Policing and Crime Act 2017
The act enacts various changes to existing rules involving PCCs, complaints through the IPCC, amendments to PACE 1984 etc.[5] Another change relates to police bail, which can now only be authorised by an officer of inspector rank or higher (so normally a suspect will now be released without bail if not charged[citation needed]), and extending this period is now only possible once by authorisation of a superintendent officer, or again by a magistrates' court; previously it was possible for police to effectively restrain a person indefinitely by extending the bail period every 28 days.Controversially this has led police forces to adopt an alternative method of 'release under investigation' (RUI) with no time limits or conditions, requiring a suspect to respond by post.[6][7][8][9][10] In December 2020, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services released a report on RUI.[11] In November 2017, Hertfordshire Constabulary released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 a copy of the template RUI form used by them.