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Freedom of Information Request Reference No: FOI 12173 – Mental Health-place of safety
Signposting - links to information already in public domain:
Information Requested:
I note you seek access to the following information:
For the year 2018 (Jan -Sep) please advise on the number times a private dwelling was used as a
place of safety under s.136 of the Mental Health Act 83.
Of those times, please advise how many required additional Police assistance.
Disclosure and Exemptions: (Full/Partial/Refused): Full
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does
hold information relating to your request, Essex Police can confirm in respect of Section 1(1)(b) the
following
Response:
Please find below the response to your request issued on date 11/01/2019.
Information correct as of date 30/11/2018.
Please find below the response to your request.
Between January 2018 and September 2018, no private dwellings were used as a place of safety
under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 83.
Mental Health is a major concern at the moment and the following details may assist in your request:
A place of safety is defined under Section 135/136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, as residential
accommodation provided by a local social services authority, a hospital, a police station, an
independent hospital or care home or any other suitable place, the occupier of which is willing
temporarily to receive the patient. In exceptional circumstances, such as when the detained person
is being aggressive, violent and threatening, or when the Mental Health unit place of safety is
unavailable.
Every day Essex Police deals with around 100 incidents involving mental health, over 5,000 cases a
year. Many of those incidents involve no crime being committed but, as an emergency service, our
job is to keep people safe and prevent harm to individuals or other people.
Police custody cells are meant for people we believe have broken the law. They’re not nice places to
be and they are absolutely not the right place for people in mental health crisis. But where there is
no available health-based place of safety to take someone we will detain them for their own safety
as a last resort. We are increasingly concerned about the level of capacity in the health sector to
FOI Publication Template (19/03/19)
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deal with these issues and that’s why the number of people we’ve detained this year has increased.
Chief officers and the Police and Crime Commissioner are in regular contact with senior health
officials to reflect these concerns and work towards a solution.
We use a mental health triage car to allow mental health professionals to go to incidents with police
officers and provide advice and support at the scene of an incident. Between April 2015 and March
2016 we have prevented 192 detentions under section 136 of the mental health act.”
FOI Publication Template (19/03/19)
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