What is the duty of the police to arrest and search?

The duty of the police to arrest and search was dealt with by Williams J. in Leigh v. Cole (1853), 6 Cox C.C. 329, stating in part [pp. 330-31]: "On one hand, it is clear that the police ought to be fully protected in the discharge of an onerous, arduous and difficult duty — a duty necessary for the comfort and security of the community. On the other hand, it is equally incumbent on everyone engaged in the administration of justice, to take care that the powers necessarily entrusted to the police are not made an instrument of oppression or of tyranny of even the meanest, most depraved, and basest subjects of the realm. The law applicable to the present case is that, if a police officer saw a man so conducting himself that the public peace was broken, or likely to be endangered unless that person was taken into custody, the police officer not only may, but is bound to take him into custody, and take measures to keep him till such time that he is taken before a magistrate … at the same time he must take care not to use any wanton or unnecessary violence in taking these means, and if he does so, then he is answerable in an action for damages."