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20/01/2005
Conference examines risk to mentally-ill in police custody
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has admitted that half of those who die in police custody suffer from some form of mental illness.
Speaking ahead of today's conference to discuss the problem, the IPCC's Commissioner for the West Midlands, John Crawley, said: "A police cell is clearly not a place of safety for people with mental illness, but far too often these days, it is the only facility available, which means unacceptable risks are being run every day of the week."
Thirty eight people died in police custody in England and Wales in the year up to March 2004.
Delegates from the fields of policing, mental health service providers and the voluntary sector are meeting at a conference, 'Policing and Mental Health -Risks and Realities', in Birmingham today, to discuss possible improvements that can be made to current services.
Mr Crawley said: "Today's conference is just one step of a process where we will be working with police forces, NHS mental health providers and voluntary groups to look at why so many people are ending up in custody and the criminal justice system, at better diversion strategies, at how the police can be better trained and supported when they are unavoidably involved in responding to serious incidents and at what can be done to produce better outcomes for all concerned."
The IPCC has also called for the provision of "consistent and adequate" NHS emergency services so that mentally-ill people can receive the appropriate treatment quickly.
However, Helen Shaw, Co-director of Inquest, a group that works with families of those who die in police custody, said that it was not the responsibility of the NHS to care for those in custody and called on the IPCC to "ensure that police officers do not continue to repeatedly fail in their duty of care to vulnerable people in their custody."
Ms Shaw added: "Many of the most controversial deaths in custody involving the use of force or serious neglect have been of people with mental health problems, raising questions about police officers' stereotypical views of dangers posed by those suffering a mental illness."
(KMcA/SP)
Speaking ahead of today's conference to discuss the problem, the IPCC's Commissioner for the West Midlands, John Crawley, said: "A police cell is clearly not a place of safety for people with mental illness, but far too often these days, it is the only facility available, which means unacceptable risks are being run every day of the week."
Thirty eight people died in police custody in England and Wales in the year up to March 2004.
Delegates from the fields of policing, mental health service providers and the voluntary sector are meeting at a conference, 'Policing and Mental Health -Risks and Realities', in Birmingham today, to discuss possible improvements that can be made to current services.
Mr Crawley said: "Today's conference is just one step of a process where we will be working with police forces, NHS mental health providers and voluntary groups to look at why so many people are ending up in custody and the criminal justice system, at better diversion strategies, at how the police can be better trained and supported when they are unavoidably involved in responding to serious incidents and at what can be done to produce better outcomes for all concerned."
The IPCC has also called for the provision of "consistent and adequate" NHS emergency services so that mentally-ill people can receive the appropriate treatment quickly.
However, Helen Shaw, Co-director of Inquest, a group that works with families of those who die in police custody, said that it was not the responsibility of the NHS to care for those in custody and called on the IPCC to "ensure that police officers do not continue to repeatedly fail in their duty of care to vulnerable people in their custody."
Ms Shaw added: "Many of the most controversial deaths in custody involving the use of force or serious neglect have been of people with mental health problems, raising questions about police officers' stereotypical views of dangers posed by those suffering a mental illness."
(KMcA/SP)
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