Joint Inspection of Police Custody Facilities

Under the scrutiny requirements of the UN Optional Protocol against Torture, the UK has an obligation to ensure regular and independent inspection of all places of detention. To meet this requirement HMIC and HMIP have established a programme of inspections of custody conditions in all police forces and London Borough commands.

At an average of 12 inspections per year, the programme is expected to take five to six years to deliver. Each year will be a mix of announced and unannounced inspections – with individual publisheds for each inspection and periodic ‘thematics’ on emerging trends or findings of particular importance. The inspections look not only at the implementation of statutory requirements, but also at the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees.

Memorandum of Understanding on the Joint Inspection of Police Custody Conditions in England and Wales – Updated December 2011

Expectations for Police Custody: Criteria for assessing the treatment of and conditions for detainees in police custody – Updated January 2012

Where good practice is found on an inspection it is highlighted in the individual report, however in order to make these examples more easily accessible they have been collected together in this summary of good practice. This document will be regularly updated with new examples. The document was last updated in February 2013.

For inspection reports and their related press releases, please choose from the list below.

Reports:

2013

Essex – Joint inspection of police custody suites – June 2013

Hampshire – Joint inspection of police custody suites – May 2013

Border Force customs – Joint inspection of police custody suites – May 2013

Haringey – Joint inspection of police custody suites – April 2013

Merseyside – Joint inspection of police custody suites – March 2013

Gwent – Joint inspection of police custody suites – January 2013

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