Thematic inspection on the
welfare of vulnerable people in
police custody
Heather Hurford
Lead Inspector
Overview
• Home Secretary commission to HMIC
• background
• Approach + timescale
• definitions
• Joint inspections of police custody
• Thematic inspections
• Related national work
• Final report
Purpose of vulnerability thematic
• Home Secretary commissioned HMIC January 2014
• Scope to include – but not limited to:
those with mental health problems,
those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds
children
• In depth thematic review
• Highlight good practice and make national
recommendations
Background to thematic
• National reviews – Bradley (2009); IPCC (2010); Howard League (2013);
ICMHP (2013) identified risk factors in police custody
• 2011 – present - further 66 deaths in police custody or following contact
• HMIC - Who’s looking out for the children? (2011); A criminal use of
police cells? (2013); A joint inspection of the treatment of offenders with
learning disabilities within the criminal justice system (2014)
• Academic research
• Recurring concerns:
o Over representation of certain groups in the CJ system
o Treatment of children in custody
o Use of force
o Risk assessments – quality and communication
o Intoxication + mental vulnerability
Data on police custody population
• No national collection of police custody data
• Arrest data = proxy – but excludes non-notifiable offences
 Total arrests
 Age profile
 Gender as %
 Ethnicity as %
• Stop and searches by ethnicity
• Research findings on children detained overnight (Skinns 2013)
• Section 136 detentions under the Mental Health Act and use of
police custody as place of safety
Methodology
Identified risks
Map risks against custody
process/pathway
Lines of enquiry &
assessment criteria
6 force inspections embedded within
rolling custody programme
+ additional fieldwork
strands
1.
2.
3.
Review of data capture and flows
Voice of the detainee
Interviews with key individuals/organisations
Collate
findings
Expert reference group
Rapid evidence assessment (phase 1)
Final report with
national
recommendations
Key definitions 1 - vulnerability
This inspection will
 use the examples of people with mental health problems,
people from black and minority ethnic communities and
children to explore how far police forces respond to
vulnerability in a manner appropriate to individual rights and
circumstances, within the requirements of the legislative and
policy framework.
 use an in depth focus on decision making and risk assessment
as a dynamic process, together with findings from related
inspections, to extrapolate to wider aspects of vulnerability in
police custody.
Key definitions 2 – custody
• Role of frontline officers and staff currently out of scope on custody
inspections
• Phase one rapid evidence assessment highlights risks in custody
from first point of contact
• ‘from the moment of arrest to that of release or transfer there is a
risk of mistreatment.’ (Association for the Prevention of Torture)
• IPCC investigations include deaths which occur whilst a person is
being arrested or taken into detention
This inspection will consider the complete ‘pathway’ of police
custody from the first point of contact to release or transfer
Inspection question
How effective are police services at
identifying and responding to vulnerabilities
and associated risks to the welfare of
detainees in police custody?
Subset of key questions
Lines of enquiry
Assessment criteria
3 core focus areas:
i. Point of arrest to custody suite
ii. In the custody suite
iii. Pre release/transfer and
aftercare
Timescale
June – Aug Consultation and methodology
development
Sept – Jan Fieldwork
Feb 2015
Report writing
Mar 2015
Report sign off and publication
Joint inspections of police custody
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
HMIC/HMIP + CQC
OPCAT
6 year rolling programme – started 2008
Unannounced
Published inspection reports
Make recommendations and highlight good practice
Action plan visits 12 months after inspection
All forces now visited at least once – new cycle
underway
Joint inspections of police custody –
Framework and approach
• Focused on outcomes for detainees
• Published ‘Expectations’
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strategy
Treatment and conditions
Individual rights
healthcare
Referenced to existing legislation and policy obligations
Multi professional inspection team
Interviews, observations, custody record analysis
Feedback during inspection
Thematic custody inspections
• Based on rolling programme model +
Additional evidence based assessment criteria
Control centres/frontline response
Partner agencies
Bespoke data collection
Expanded inspection team
Thematic – key lines of enquiry
• How is vulnerability identified and addressed?
• Available diversion opportunities
• Access to supporting services
• Risk assessment
• Effectiveness of partnership arrangements
• Use of force
• Monitoring mechanisms
Related national work - context
Home Secretary
announcements –
Mental health and
policing summit Oct 23
Related national work – custody
inspections
• HMIP review of Expectations for Police Custody
• College of Policing/ACPO review of Authorised
Professional Practice for detention and custody
• HMIC PEEL programme
+ thematic findings
= changes to custody inspection
programme likely in 2015/16
Thematic final report
• Thematic findings from inspections
• Case studies and detainee voice project to
spotlight impact on and outcomes for individuals
• Custody data statement
• Pilot model for ‘key statistics on police custody’
• Good practice examples
• National recommendations
Questions?
Thank you for listening
Heather.hurford@hmic.gsi.gov.uk