s 17 Procedure when arrestable offence is suspected
17.—(1) If, from information received or otherwise, a police officer has reason to suspect that an arrestable offence has been committed, the police officer must, or if he or she is unable to attend to the case, another police officer acting in his or her place must —(a) investigate the facts and circumstances of the case as soon as practicable; and[Act 5 of 2024 wef 31/05/2024] (b) try to find the offender and, if appropriate, arrest the offender and report the case to the Public Prosecutor.[Act 5 of 2024 wef 31/05/2024] (2) Despite subsection (1) —(a) if the police officer has reason to believe that the case is not of a serious nature, there is no need to investigate the facts and circumstances of the case; or[Act 5 of 2024 wef 31/05/2024] (b) if the police officer has reason to believe that there are insufficient grounds for proceeding with the matter, he or she must not do so. (3) In each of the cases mentioned in subsection (2)(a) and (b), the police officer receiving the information must state in his or her report his or her reason for not fully complying with subsection (1).