Food and drink 'not offered' as report condemns West Mercia Police's custody services
The county's police force has been strongly criticised over "critical weaknesses" in the standard of custody services it provides.
Inspectors from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), have concluded that West Mercia Police is "not providing good custody services".
They also said some important areas of custody now require "urgent attention".
The report comes after the force was criticised by HMICFRS last week as needing to improve when it comes to both investigating crime and responding to the public.
In response to the custody report West Mercia Police said a "number of improvements" had already been made, and that HMICFRS had been given confidence by the force's quick response to feedback.
The latest inspection found that the force does have a clear governance structure for the "safe and respectful provision of custody services", but that the arrangements are not resulting in good custody services.
A series of areas have been criticised with inspectors saying the force does not meet all its legal requirements – including "providing detainees with information about their rights and entitlements", and "the way in which reviews of detention are carried out".
There are also concerns about oversight in the use of force in custody, including "information on what force is used, by which officers, or why it is necessary is often incomplete or inaccurate".
Other areas highlighted are a failure to always assure the safety of detainees, with inspectors saying "detainees under observation because they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs are often taken off checks too quickly. Cell checks are often grouped together and recorded on each individual’s custody record, which is poor practice; and detainee care is poor".
They also found that "food and drink are not proactively offered or provided", and access to other aspects of care, such as washing, showers, exercise, reading materials and other activities is "very limited".
Concern was also raised that the force does not have enough oversight over how custody is provided – with no clear direction over how custody and detention officers carry out their roles and responsibilities.
The inspectorates have made recommendations for West Mercia Police to address the concerns, while also highlighting an additional 11 areas for improvement.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said: “Anyone detained in custody should be treated fairly and kept safe from harm.
“West Mercia Police has a clear governance structure for the safe and respectful provision of custody services. However, these arrangements are not resulting in good custody services.
“Our inspection identified some critical weaknesses in how custody is provided to make sure detainees are kept safe and treated and cared for well.
“Some of the recommendations from our last inspection in 2014 have not been achieved or have only partly been achieved, leaving some important areas of custody requiring urgent attention – including management oversight of custody, governance and oversight of the use of force, risk management and detainee care. These are now causes of concern.
“More positively, the force responded quickly to our feedback during the inspection, taking action in several areas. This gives us confidence that custody services, and outcomes for detainees, will now improve.”
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Cooper said: “It’s important that our custody provision is independently scrutinised and we welcome and accept the findings of HMICFRS’ inspection, and their acknowledgement that we were quick to respond to feedback.
“We know there are still improvements we need to make and have already put in place an urgent action plan to address the critical weaknesses identified by the report.
“We are committed to ensuring detainees are kept safe and cared for while in our custody; it is crucial we improve those areas of custody which are causes of concern.
“Since the inspection our Custody Managers have been working with HMICFRS to improve our internal audit and inspection process and we are currently developing an extensive training package that will be delivered to all of our custody staff in the coming months.
“Prior to the inspection, funding had been secured from our Police and Crime Commissioner to update our CCTV and custody infrastructure systems, such as fire alarm systems and cell intercoms.
“We welcome HMICFRS’ confidence that our custody services will improve and are committed to delivering significant improvements over the next 12 months.”
