6. Memorandum from The Police Complaints
Authority
1. INTRODUCTION
(i) The Police Complaints Authority submits
this memorandum of evidence to the Committee to which is attached
an Appendix comprising a research paper supplied to it by Dr David
Best, Head of Research, Police Complaints Authority. This memorandum
will outline the role and responsibilities of the Police Complaints
Authority, will summarise research and reporting published by
the Police Complaints Authority during the past five years on
matters material to the inquiry and will offer further observations
in response to the questions posed by the inquiry. The Research
Appendix provides detailed data on fatal incidents.
(ii) The Police Complaints Authority, having
18 members (full-time and part-time) and approximately 70 staff
(largely seconded civil servants but some permanent staff) has
two principal roles under the legislation governing its activity,
the Police Act 1996. Firstly, it supervises police investigations
into complaints alleging serious misconduct or incidents causing
public concern. Approximately 350-400 investigations are subject
to supervision at any one time. The police service is required
under legislation to refer certain matters to the Authority. It
has the power to refer incidents not subject to complaint to the
Authority and most fatal incidents are referred in this way with
investigations in the majority of cases being accepted for supervision
by the Authority. The supervising member has the power to approve,
or withhold approval of the appointment of the investigating officer
where a matter is supervised; may issue directions as to the conduct
of the investigation; and must issue a statement at its conclusion
stating whether the investigation was, or was not, conducted to
the Authority's satisfaction.
(iii) The Authority's second principal role
is, at the conclusion of all investigations, to undertake an independent
review of the evidence to determine whether any police officer
should have his/her conduct referred to a misconduct hearing.
All matters supervised by the Authority, whether or not a public
complaint was made about the conduct of any police officer, has
to be reviewed and the Authority has the same legal powers to
direct formal disciplinary action as it would in a case of a public
"complaint".
(iv) The Authority's supervisory function
is governed by an internal manual of practice agreed with and
circulated to individual police services. This manual provides
detailed guidance to Authority members, staff and the police service
on referrals and initial action; discharging the responsibilities
of ongoing supervision; standards expected of those investigations
subject to the Authority's supervision; family liaison and community
relations and the disclosure of information or evidence to complainants,
next of kin or in the public domain during or after the supervision
of an investigation.
(v) Prior to September 2001, the Authority
had no dedicated research capacity but since 1998 had undertaken
some specific research work relevant to the remit of the inquiry
which will be summarised below.
(vi) The Authority has operated from a single
central London office with Authority members and caseworkers having
responsibility for a range of different police services. The statutory
powers of the Authority do not include the power to inspect police
facilities or management arrangements governing the detention
of those in custody. However Authority members will, in their
contacts with police staff and investigators, gain some local
knowledge and understanding of custody arrangements material to
the investigations they supervise or review and finalise. Based
on the information and impressions gained by this casework experience,
observations are offered both in Reports and in the following
observations and impressions.
2. OBSERVATIONS
AND LESSONS
EMERGING FROM
PCA ANNUAL REPORTS
1997-98 TO DATE
(i) 1997-98 Annual Report
The report noted that police service practice
in relation to referral of cases for voluntary supervision had
improved and that virtually all deaths in custody were now subject
to Authority supervised investigation. The report stated that
the Authority's experience suggested some deaths could have been
avoided if more effective procedures and safeguards had been in
place and it focused on two key individuals in the process, namely
the custody officer and the forensic medical examiner. The Authority
summarised the findings of a survey into custody officer training
which indicated that most police services provided dedicated custody
officer training. However only seven required the successful completion
of such a course before a custody officer took up his/her duties.
In approximately one third of all police forces in England and
Wales, custody officers generally did not receive specialist training
until after they had taken up their duties and in some cases such
training might be delayed for months or even years. A telephone
survey of 620 custody officers in 401 custody suites covering
all forces suggested that at any one time, some 23% were carrying
out their complex and demanding duties without having had the
benefit of specialist training. The Authority stressed the need
for training to be provided before custody officers took up their
duties at all and such training should enable them to recognise
danger signals amongst those appearing to be drunk, those who
might be at risk of attempting suicide or those who might be suffering
from a potentially dangerous medical condition. The Authority
also highlighted the need for:
ensuring that custody officers received
appropriate support and supervision;
encouraging better communication
between custody officers and forensic medical examiners;
introducing a standard practice during
the presentation and booking in process to identify those detained
persons who might be at risk of suicide or self-harm;
introducing a simple method of monitoring
the consciousness of detained persons;
extending CCTV systems to cover observation
cells for particularly vulnerable detainees and developing appropriate
guidelines to protect the dignity of those concerned;
establishing detoxification centres
to deal with people arrested for alcohol or drug abuse; and
improving cell design to reduce suicide
risks; providing appropriate specialist training for all forensic
medical examiners and considering centralised custody suites and
a specialised custody service.
In October 1998 the Police Complaints Authority
organised a special one-day conference entitled "Deaths in
Police Custody: Reducing the Risks" to ensure that these
essential recommendations were understood by relevant police managers
and Police Authorities and their implementation taken forward.
As a result of the conference, a research and
policy paper "Deaths in Police Custody: Reducing the Risks"
was published by the Authority in 1999. This report analysed deaths
in custody cases from 1994-98 and highlighted where the Authority's
supervision experience indicated deaths occurring in circumstances
previously seen. The Authority highlighted, a relation to the
risk of harm or death from suicide, the importance of reducing
risks by the removal of ligature points; and the removal of clothing
which may pose a risk. The report made 16 detailed recommendations
calling for the revision of Code C, Police and Criminal Evidence
Act Codes of Practice, to clarify the requirement to rouse drunken
detainees; practice by custody staff in regard to rousing and
recording their actions. The Authority felt consideration should
be given to including in the Codes of Practice a specific requirement
for custody staff to make regular checks on detainees suffering
from drug abuse. The report repeated recommendations made earlier
concerning specialist training for custody officers and police
surgeons together with the introduction of new procedures to improve
risk assessment practice. The Authority in its report called for
a nationwide programme of cell modernisation designed to reduce
the risk of self harm and accidents and asked the Home Office
to consider amending the statutory requirements to enable some
procedures in custody suites to be carried out by suitably qualified
health care professionals other than doctors. The Authority felt
that police forces should consider concentrating custody operations
in a small number of specialist centres and should examine the
benefits of establishing a custody service as a specialist unit.
The Authority repeated the calls previously made that the case
for abolishing the criminal offence of being drunk and incapable
should be re-examined and called for further examination as to
the feasibility of appropriate alternatives to police custody
including reception centres and detoxification centres for those
suffering from substance abuse. The Authority called, also, for
police officers to be given refresher training in the safe use
of force in self defence and to affect arrests given the risks
associated with the use of restraint.
(ii) 1998-99 Annual Report
In its report for this year, the Authority reported
that in the previous four years an upward trend in the number
of deaths in police custody cases supervised by the Authority
had been seen, culminating in 65 cases that year, 41% more than
in 1995-96. The year had seen the largest number of deaths in
police care or custody on record. Deaths from self harm, the effects
of alcohol or drugs and from identified medical conditions were
the causes of the great majority of such deaths. In that year,
18 people appeared to have caused their own death while in custody
representing a rise from a total of seven in 1996-97.
The report repeated previous recommendations
for change and in addition recommended that at risk detainees,
(identified at booking-in, from the police national computer or
elsewhere) be kept under constant supervision using CCTV or civilian
staff until their mental state had been fully assessed; in urban
centres appropriately trained nurses to be on call to the police
to undertake assessments, liaise with psychiatrists and advise
police surgeons and custody sergeants as appropriate; forensic
medical examiners be required to train to the standards set by
the Association of Police Surgeons.
Revision to Code C to require the police to
visit and rouse on a regular basis any detainee who may have taken
a class A drug; training for forensic medical examiners to ensure
that clear oral and written guidance is provided for custody officers;
including the results of assessments and symptoms to be monitored
with indicators of risk and actions to take when needed; a simple
consciousness scale to be adopted by forensic medical examiners
and custody officers to enable clear communication to take place
about the welfare of vulnerable detained persons over the period
of their detention; and specific training for custody officers
on the care of detainees who appear to have used alcohol or drugs
in order to provide them with information concerning the potentially
life-threatening conditions which may generate an appearance of
drunkenness.
