ABSTRACT
The police are the initial ‘gateway’ for all criminals coming into the criminal justice system. The police receive reports of new crimes, investigate and detect who is responsible and, when satisfied, pass their work on to the Crown Prosecution Service for prosecution. For present purposes, police activities are considered on three levels – local, national and international. The police approach to sexual offending on all three levels is outlined, and the emerging importance of ‘personal information’ on offenders for purposes of policing is drawn out. The final part of the chapter examines the work of the Forensic Science Service and especially the creation of a National DNA Database to assist the police in the identifying of offenders.
