Recommendations - Norfolk Constabulary, August 2023

Norfolk Constabulary · Ref: 2022/173797

Recommendation date: 24 August 2023

Response due: 19 October 2023

Published: 11 September 2023

Death and serious injury

We identified organisational learning from an IOPC review of a death or serious injury. The review related to a detainee's health who had tested positive for drugs and was having difficulty staying awake. On arrival at the police station, he was held in a holding cell for 58 minutes. After his detention was authorised, he became unresponsive and had to be taken to hospital.

View on IOPC website

Recommendations (3)

Recommendation 1 Accepted

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends that Norfolk Constabulary should take steps to ensure custody practices and procedures regarding detainees who have arrived at a custody suite and are being held in a holding area prior to being booked into custody are in … Read moreThe IOPC recommends that Norfolk Constabulary should take steps to ensure custody practices and procedures regarding detainees who have arrived at a custody suite and are being held in a holding area prior to being booked into custody are in line with PACE Code C and Authorised Professional Practice. In particular, consideration should be given to ensuring that where there are delays in booking in detainees that: a) Procedures are in place to make sure that detainees being held in holding areas are subject to an ongoing risk assessment.b) Custody officers triage and prioritise vulnerable detainees to be booked into custody.c) Detainees have the opportunity, where necessary, to be seen by a healthcare professional (HCP) while being held in a holding area.d) Arresting or escorting officers constantly monitor the welfare of the detainee until they are brought before the custody officer.e) Relevant information identified during an ongoing risk assessment or from observations is shared with custody staff and, where necessary, documented in the custody record as soon as practicable. This recommendation follows a Death or Serious Injury (DSI) report into an incident where a man in custody on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs became unresponsive and had to be admitted to hospital. The man appeared to be having increasing difficulty in staying awake. On arrival at the police station he was held in a holding cell for 58 minutes, during which time he repeatedly swayed, slumped forwards and was very drowsy. It is unclear what information was conveyed to custody staff regarding his condition on arrival, or what efforts were made to triage him to see if he needed to be prioritised to be brought before the custody officer. The officer who remained with the man did not appear to actively monitor him in the holding cell, and they did not document any risk assessment or observations. A healthcare professional was not requested to see him until after the booking process had been completed. At that point, his condition deteriorated and an ambulance was called. There appears to be a discrepancy between the measures in place to safeguard vulnerable detainees once detention has been authorised and the arrangements in place while they are waiting in a holding cell. This is an area of potential vulnerability for custody suites, which has the potential to contribute to deaths or serious injuries in custody, particularly in a busy custody suite where there can be long waits before detainees are put before the custody sergeant. Show less

Force Response

Response accepted: The Appropriate Authority (AA) accepts this recommendation on behalf of Norfolk Constabulary. A review of the force policy document ‘Custody’ and working practices within the Custody setting is currently underway. The head of department for Custody has been … Read more

Recommendation 2 Accepted

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends that Norfolk Constabulary takes steps to ensure that response officers, who come into contact with a person who is believed to have consumed drugs, can recognise the signs and symptoms of toxicity for commonly encountered drugs (as … Read more

Force Response

Response accepted: The Appropriate Authority (AA) accepts this recommendation on behalf of Norfolk Constabulary. To address this recommendation, we intend to create a bespoke publication to be disseminated to all public facing staff/ officers highlighting the risks associated to persons … Read more

Recommendation 3 Accepted

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends that Norfolk Constabulary takes steps to ensure that response officers, who come into contact with a person who is believed to have consumed drugs, consider the possibility of whether the person has consumed different drugs. Drugs taken … Read more

Force Response

Response accepted: The Appropriate Authority (AA) accepts this recommendation on behalf of Norfolk Constabulary. As with recommendation 2, this will be addressed by way of a bespoke publication.