The Progressive Labour Party took aim at a statement by Attorney General Mark Pettingill that the former government held back legislation to empower Police.Shadow Attorney General Kim Wilson said yesterday that while part five of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) has not been enacted, it was only delayed because Police did not have the necessary resources.“As one of Bermuda’s top criminal defence attorneys, Mr Pettingill should know that many sections of PACE have come into force on multiple commencement dates so as to ensure that the Police and the Magistrates’ Court Building was PACE compliant,” Ms Wilson said.“Part five is not yet enforce because of the absence of the sufficient number of trained custody sergeants.”Ms Wilson said that Government had always planned to bring the PACE legislation into effect in stages.“These phases have provided the Police with extensive new powers including video identification parades, the mandatory taking of electronic fingerprints, photographs and DNA samples from detained persons in custody,” she said.“In addition, new powers of arrest and use of reasonable force were extended and simplified. In order to provide a safe guard to suspects, new stop and search powers provide the person being searched with a record of the search and the grounds for suspicion exercised by the police officer.”The remaining section of the legislation pertains to the detention of suspects, but Ms Wilson said requires a number of sufficiently trained Custody Sergeants to be employed at the Hamilton Police.“The role of the Custody Sergeant is paramount to the legal requirements concerning detention of suspects as required in PACE. This is to ensure that suspects are not unlawfully detained,” she said.“The police have indicated previously that they did not have the resources to train up PACE Compliant Custody Sergeants hence the reason part five has not yet come into force.”