On-the-spot penalties for public order offences

Following on from the UK’s decision to introduce on-the-spot fines of between £40 and £80 for minor public order offences (which has already started reaping a return), what do you think of this idea?

Personally, I’m finding it hard to really fault it beyond concerns over how individual police officers interpret the law. It probably reduces the burden (in terms of arrests that can now be replaced by fines) while increasing the numbers ‘caught’ (encouraging fines where an arrest would seem draconian or be a paperwork nightmare) and presumably provides useful revenue for the police forces.

Any opinions? Would those outside the UK like to see a similar system? How would you best address concerns over the bias of individual officers in being lenient or harsh?

I agree with you. The downside is that it places more of a burden on the police officers themselves - in addition to enforcing the law, they would now have to adjudicate it as well. Their judgment will come under some scrutiny, fair or not. Still, as you said, it would in theory alleviate a lot of those “small-time” court cases that seem to clog up the system.

Does anyone know what the plans are regarding appeals? If an officer fines a man $50US for being drunk and disorderly, can he appeal the fine? Can he pay it and then appeal it later? Or is the fine the end of the story?

I wish I had that option when i got busted for open container. You must have the option to pay later/appeal because not everyone will have the dough right then and there.

From the Metropolitan Police website: