Recommendation - North Yorkshire Police, August 2023

North Yorkshire Police · Ref: 2022/165676

Recommendation date: 1 August 2023

Response due: 26 September 2023

Published: 9 October 2023

Custody and detention Death and serious injury

We identified organisational learning from a death or serious injury report where an intoxicated man was presented to custody before receiving medical assistance.

View on IOPC website

Recommendations (1)

Recommendation 1 Accepted

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends that North Yorkshire Police should take steps to satisfy itself that, in line with Authorised Professional Practice, officers and members of police staff understand how to identify the signs that a person is drunk and incapable. Such … Read moreThe IOPC recommends that North Yorkshire Police should take steps to satisfy itself that, in line with Authorised Professional Practice, officers and members of police staff understand how to identify the signs that a person is drunk and incapable. Such individuals are in need of medical assistance in hospital and officers should call an ambulance immediately. This follows the assessment of a Death and Serious Injury investigation where a male presented as drunk and incapable on the street when officers first approached him. He was found lying on the floor, face down, and heavily intoxicated. He was unable to hold himself up and was slurring. The attending officers considered taking him to hospital but decided that due to the criminal offence made out against him, they would transport him to custody for the custody sergeant to decide if he was fit to be detained. During the booking-in process, the male was still presenting as drunk and incapable. The custody sergeant noted that the male was ‘very intoxicated’ and authorised the male’s detention. There was no request for a Health Care Professional assessment nor a consideration to make arrangements to convey the male to hospital. When subsequently placed in a cell the male’s health deteriorated, prompting a Health Care Professional assessment. Following this an ambulance was called to transport the male to hospital. Under the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice guidance: Detention and custody / Detainee care / Drunk and incapable - it sets out : ‘For the purposes of this guidance, a drunk and incapable person is someone who has consumed alcohol to the point that any of the following applies: they cannot walk or stand unaided; they are unaware of their own actions; they are unable to fully understand what is said to them. If someone appears to be drunk and is showing any aspect of incapability which is perceived to be as a result of that drunkenness, officers should treat that person as drunk and incapable. Drunk and incapable individuals are in need of medical assistance in hospital and officers should call an ambulance immediately.’ Show less

Force Response

Recommendation accepted: Lessons Learned was disseminated via NYP’s Organisational Bulletin (01/02/23) reminding officers and staff of their responsibilities to ensure the wellbeing of any person they may come into contact with, in particular a detained person if they are clearly … Read more