What the police can do

The police have a responsibility to respond to calls for protection and to enforce the criminal law. They have a duty to investigate crime and to take the necessary action.

The police have powers to intervene in relation to both public violence and to violence in the home (which can range from murder to slapping or hitting). The police do not have to witness an assault in order to arrest a person. Assault and threatened assault are offences for which a person can be arrested and charged under a variety of headings of both statute and civil law.