Report Summary
A Public Briefing explaining the issues surrounding children in custody, and the assurances for the public. This Briefing provides details about the circumstances that may lead to a child being brought into police custody as well as the additional safeguards that exist for a child in custody. Published in April 2023.
Oversight and Assurance
All necessary steps are taken to reduce the number of children that experience police custody, however in the rare circumstance that there is no suitable alternative then several checks and balances are in place.
Where it is necessary to hold a child as defined by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act (i.e. under 16 or a 16 or 17 year old who is subject to a CSO) then this can only be improved by an officer of Chief Inspector or above.
The Authority regularly seeks assurance on the number, and treatment, of children in police custody. These discussions are held in public and reports can be accessed in the SPA website.
In addition, the Authority runs the Independent Custody Visiting Scotland (ICVS) scheme. This scheme is made possible by the dedicated work of Independent Custody Visitors, who are volunteers that work across Scotland. Visitors make unannounced visits to police custody facilities to monitor the welfare of people in custody
Visitors note whether the detainees in custody are adults or children. The visits conducted by visitors provide oversight and assurance of the treatment of any child or young person in Police Scotland custody. Should a visitor have any concerns about the welfare or treatment of a child in police custody this will be immediately escalated.
ICVS publish an Annual Review, which specifically reports the number of children brought into police custody in that year.
