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[b] Code of Practice on independent custody
visiting
Introduction
1. This Code of Practice on independent custody
visiting is issued further to section 51(6) of the Police Reform
Act 2002. Police authorities and independent custody visitors shall
have regard to the Code in carrying out their relevant functions.
2. Independent custody visiting is the well established system whereby
volunteers attend police stations to check on the treatment of detainees
and the conditions in which they are held and that their rights
and entitlements are being observed. It offers protections to both
detainees and the police and reassurance to the community at large.
3. The Code will be supported by more detailed National Standards
which expand on the relevant procedures and systems and set out
established good practice.
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Organisation and Infrastructure
4. The responsibility for organising and overseeing the delivery
of independent custody visiting lies with police authorities, in
consultation with chief constables. Police authorities must therefore
ensure that they have in place robust and effective procedures for
establishing and maintaining their independent custody visiting
schemes, including the allocation of appropriate resources to this
function.
5. Overall responsibility for the central administration of the
scheme must be given to a nominated officer on the police authority’s
staff, supported as necessary by other personnel and resources.
6. At police authority level, groups or panels of volunteers must
be organised to visit police stations in the authority’s area.
Every group needs to have its own co-ordinator, appropriately resourced
to perform that task.
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Recruitment and Conditions of Service
Organising Recruitment
7. Police authorities are responsible for recruiting, selecting
and appointing independent custody visitors and must ensure these
functions are adequately resourced.
8. Adequate numbers of suitably trained and accredited independent
custody visitors
must be available at all times.
The recruitment process
9. Recruitment must be based on clear job descriptions, as well
as person specifications setting out the qualities independent custody
visitors require to carry out their role effectively.
10. Recruitment must be open, non-discriminatory and well publicised.
11. All selections must be made on the basis of a standard application
form.
12. No person shall be appointed as an independent custody visitor
without an interview taking place.
The selection panel must record the reasons for decisions about
appointment or non-appointment.
13. Any appointment must be made solely on merit and all independent
custody visitors must be at least
18 years old.
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Who should be Selected?
14. The police authority must seek to ensure that the overall set
of independent custody visitors is representative of the local community
and provides a suitable balance in terms of age, gender and ethnicity.
15. All reasonable adjustments must be made to accommodate those
with disabilities and those who do not have English as their first
language where they are considered suitable candidates.
16. Visitors must be independent persons who are able to make informed
judgements in which the community can have confidence and which
the police will accept as fair criticism when it is justified.
17. Where an applicant has convictions (whether spent or unspent)
for criminal offences, or has received any formal caution, warning
or reprimand, or has failed to disclose any such finding, the specific
circumstances must be considered in assessing suitability to become
an independent custody visitor. However, past offending is not an
automatic barrier to acceptance.
18. In appointing independent custody visitors, care must be taken
to avoid any potential conflict of interest. For example, serving
police officers and other serving members of police or police authority
staff will be unsuitable
for that reason. The same will apply to special constables, justices
of the peace and members of the police authority.
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Other Possible Roles for Custody Visitors
19. Independent custody visitors may also act as appropriate adults.
However, individuals must not
switch between those roles during the course of a visit to the same
police station.
20. Independent custody visitors may also act as lay observers appointed
under the Criminal Justice Act 1991 to inspect the conditions under
which prisoners are transported and held.
basis of service
21. The police authority must provide each independent custody visitor
with a written memorandum of understanding summarising their agreed
responsibilities and the legitimate expectations of both parties.
22. The police authority must provide each independent custody visitor
with an identity pass as their authority to visit any police station
in the force area that is holding detainees on a regular or temporary
basis.
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Tenure
23. Appointments must initially be for three years and must not
be confirmed until a six-month probationary period has been satisfactorily
completed. Full re-assessments of suitability must take place at
regular intervals but no longer than three years apart. The key
factors in renewing appointments for further periods must be the
continuing ability and willingness of the individuals involved to
do the job effectively. removal
24. A police authority can remove an independent custody visitor’s
accreditation
because of misconduct or poor performance.
25. Procedures for considering possible removal must follow the
principles of natural justice and be publicised.
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Complaints Procedures
26. Procedures must be in place to deal with complaints against
independent custody visitors by detainees, police personnel or others.
There must also be a clear mechanism for handling complaints from
visitors and issues of concern arising from their work.
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Payment
27. Independent custody visitors are entitled to be reimbursed for
their legitimate expenses incurred in carrying out their role.
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Insurance
28. The police authority must ensure adequate cover and provision
for claims arising from
independent custody visitors’ role.
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Training
29. The basic responsibility for training lies with the police authority
and a structured plan with clear objectives must be developed in
consultation with the police service and the local independent custody
visiting community.
30. The police authority must evaluate the effectiveness of training
and the extent to which it is achieving its objectives.
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Frequency and Coverage
31. The police authority should liaise with the chief constable
about the frequency with which visits should be carried out.
32. Visits must be sufficiently regular to support the effectiveness
of the system, but not so frequent as to unreasonably interfere
with the work of the police.
33. The frequency of visits must be monitored against expectations
and reported to the police authority at regular intervals. Where
insufficient visits are taking place, the causes must be investigated
and corrective action taken.
34. Consideration must be given to making visits to all police stations
where detainees are held even where they are only accommodated for
relatively short periods of time.
