Police Reform Act 2002

Sections 67 to 74 implement some of the recommendations contained in the June 2002 Home Office publication “The police perspective on sex offender orders: a preliminary view of policy and practice” (Police Research Series Paper 155).

Sections 2 to 4 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 provide for sex offender orders. This is a civil preventative order made by a magistrates court on application by the police to stop a sex offenders from entering any place where there might be children.

Section 67(2)(a) allows the police to apply for an order where they know or believe that an offender is intending to come to their area. This extends the powers under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which only allowed the police to apply for an order where the sex offender was in their area. The section also extends the power for the magistrates to grant such an order from England and Wales to the whole of the United Kingdom.

Section 68 introduces interim orders for sex offenders. This is where the police are awaiting the full order. The offender is then subject to the notification requirement of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 for the duration of the order.

See here: Police Reform Act 2002