Fewer with mental problems in Staffordshire police cells
The number of people suffering from mental health problems and kept in police cells in Staffordshire has dropped by almost two-thirds, new figures show.
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But Staffordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis claims some people are still being sent to cells as there are not enough hospital beds available.
In Staffordshire and Stoke, the number detained in police custody fell by 59 per cent from 168 in 2012 to 69 last year.
Mr Ellis said: "Police custody is fundamentally the wrong place for an individual who is in mental health crisis to be kept if they haven't committed a crime. We need to stop criminalising people who are simply ill."