National recommendations - College of Policing, July 2024

· Ref: 2022/176800

Recommendation date: 18 July 2024

Response due: 12 September 2024

Published: 29 May 2025

Death and serious injury

We identified national learning following three cases in which officers attended incidents where members of the public had taken their own lives by hanging. (IOPC case references: 2018/109205; 2022/176800; 2023/188862)

View on IOPC website

Recommendations (2)

Recommendation 1 Accepted

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends that the College of Policing review and update its guidance on Suicide and Bereavement Response as part of its ongoing work to review APP on mental health. This review should: This follows two IOPC investigations where officers … Read moreThe IOPC recommends that the College of Policing review and update its guidance on Suicide and Bereavement Response as part of its ongoing work to review APP on mental health. This review should: This follows two IOPC investigations where officers attended separate incidents where members of the public had taken their own lives by hanging. The IOPC has specific concerns in the Suicide and Bereavement Response APP on the conflicting content under ‘After a suicide attempt’. It currently states, “where there are signs of life, cut and loosen the ligature” but it also states, “consider the use of CPR – where a person is found hanging consideration should be given to the possibility that the person may be in cardiac arrest”. As someone in cardiac arrest could be showing no signs of life, it is unclear when officers should be cutting a ligature and performing CPR. It appears the use of CPR has been added into this section of APP following our investigation into 2018/109205 where officers cut a man hanging from a fence but did not perform CPR. However, this has now created some confusion which is evident in a recent investigation, 2023/188862. In this case, attending officers assumed a man hanging from a tree was dead and did not cut the ligature or perform CPR as they believed the man should remain in situ before a crime officer attended. Following attendance from the ambulance service, they cut the man down and performed CPR leading to the man being resuscitated. He sadly passed away a few days later. In addition, the IOPC has concerns around the overall standard of the APP on Suicide and Bereavement Response. There are currently references to national strategies and academic work which dates back 15 years, some of which have broken links. This includes the World Health Organisation (WHO’s) 2009 and 2012 guidance around “preventing suicide” which uses out of date terminology and does not represent Mental Health in policing today. As awareness and research of Mental Health has advanced over the past 15 years, the IOPC believes the APP needs to include up to date terminology and research which reflects the current climate. The IOPC recognises the College of Policing has commenced a review of their Mental Health APP in February 2024 and has chosen to issue this recommendation to ensure that this matter is addressed as part of this review. Show less

Force Response

Accepted The College of Policing is currently undertaking a full review of the Mental Health APP (Approved Professional Practice). This is a formal review process that covers the guidance on suicide and bereavement response and will be subject to a … Read more

Recommendation 2 Accepted

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) work together to produce clear guidance on preservation of life at the scene of a hanging where death has not been confirmed. This should include guidance … Read more

Force Response

Accepted The College of Policing along with the NPCC have already started this work through regular meetings with the National Fire Chiefs’ Council and plan to integrate this work into the APP content during the APP review process.The updated guidance … Read more