The report reminded the police service of the
need for high standards of management in custody areas and the
need for regular spot checks in such facilities to ensure that
force orders, police guidance and codes of practice were being
followed.
The Authority in this Annual Report repeated
its call for the decriminalisation of being drunk and incapable.
The Authority considered such an action would immediately crystallise
the need for care in reception centres for those grossly intoxicated,
staffed by nurses and paramedics. Such establishments would meet
the immediate overnight needs of people found incapable in a public
place. The longer terms needs of those suffering the effects of
alcohol dependency could only be met through the establishment
of detoxification centres, again staffed by professionals.
(iii) Annual Report 1999-2000
This report noted a fall in the number of those
who had died in police care or custody and there was a decline
by a third in the number of deaths due to self-harm from the previous
year. The report highlighted the impact of a pilot in Devon and
Cornwall Constabulary of "in-cell" CCTV. During 1999
the Authority published a follow-up report to its earlier one
"Deaths in Police CustodyReducing the Risks".
The report provided the detailed results of a questionnaire survey
to police forces in England and Wales assessing the response made
by the police service to each of the recommendations appearing
in the Authority's earlier report. Action taken by each police
service responding to the Authority's survey was described in
this report highlighting good practice developments. The Authority
drew particular attention to the importance of the use of CCTV
to monitor the risk of harm to detained persons in custody; the
improvement of ventilation in cells since cell hatches had to
remain closed. The Authority called for a cost-benefit analysis
of using trained nurses and community psychiatric nurses in custody
areas. The report recommended that police services consider establishing
custody users groups and it repeated a call previously made on
a number of occasions for the introduction of the Association
of Police Surgeons' medical form as standard throughout the police
service.
(iv) Annual Report 2000-01
It was reported that deaths in police care or
custody in this year fell sharply to 32, the lowest number of
such deaths since 1993. Deaths in cells or police stations numbered
16 compared with 19 in the previous year. In 2000-01 the Authority
reported that only two cell deaths appeared to be due to self-harm,
one sixth of the total of two years previously. The Authority
drew particular attention in this Annual Report to deaths due
to restraint and the importance of improving inter-agency co-operation
and practice in regard to the treatment of persons detained or
under arrest who have mental health problems. Issues in relation
to restraint were discussed at a seminar which included international
and UK experts on forensic pathology and accident and emergency
medicine. As a result of the conference the Authority published
a guidance note for police officers, forensic medical examiners
and other treating physicians concerning the management of acute
behavioural disturbance and the special risks of positional asphyxia.
Detailed guidance was also included to forensic pathologists undertaking
the pathological examination post mortem of a person suspected
to have died following such a disturbance.
The report noted that recent deaths in custody
had exposed weaknesses concerning the collaboration between NHS
Mental Health Trusts and the police service. The report noted
that responses to the arrest by police of persons under Section
136 Mental Health Act needed to improve so that such persons could
be taken immediately to a designated hospital and not to a police
cell and NHS Trusts would need to staff a Section 136 reception
room which could be attached to accident and emergency departments;
NHS Trusts and police services also needed to agree a written
protocol for the handover from police to medical staff of Section
136 patients on arrival at the hospital and Trusts with responsibility
for detailed psychiatric patients and the police needed to agree
clear written protocols to clarify the respective responsibilities
of hospital staff and the police for returning to hospital detained
patients who were absent without leave.
(v) Annual Report 2001-02
In this year a small rise from 32 to 36 investigations
into persons who had died in police care or custody was noted.
This was still less than that recorded in each of the preceding
five years. The report highlighted developments by the Home Office
on the provision to custody of health care professionals. The
Authority expressed a hope that the revision of PACE Codes of
Practice would adopt recommendations made by the Authority to
enhance the effectiveness of the duty to rouse intoxicated detainees.
The Authority's report drew attention to the need for appropriate
police practice for dealing with a suspect who is thought to have
swallowed drugs. The report emphasised the need for the police
service to raise its performance in dealing with such circumstances
to reduce the risk to life to a minimum. The report commended
an MPS standing order requiring that in every case someone who
is thought to have swallowed drugs must be taken to hospital for
an emergency examination.
