PACE s19 • Seizure

CLADD police meaning

Seizing and retaining property — PACE s19. A quick, source-backed reference for the UK policing mnemonic CLADD.

Short answer

Why property may be seized and retained under the general seizure power when an officer is lawfully on premises — to prevent it being concealed, lost, altered, damaged or destroyed.

Legal anchor: PACE 1984 s19 / s22

CLADD
PACE 1984 s19 / s22
CConcealed — to prevent the property being concealed
LLost
AAltered
DDamaged
DDestroyed

When officers use it

Why property may be seized and retained under the general seizure power when an officer is lawfully on premises — to prevent it being concealed, lost, altered, damaged or destroyed.

Practical point: the mnemonic is a memory aid, not the test. Decisions still turn on the live facts and the underlying law (PACE 1984 s19 / s22) — record your rationale, not just the letters.

Variants and spellings

Surrey lists the letters under 'Section 19 PACE Searching and Retaining Property' without printing a name; commonly voiced as CLADD.

Why Section includes this

Section is a fast UK police reference app for officers and student officers: offences, points to prove, PACE powers and the standard mnemonics in one offline place. Every entry in the app — including this one — was verified against the sources listed below.

What does CLADD stand for?

C = Concealed, L = Lost, A = Altered, D = Damaged, D = Destroyed.

Is CLADD a law?

No — it is a memory aid used in UK police training. The underlying framework is PACE 1984 s19 / s22.

Are there variants of CLADD?

Surrey lists the letters under 'Section 19 PACE Searching and Retaining Property' without printing a name; commonly voiced as CLADD.

Sources

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