ABSTRACT
A sorting process at the police station, in which the expectation would be that many arrests would lead to no further action, is therefore inevitable. The state has subjected the grading and sorting process to control criteria which are legal and formalistic, rather than police-defined. These criteria, which relate to evidential sufficiency and whether it is in the public interest to prosecute will be outlined first. The police can use certain suspects in order to catch bigger fish. The purpose of arrest is to lay the foundation for bigger and better cases. The development of police cautioning stimulated efforts to control charge practices. Although cautioning has for a long time been available to the police, its real development came in the 1970s and 1980s. The Attorney-General's Guidelines and Home Office Guidelines have undoubtedly influenced police dispositions.
