When a person is arrested by the police, they are usually taken to a custody suite where they are detained. Custody volunteers are members of the local community who visit these individuals to ensure their care, welfare, rights and entitlements and dignity are upheld. They speak with them whilst they are held in police custody and provide valuable oversight on how that person has been treated and the conditions of the detention.

Independent Custody Visiting is undertaken by a team of dedicated volunteers from across the length of breadth of Scotland. These individuals give up their free time to ensure that the rights of individuals held in police custody are upheld.

To support our dedicated volunteers the Scottish Police Authority has a small team of ICVS staff that ensure that custody sites are visited on a regular basis and that volunteer observations drive continuous improvement in the provision of police custody.

A perspective from Lynne – ICVS West regional coordinator

In this blog we will hear from Lynne Pinkerton, the ICVS coordinator and her recent reflections as she supported front-line custody visits.

It’s been nearly 20 years since I started my custody visiting journey and recently, I found myself back where it all began as an Independent Custody Visitor carrying out unannounced visits to police custody.

For over 10 years I’ve been a regional coordinator for independent custody visiting with the Scottish Police Authority (The Authority) and due to various circumstances, I found myself back on the rota partnering volunteers on their visits.

There were challenges that I’d forgotten e.g. trying to identify a suitable time with two competing diaries, the Scottish weather with one visit being arranged three times in a week due to storms and then dealing with flooded roads on the day of the visit.

The volunteers are regularly thanked publicly for their time and dedication by The Authority and the Board Members however I’m not sure any of us realise what it takes even to get to the custody centre front door.

Well, we’re here entering the police station and we introduce ourselves as custody visitors.  We’ve been shown to a room and provided with our paperwork.

We are given an anonymised list of the people in custody, and we select who we wish to visit.  In our selection we prioritise people who are most vulnerable i.e., children, first time in custody, people with mental health issues.

We do not know why people are in custody or their names or any personal information. 

We chat to people in their cells, with the escorting officer remaining close by for our safety. 

Over the past few months, I have spoken to a wide range of people with some specifically mentioning the care, consideration and professionalism of the custody staff and officers and that they are being looked after.

At a recent visit I spoke to and observed a child in custody who was handcuffed for their own safety. The child advised us that they were OK and we observed good empathy from the officers. Albeit a difficult situation for the child, they seemed content and in good spirits despite being in a custody centre and handcuffed in a room.  They had been made comfortable and the police officers remained with them in the room, all seemed very relaxed.

There were no concerns at the time of the visit.

Following the visit, I was able to seek further reassurance that the child continued to be treated well by following up with the custody Inspector and checking the custody record of that child which I shared with the volunteer.

In the 20 years I’ve been involved in custody I know the importance of the role that custody visitors play in policing and how independent they are.  They can truly see things without prejudice. They are welcomed in the custody centres as the officers / staff are supportive of their professional role and do understand the part they play in improving best practise along with community confidence not only in custody but in policing.

Being ‘back on the rota’ has reignited my passion for custody visiting and the importance of this role. I’ve facilitated many training sessions where the presenter explains that custody visiting is perhaps not for everyone however it is a vital role, it can certainly be challenging but it can also be very rewarding.

There is no other role either voluntary or professional that I have been involved in where I have worked with such a broad range of people learning from their varied skills, backgrounds and experience.

Lynne Pinkerton, Regional Coordinator, Independent Custody Visiting Scotland (ICVS)

More information on Independent Custody Visiting Scotland is available in the What We Do section of this website.