(vi) Annual Report 2002-03
This report showed that the Authority supervised
14 investigations into deaths occurring in a police cell or police
station. Medical causes and the effect of alcohol and/or drugs
remained the most prevalent apparent cause of death. In detailed
analysis providing observations on causes and prevention strategies,
the report noted that despite improved training for custody staff
and efforts to make cells safer, some investigations revealed
concerns which underlined the need for constant vigilance and
greater efforts to publicise the dangers posed by alcohol, drugs
or the risk of self-harm. The Authority recorded its disappointment
that some police services still lacked CCTV cameras in their custody
areas and that insufficiently urgent consideration was given to
the removal of ligature points in cells to reduce the risk of
cell hangings. The Authority reported that many deaths of drunken
detainees were preventable if rapid medical assessment was provided
and individuals were transferred to hospital. The report repeated
that drunken detainees were in danger from alcohol poisoning and
serious head injury masked by their intoxication. The management
of drunken detainees, it was accepted, is a stressful and resource
sapping activity for the police service but the Authority is concerned
that, while custody staff generally recognise the symptoms of
excess alcohol, there is much less awareness of the symptoms and
dangers of alcohol withdrawal or the combined effects of alcohol
and illicit drugs.
The report referred to a PCA study into the
risks of detaining alcohol impaired people in custody suites carried
out in the MPS which suggested that, while custody officers know
they are accountable for the health and welfare of all detainees
in their care, they do not feel that they are properly resourced
or supported in this task. The research noted a general dissatisfaction
with current training arrangements, including the role specific
training for staff working as gaolers and with the initial custody
officer course in relation to alcohol issues.
The study also raised questions about forensic
medical examiners who it was felt may lack specific training in
managing alcohol-related problems and may also be reluctant to
get too close to potentially dangerous individuals.
Drug misuse remained a significant factor in
deaths in police custody or following police contact and typically
the report showed that these arose from attempts by detainees
to swallow the evidence when confronted by police. Arresting officers
might not be aware of these attempts and a detained person might
not be showing symptoms of drug abuse. For some drugs, if the
symptoms of overdose were recognised early then medical interventions
can prevent a death; for others such as cocaine this may not be
possible.
The report highlighted its findings in a very
recent PCA study "Drug Related Deaths in Police Custody"
which noted that even when a detainee who later died reported
symptoms of medical distress, police officers initially believed
that the illness was being feigned. The study highlighted important
learning points with regard to the training of police officers
in both drug awareness issues and in providing emergency first
aid; in the need for the development of policies for the management
of drug intoxicated individuals and for the use of medical expertise
in police custody. The study highlighted that the increased prevalence
of drug use nationally and within arrested populations would suggest
an increase in the prevalence of drug related custodial fatalities.
In April 2002 the Police Complaints Authority
held a national conference to raise and consider issues concerning
the safe use of restraint in custodial settings. Detailed recommendations
emerged from the conference as to measures which would prevent
or reduce the incidence of restraint-related deaths. Detailed
recommendations also emerged as to the standards to be employed
in investigating restraint-related deaths and, in particular,
the relationship between investigators, the public body where
death has occurred and bereaved families.
(vii) Other reports
The Authority has published three other reports
on policing practice and performance relevant to the Inquiry.
In 1998 a short report on the police use of new batons was published
comparing the impact of different equipment provided in police
services in England and Wales. It was noted that the rigid side-handled
baton had led to most complaints though the Authority's limited
study could not determine why this should be the case. It appeared
that the skills required to make full use of the PR24 baton were
considerable and it may be that training needed to be carefully
geared to the skills of the officer and probably needed to be
undertaken more frequently than was necessary with other equipment.
The Authority in 2000 published a more in depth
research report on the use of CS spray and its impact on the public.
The report concluded that CS incapacitant spray did not appear
to present a serious risk to the public. From the sample of complaints
analysed it was not possible to conclude that permanent injury
was caused by use of the spray and there was no reported fatality
known to have been caused by it. The Authority noted that the
introduction of CS spray had made a significant impact on safety
for police officers. However, the study raised concerns amongst
significant population groups, particularly those vulnerable through
mental illness, alcohol or drugs. It called for further research
to be undertaken and continued caution in the use of the spray
to be reflected in guidance and training for police officers.
