Anti-terror laws 'keep public safe'

Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) president Ken Jones will say any new measures such as the controversial 42 days' detention limit should not be seen as a descent into an Orwellian nightmare.

The debate on civil liberties must be "rebalanced" to reflect the new demands on the criminal justice system, he will say.

Launching the Acpo annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Jones will say: "This is not a war on terror but it is a fight to keep people safe and preserve our freedoms and liberties. Those of us charged with taking this on are motivated by the opportunity to save life, nothing more.

"The police service, its leaders and governors, embraces its responsibility to guarantee our rights and liberties."

He will add: "Let us not forget that those we confront across the globe and here in the UK continue to adapt and evolve and so must we. And so must our laws and our criminal justice system. British justice cannot be preserved in aspic."

Mr Jones will say the three day conference will also look at concerns over the civil liberty implications of crime-fighting developments such as DNA and closed circuit television.

Police and other agencies need to address public concerns over the use of intrusive powers, as indicated on Monday by leader of the Local Government Association, Sir Simon Milton.

Councils have come under fire for using surveillance techniques to spy on residents for minor misdemeanours such as dog fouling.

Mr Jones will say: "The ceding of intrusive powers to local government and other bodies, and giving them access to once sacrosanct personal data, was neither well understood or accepted."