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Working Arrangements
Conducting Visits
35. Visits should normally be undertaken by pairs of independent
custody visitors working together. Visits should only be undertaken
by a single independent custody visitor working alone where the
police authority has carried out a thorough and robust assessment
of the risks that presents and has concluded that it is, in all
the circumstances, the best option.
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Visiting Procedures at Stations
36. Independent custody visitors must be admitted to the custody
area immediately. Delay is only permitted when immediate access
may place the visitors in danger. A full explanation must be given
to the visitors as to why access is being delayed and that explanation
must be recorded by the visitors in their report.
37. Independent custody visitors must have access to all parts of
the custody area and to associated facilities such as food preparation
areas and medical rooms. However, it is not part of their role to
attend police interviews with detainees.
38. Police staff must be alert to any specific health or safety
risks independent custody visitors might face and must advise them
appropriately.
39. The custody officer or a member of custody staff must accompany
independent custody visitors during visits. (See paragraph 46)
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Access to Detainees
40. Subject to the exceptions referred to in paragraph 43, independent
custody visitors must be allowed access to any person detained at
the police station. However, detainees may only be spoken to with
their consent and the escorting officer is responsible for establishing
whether they wish to speak to the independent custody visitors.
41. Juveniles may be spoken to with their own consent.
42. If a detainee is not in a position to give consent, the escorting
officer must allow the visit unless any of the circumstances set
out in paragraph 43 apply.
43. The police may limit or deny independent custody visitors’
access to a specific detainee if an officer of or above the rank
of inspector reasonably believes that to be necessary for the visitors’
safety. Such an officer may also deny or restrict access where they
reasonably believe that such access could interfere with process
of justice.
44. Where any of the circumstances referred to in paragraph 43 apply
consideration should be given to allowing the visitors some limited
form of access to the detainee, such as speaking to them through
the cell hatch.
45. Any decision to deny or limit access must be recorded in the
detainee’s custody record (together with the relevant authorisation)
and by the independent custody visitors in their report of the visit.
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Discussions with Detainees
46. Discussions between detainees and independent custody visitors
must normally take place in sight but out of hearing of the escorting
officer where that is practical.
47. Discussions must focus on checking whether detainees have been
offered their rights and entitlements under PACE and confirming
whether the conditions of detention are adequate.
48. Independent custody visitors must remain impartial and must
not seek to involve themselves in any way in the process of investigation.
If a detainee seeks to make admissions or otherwise discuss an alleged
offence, the visitor must tell them that the relevant contents of
the visit may be disclosed in legal proceedings.
49. If an independent custody visitor realises they know or are
known by a detainee, they must declare this and consider whether
to withdraw from the visit.
50. Independent custody visitors must not pass messages to or from
detainees or offer to perform other tasks on their behalf. If they
are asked to do so they must immediately inform the custody officer.
51. If a detainee indicates they may harm themselves or any other
person, this must immediately be brought to the attention of custody
staff.
52. Subject to obtaining the detainee’s consent to examine
their custody record, the independent custody visitors should check
its contents against what they have been told by the detainee.
53. If a detainee is for any reason incapable of deciding whether
to allow access to their custody record, the presumption must be
in favour of allowing the independent custody visitors to examine
it.
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Medical Issues
54. Independent custody visitors have no right to see the detainee’s
medical records, even where these are attached to the custody record.
However, key points relevant to medical treatment should be recorded
in the custody record itself.
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Dealing with Issues and Complaints
55. Where a detainee makes a complaint or raises an issue about
their general treatment or conditions, independent custody visitors
must (subject to the detainee’s consent) take this up as soon
as possible with police staff in order to seek a resolution. The
same applies to similar issues identified by visitors in the course
of their attendance.
56. If a detainee makes a complaint of misconduct by a specific
police officer, they must be advised to address it to the duty officer
in charge of the police station.
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Effective Working Relationships
57. For independent custody visiting to be effective, it is essential
that visitors and police staff develop and maintain professional
working relationships based on mutual respect and understanding
of each others’ legitimate roles.
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Reporting on a Visit
58. At the end of each visit, and while they are still at the police
station, independent custody visitors must complete a report of
their findings in a standard format. One copy of the report must
remain at the station for the attention of the officer in charge.
Copies must go to the co-ordinator of the local independent custody
visiting group.
59. Report forms must include an undertaking not to reveal the names
of persons visited or other confidential information obtained in
the course of a visit.
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Feedback
60. Systems must be in place to ensure that the output from visits
is drawn rapidly to the attention of those in a position to make
the appropriate response.
61. Co-ordinators are responsible for drawing together issues and
identifying trends emerging from visits in their area and addressing
these with relevant police supervisors.
62. The central administrator must have a regular and formal opportunity
to raise concerns and issues with a designated senior officer with
force-wide responsibilities. It will usually be appropriate for
that officer to be of Assistant Chief Constable rank. The central
administrator must also produce regular reports for the police authority
summarising the output from independent custody visiting and the
way in which concerns have or have not been addressed. These reports
must be discussed at police authority meetings as appropriate and
reflected in an entry about independent custody visiting in the
police authority’s own annual report.
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Sharing Experience
63. The police authority must ensure that independent custody visitors
have regular opportunities to meet together to discuss their work.
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Reviewing Performance
64. Police authorities must take steps to assess how effectively
their independent custody visiting arrangements are working. Key
aspects of that process will be reviewing the quality of reports,
the frequency with which visits take place and the number of occasions
on which detainees refuse to speak to visitors.
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