The report urged police services to act on the guidance introduced
in 1999 particularly in relation to the safe and appropriate use
of spray for those with a mental illness, its use in crowded areas,
on car drivers and in relation to incidents involving firearms.
In 10 recommendations the report highlighted the need for better
training of staff so as to render practice more appropriate particularly
when dealing with persons with a mental illness. Other less safe
or inappropriate uses of spray were highlighted in the recommendations.
The report called for research into alternatives to the solvent
MIBK which can cause burns and blistering; the long term effect
of CS sprays used and the effect of the CS spray on those with
mental illness and drugs associated with this.
In 2003 a major review of shootings by police
in England and Wales from 1998-2001 conducted by the Police Complaints
Authority was published. Such incidents now comprise category
two deaths in custody. The review was requested by the Home Office
Minister of State and in the terms of reference the Authority
was asked to have particular regard to
the planning, control and conduct
of operations;
the way in which the concerns of
the bereaved families were addressed and how they were kept informed
of the progress of the investigation; and
the training and skill needs of the
police officers involved in such operations particularly at command
level.
Twenty-four incidents were examined. The review
addressed the following key questions:
Who was shot and why? Detailed analysis
and narratives show the circumstances in which shots were fired
and what had provoked this police action. The review classified
the incidents as to whether they were "spontaneous"
or "pre-planned" and whether the behaviour of the person
who was shot appeared rational or irrational. In the incidents
reviewed many of those shot were vulnerable due to a combination
of alcohol or illicit drug misuse and/or mental health problems.
What were the command and practice
issues, and how could these be addressed? The review identified
a number of weaknesses in command and proposed changes to strengthen,
particularly, the role of the intermediate ("silver")
command in the management of incidents. It examined the potential
impact of tactical choice on outcome and the role for approaches
that take account of the needs of vulnerable suspects.
What were families' concerns and
how could these be met? Contact with bereaved families uncovered
poor experiences of the investigation, inquest and disciplinary
processes. These were judged to be too protracted, secret and
unresponsive.
The review made 48 wide-ranging recommendations
to the Home Office and to the police service. Central to these
was the concern that lessons may not be adequately learned from
firearms incidents. The discharge of weapons by the police remains
a rare event in England and Wales but the arrangements for disseminating
lessons for police forces and others remain unsatisfactory. The
Authority recommended that more research data was needed on:
the effective use of police dogs
in firearms incidents;
the testing and application of less
lethal weapons;
the impact of verbal challenges on
suspects, particularly for vulnerable people and when suspects
are challenged from behind;
regional variations in rates of police
shootings and the relationship between the use of specific tactics
and the likelihood of discharge of police weapons; and
the relationship between deployments
and discharges, and the factors that predict when police discharges
are likely to occur.
The Home Office has now convened a Working Group
combining the PCA, ACPO, Metropolitan Police Service, Association
of Police Authorities, Metropolitan Police Authority, HMIC, Home
Office and Department of Health to consider and, if appropriate,
take forward the recommendations of the review.
(viii) Home Office Learning the Lessons
Committee
In 2002 a Standing Committee on Learning the
Lessons from Adverse Incidents was convened by the Home Office.
It is chaired by ACPO, the Authority provides the secretariat,
and it has representation from the Home Office, HMIC, Centrex,
APA, the Police Standards Unit and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Its terms of reference are to:
review adverse incidents which occur
in the police service;
identify lessons to be learned from
such incidents, with the aim of preventing similar incidents from
occurring elsewhere and developing good practice; and
disseminate the findings and recommendations
of the Committee.
The Committee also hopes to encourage a culture
in which the police service, and those working with it, are willing
to share information to help each other learn from adverse incidents,
rather than a culture pre-occupied with allocating blame. Its
work has already resulted in a Home Office circular (HOC 18/2002)
following an investigation supervised by the Police Complaints
Authority into a cell death by hanging. The guidance drew attention
to the need for special vigilance by those managing custody facilities
in relation to the risks posed by the physical characteristics
of the accommodation. The circular guidance also reminded the
police service of the need to balance considerations of privacy
and dignity (Article 8 ECHR) against the sometimes more important
principle of preserving the right to life (Article 2 ECHR).
