Unit 4 Laaaaaaw

The most famous police station in Britain in New Scotland Yard in London, but there are police stations all over the country. They've all got a bloue light outside to show they are police stations.

For most people the police are the face of the law.

We visited a new police station in Lewisham, an area in sourt-est London. This is the coustody room of the police station. A suspected criminal is being charged with a crime. He must hand over everythings he's carrying of has got in his pockets.

next hey take fingerprints to check th person indetity. This marchine scans fingerprints electronically and compares them with the national police database.

Suspectas can be kept in the cells at the police station for several hours. This suspect spent a whole night in the cells.

Next day he went to court. Here three magistrates listen to evicence from the police and witnesses.
As well as the cells we saw earlier, the police station in Lewsham has got stables for police horses.

The evidence that the police collect from a crime scene is analsed in laboratories like this.
The people who work here are called forensic scientists. They can examine and analyse material from the crime scene to find out exactly what happened.

Fingerprints are a good way of indentifying people but DNA is more reliable. A person's identity can be found from a single hair! Each person has got a unique DNA profile. DNA profiles can be matched on these computers.

The police are the most obvious part of the law in Britain.
Forensic scientists provide the evidence that helps the courts decide wheter a suspect is guilty of a crime or not. The courts then decide on the sentence.