Report Summary
When a person is arrested by the police, they are usually taken to a custody suite where they are detained. Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) 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 in their cell and provide valuable oversight on how that person has been treated and the conditions of the detention.
This report provides a summary of the oversight activities conducted by the ICVs which is facilitated by Independent Custody Visiting Scotland (ICVS).
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Independent Custody Visitor Observations
ICVS Regional Coordinators continue to analyse visitor reports to determine themes and areas that would benefit from improvement activity.
In this reporting period, the most frequently recorded observation by ICVs related to detainees either indicating that they had not been issued with their letter of rights or did not understand their rights. This observation was recorded on 56 occasions. In 52 of these occasions any issues were resolved at the time of the visit following discussion with custody staff.
The most frequent welfare matter, which was raised on 48 occasions, was in relation to medical attention. This broad category includes observations such as detainees not having immediate access to prescriptions/ medication and the timeframe when they are seen by a healthcare practitioner after arriving at custody.
Custody healthcare is the responsibility of the local NHS board, police will make the referral to health (where there is an identified need or where someone advises) but have no influence over how quickly a person in custody is seen or what medication is given and therefor any delay is based upon this clinical decision.
45 of these matters were able to be resolved by ICVs speaking with the detainee and highlighting medical needs/ information to the officers/staff.
In this reporting period ICVs continue to record issues relating to conditions and general maintenance of police custody facilities and faulty equipment. A number of concerns were raised regarding custody cells being out of order, with custody staff advising that repairs were taking longer than anticipated.
No concerns with regards to the Optional Protocol for the Prevention against Torture, inhumane or degrading treatment were raised during the visits.