3. QUESTIONS
POSED BY
THE INQUIRY
(i) Preventing deaths in custody
What are the main causes of the deaths in custody?
Are there any common factors?
Please see detailed research evidence compiled
by Dr David Best, PCA Research Department and above comments and
published reports.
Are there particular aspects of conditions of
detention, or the treatment of detainees, or the cultural background
of prisoners or prison officers, that contribute to:
Suicide and self-harm in custody?
Suicide and self-harm is now much rarer. The
Authority would draw particular attention to the continued use
by the police of custody area accommodation ill-designed for the
detention of vulnerable prisoners. Home Office guidance issued
in July 2002 drew attention to the contribution which such outmoded
accommodation made in the death due to self-harm of a detained
person earlier that year. Detailed guidance was given to the police
service stressing the importance of identifying and removing physical
features which present an opportunity for use as a ligature point.
Later incidents confirmed the Authority's belief that in the police
service estate there still exist detention areas unsuited to holding
vulnerable prisoners. The same circular guidance highlighted,
from the cases supervised by the PCA, the need to remove from
those assessed as at risk clothing which might be used to self-harm.
The Authority has drawn attention, in its previous reports, to
the difficulties of balancing respect for personal privacy and
dignity with the need to protect risks to life and safety. Some
police services adopt strict practices with regard to the removal
of laces, belts and cords. Other police services (including the
Metropolitan Police Service) do not, in some cases arguing that
to insist in every case on such a measure would infringe the human
rights of the person detained. This Inquiry may need to clarify
where the balance should lie in relation to human rights principles
so as to encourage greater consistency across the police service
in the humane and safe detention of persons in custody.
Other deaths or injuries in custody?
Dr Best's research study highlights the prevalence
of drugs, alcohol and mental health problems amongst those who
die in police custody. The combination of these factors raises
special challenges for police officers without medical knowledge
or training and forensic medical examiners who may have limited
experience and/or expertise in relation to these problems. Those
deaths which appear to have been avoidable demonstrate inter alia
poor assessment of the true causes of the arrested or detained
person's condition; poor practice in relation to their monitoring
or rousing when detained in cell accommodation; poor liaison (if
any) with the forensic medical examiner; poor diagnosis and/or
treatment decision making by the medical practitioner asked by
the police to examine the person; and, lastly, lack of urgency
in ensuring that appropriate medical treatment is provided.
What further steps need to be taken to prevent
suicide and self-harm in custody?
The incidence of death in a cell or police station
due to self-harm has decreased over the past five years and this
may be due, in part, to improved risk assessment and monitoring
together with better quality custody accommodation. However, practices
remain varied across the police service with regard to measures
designed to reduce risk. Custody accommodation, itself, remains
of variable quality; custody staff in different police services
receive different levels of training at different times; custody
offices are staffed differently, some having entirely dedicated
staff and others staff drawn from general duty on a rota basis.
Some custody areas and services have a high component of civilian
staff undertaking work of significant responsibility. Other police
services continue with largely police officer staffing of the
custody function.
The Authority has highlighted above many of
the practical steps which could be taken to prevent suicide and
self harm in custody. Clearly, early and rigorous compliance with
the new provisions found in Code C will prove a positive influence
in reducing the risk of harm.
Better liaison with, and inter-agency co-operation
between, police services, forensic medical examiner services,
mental health trusts and accident and emergency departments are
essential to reaching and sustaining the lowest level of risk
attainable. Practical measures to reduce the risk of harm must
include the acceptance by the police service that CCTV vision
and audio recording of custody areas is an essential pre-requisite.
CCTV systems must also monitor some cell accommodation for vulnerable
persons to facilitate more effective monitoring.
Other deaths or injuries in custody?
