, and unless he do so he should turn him out, in either case using no more force than is necessary for that purpose.† In case the offender’s name and residence are not known he may be taken into custody without warrant. (See section 6, subsection 3, and section 35 of “The Police Offences Act, 1884.”)

ESCAPE IN MISDEMEANOUR.

31. If a person charged with misdemeanour escape out of custody, he may be pursued immediately anywhere, and if he take refuge in a house the doors may be broken open after demand of admission, and after notification by the constable of his office and object in coming.

ARREST WITH WARRANT.

32. A constable authorized to arrest a person with a warrant should immediately proceed to find and arrest such person, and, when making the arrest, should show him the warrant. But the constable should not part with the possession of the warrant under any circumstances prior to its execution; and after its execution he should hand it to his superior officer that it may be carefully preserved. The warrant remains in force until executed.

33. The constable is bound to follow the directions contained in a warrant, and to execute it with secrecy and dispatch. The power given to him for the purpose of arresting has been already shown. If the warrant cannot be executed immediately it should be executed as soon as possible afterwards. If the prisoner apprehended on the warrant escape, the constable may take him again and again until the object of the warrant is effected. A warrant specially addressed to one constable cannot legally be executed by another.

34. The constable must execute the warrant himself,‡ or when he calls in assistance must be actually present. Upon all occasions he ought to state his authority, if it be not generally known, and should show his warrant when required to do so, but he should not part with the possession of the warrant, as it may be wanted afterwards for his own justification.

35. After an arrest the constable is in all cases to treat a prisoner properly, and impose only such restraint upon him as may be absolutely necessary for his safe custody.

36. Upon the arrest being made a constable is bound to take a prisoner before a Magistrate as soon as he reasonably can,§ but he should in the first instance take him to the watchhouse and cause the charge against him
    to be entered in the “Charge-book.” When the prisoner is brought before a Magistrate, he still remains in the custody of the constable until his discharge or committal, or until the constable receive the orders of the Magistrate.

37. Should an offender, charged on warrant with any offence punishable by law, abscond from the colony, the course to be followed by the Imperial Fugitives Offenders’ Act may be ascertained by reference to the Act which was brought into operation in this colony by Proclamation published in the New Zealand Government Gazette, No. 114, of the 1st November, 1883. (For Part II. of the Act referred to see Police Gazettes No. 23 of the 14th November, 1883, and No. 2 of the 23rd January, 1884.)

SEARCH WARRANTS.

38. A constable having received a search-warrant should demand admittance to the house to search for the stolen goods, and if refused should break open the doors. (See “Justice of the Peace Act, 1882,” section 209.) It seems to be settled that upon search-warrants regularly granted and specially directed, after proper demand, the doors of the house to be searched may be broken open, and, in like manner, boxes after the keys have been demanded, and whether the stolen goods be found there or not, the officer is excused. The constable should follow the directions of the warrant, and in the absence of directions must execute it in the daytime, but if it be a case not of probable suspicion only, but of positive proof, the warrant should be executed at night* lest there be a removal of the goods or offenders. If he finds the goods mentioned he should take possession of them, and when the warrant so directs he should take the person also in whose possession they are found. To avoid mistakes, the owner of the goods or the person who applies for the warrant should attend the constable at the search to identify the goods.

39. By section 208, “Justices of the Peace Act, 1882,” and section 102, “Larceny Act, 1867,” a search-warrant may be granted on the representation by a credible witness to a Justice that he reasonably suspects that any person has unlawfully in his possession or on his premises any property with respect to which an offence has been or is believed to have been committed, or which there is reason to believe has been stolen; and if the said property, or any part thereof, be found, to bring the property so found, and the person or persons on whose premises or in whose possession or custody such property shall be found, before the same Justice or some other Justice of the Peace, to be dealt with according to law.

ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT AUTHORIZED BY STATUTE.

40. In the following cases also, a constable is empowered to arrest without warrant, but he is to be careful not to do so upon light grounds.†

41. Drunkards.—He can arrest and confine in a watchhouse, until he can be taken before a Magistrate, any person whom he shall find drunk in any public place. (Section 19, “Police Offences Act, 1884.”)

42. Disorderly Persons.—He should apprehend and carry before a Justice any common prostitute—
    (1.) Who loiters and importunes passengers in or upon any public place for the purpose of prostitution; or
    (2.) Who behaves in a riotous or indecent manner in any public place. (Section 23, “Police Offences Act, 1884.”)

43. Every person whom he shall find wandering abroad, or placing himself or herself in any public place, street, highway, court, or passage, to beg or gather alms, or causing, or procuring, or encouraging any child or

• Where the prisoner had assaulted a constable who went away, and after two hours’ time returned and took him into custody, it was considered an unlawful arrest. An arrest for a misdemeanour without a warrant must be at the time of offence committed, or on continued pursuit.

† A constable, though he may not be bound to assist an occupier to put out from his house an intruder, may lawfully do so; and, if he sustains violence in so doing, the party inflicting such violence, though he may not be indictable for assaulting a constable in the execution of his duty, will be liable to a conviction for assault. (R. v. Roxburgh, 12 Cox 8, per Cockburn, C. J.)

‡ He must have the warrant with him ready to be produced, if production be demanded, and it is not sufficient that he has it at home or that it is lodged at the watchhouse. (Galliard v. Laxton, 31 L.J.M.C., 123; R. Whiteman, 2 S.C.R.C.L., 118.)

§ The person should be taken direct to the Magistrate or the lock-up. The constable has no right to take him first to the prosecutor’s house (R. v. Curran, 3 C. and P., 397) or to detain him longer than is necessary for bringing him up for examination. (Wright v. Court, 4 B. and C., 596.)

• See section 211, idem.

† The power to arrest without warrant given by the following statutes can only be exercised under the circumstances mentioned in such statutes.