Oversight of people in custody in England and Wales ‘inadequate to stop police misconduct’

Conference for sociologists hears how custody visitors often don’t challenge the police and can have limited access to detainees

Oversight of how people are treated who have been arrested and detained in custody cells at police stations in England and Wales is inadequate to deter misconduct by officers, a conference has heard.

The independent custody visitors scheme is supposed to allow members of the community to check on the treatment and welfare of detainees, 15 to 20 of whom die in police custody each year, a disproportionate number of them Black.

Visitors failing to report back to detainees when asked to make enquiries on their behalf.

Visitors not being permitted to monitor police interviews with detainees, nor monitor the welfare of detainees waiting to be booked in – the stage at which Sean Rigg died.

Limited scope for their findings to be made public.

Visitors not viewing themselves as independent, with many assuming detainees were guilty.