The second part of this memorandum showed the
specific steps the Authority has taken to highlight practical
measures to reduce the risk of deaths in custody. The more rigorous
requirements of new Code C will be of direct relevance to these
cases and better liaison with and inter-agency co-operation between
the police and community mental health services will be important
to the humane and safe treatment and detention of those with mental
health problems. In the Metropolitan Police Service area pilot
procedures are being introduced to test the feasibility of the
NHS radically changing its response to the mentally distressed
or disordered person in the community where the police may be
conventionally expected to deal with the problem. Northumbria
Police are, with its local university, developing specific training
which will provide local police services with police officers
trained in crisis intervention for persons with severe mental
illness. Such a resource to a police service could well improve
its capacity to deal differently with those presenting disorders
and possibly threatening behaviour without resorting to the use
of significant physical force.
In relation to both risks the Authority will,
in the time remaining to it, report to the Learning the Lessons
Committee concerns arising from its supervised investigation casework
to ensure that lessons are generalised throughout the police service.
What kind of Human Rights approach to conditions
of detention and management of detention facilities contribute
to the prevention of deaths in custody?
The Authority is not specifically aware of the
police service taking a "human rights approach" to the
management of conditions of detention. The codes of practice which
govern much of the treatment of those in detention pre-date the
Human Rights Act and was introduced when the vast bulk of police
powers were codified and prescribed. Nevertheless, PACE and the
codes of practice, particularly Code C, made under it are mainly
if not entirely compliant with ECHR obligations resulting from
Articles 2, 3, 5, 8 and 14. Such standards as are reflected in
Code C clearly encourage the belief amongst police staff that
persons detailed in their custody have fundamental rights and
there are specific obligations many directed to ensuring their
humane and safe detention. Custody visitors provide an important
independent scrutiny and discipline having direct access to persons
detained at the time of their detention and gaining from this
direct reports as to the standards of treatment and conduct. Custody
visiting must also provide police managers with independent observation
on the standard and adequacy of cell accommodation. No doubt,
from time to time, custody visitors raise concerns with custody
staff and managers within a "human rights framework"
and they should be encouraged in so doing.
(ii) Investigation of deaths in custody
The Authority notes that the Committee intends
to consider this issue from the point of view of the new arrangements
to be introduced from 1 April 2004 under the Police Reform Act
and with the creation of the new Independent Police Complaints
Commission.
The Authority's view is that current law and
the manner in which it supervises police investigations meets
ECHR requirements for an effective, prompt and independent investigation
with effective participation. However, it is recognised that a
human rights culture is present where judgement merely as to legal
compliance form only the foundation upon which better practice
is built. Where a next of kin or bereaved family lack confidence
in the integrity of an investigation or it takes too long to undertake
or it has been unduly secretive to those with a personal stake
in the inquiry, then the spirit of the ECHR may be compromised.
Current arrangements have not permitted this
Authority, and investigating officers supervised by it, to provide
in every case an inquiry which has enjoyed such confidence and
many investigations have been far too protracted where the time
taken by the Crown Prosecution Service to determine the issue
of criminal culpability and the time for a Coroners' inquest to
be held are taken into account. The legal framework within which
the Authority has had to work has been unduly restrictive in relation
to the following elements:
Neither PACE 1984 nor the Police
Act 1996 require the police to refer to the Authority for it to
supervise an investigation into a death in custody where no complaint
has been made. This is remedied by the provisions in the Police
Reform Act.
Section 80 of the Police Act 1996
has been seen as a barrier to disclosure in the past. Sections
20 and 21 Police Reform Act and regulations made under that Act
will impose positive obligations to inform and disclosure whereas
formerly the Police Act 1996 appeared to assume a largely secret
process of inquiry and feedback on outcomes.
Since the legal arrangements have
prevented the PCA investigating allegations or incidents itself,
this has limited the impact of independent supervision where hostility
and/or mistrust is felt towards police investigators. The investigation
powers under the Police Reform Act and the resources to be committed
to independent investigation will help to reduce or remove this
severe limitation on the PCA's effectiveness where confidence
is a serious issue.
It is, of course, essential for the IPCC to
be properly resourced for its new independent investigation task
and essential that it recruits and prepares staff sufficient in
number and expertise to deal with the enormous challenge of independent
investigation with effective and sensitive family liaison.
19 September 2003
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