Welcome to the ‘Hotel Custody’ where a night banged up in a prison cell comes with ‘room service’ and inmates are ‘customers’.
The controversial £14million Birchin Way Custody Facility in Grimsby boasts CCTV, brand new toilets, washbasins, pillows and even an intercom for prisoners to buzz the staff and make endless demands.
It’s not exactly The Hilton.
But for a completely free overnight stay at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, with custody officers at prisoners’ constant beck and call, it’s a hugely controversial approach aiming to modernise the British penal system.
It’s the kind of scheme guaranteed to leave many people furious.
The idea is to treat detainees as customers, rather than criminals, waiting on them in their 36 prison cells day and night, responding to their demands around the clock.
Hot chocolate? Sandwich? Cup of coffee? Choice of newspapers? All day breakfast? Every request is met with a “No problem, it’s on its way”.
Detention officer Gill adds: “It is all mod cons. Everything that they need, they’ve even got pillows now, so it is luxury. I always say to them ‘Don’t treat it as a hotel because it’s not’.”
She adds: “I’ll do whatever I can for them except give them the keys to go. Our role is to look after them.”
If this new tactic is successful, with its aim to reduce reoffending by focusing on bettering the welfare of those in custody, the approach will be introduced nationwide.
Detention officer Sue says: “We’ve moved with the times, we’ve left the old dungeons behind. Just because they’ve been arrested, it doesn’t mean they’ve committed an offence.”
As staff answer endless intercom requests asking for food, information and sometimes just a chat, sergeant Ian jokes: “What would you rate us on Tripadvisor?”
He adds: “We have a buzzer system for needy individuals. Some detainees get very buzzer happy. Some people say it’s a bit like hotel room service.”
Detention officer Donna laughs: “It’s: buzz.. what time is it?.. buzz.. can I have some food?.. buzz what time is it?.. buzz.. can I have some food?’”
Someone asks for a hot chocolate and an officer promises to bring it right away. Gill adds: “If I had a pound for every time someone pressed that buzzer I’d be a millionaire.”
Going behind the scenes at the police facility, a three-part ITV documentary follows the staff as they carry out their tough jobs with humour and grit.
More than 6,000 people a year walk through the doors and they can be held for up to 24 hours. Ian says: “I suppose they are guests to a certain degree. We are looking after detainees until they are ready to be moved on.
“For somebody sat in there, time moves very slowly. They’re locked away in a cell, they can’t see out, they’ve got four walls. They want feeding, they want drinks, they want regular updates as to what’s going on.”
These unsung heroes do not judge their ‘customers’ and help them out with smiles on their faces, even though some prisoners are violent, absusive and downright disgusting.
One sergeant is seen cleaning faeces out of the intercom – the dirty protester gets a clean cell.
Another officer cleans up a pile of food and rubbish in another cell.
A drunken couple from Essex – in fancy dress as the Joker and Harley Quinn – arrive on a night shift, having been arrested after a disturbance at a caravan site.
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The woman denies she assaulted a police officer, but bodycam footage begs to differ and she checks in to her cell to sleep off the alcohol before an interview the next day.
A 61-year-old gran checks in after stealing a fountain pump from a garden centre. She’s a prolific offender, having recently served jail time, but enjoys her hot cuppa and chat before heading to her cell for some “beauty sleep”.
Sergeant Vicky has to deal with the gangster granny, who isn’t what she was expecting. She says: “It’s nice to get someone coming in as a customer who’s nice and jovial. It’s rare, not being abused or shouted at. The ones who recognise that we’re actually people in these uniforms. I like those people.”
An aggressive woman known to staff as a ‘revolving door detainee’ is brought in for GBH and given a strip search with staff finding a crack pipe hidden in her knickers. Then staff have to batten down and prepare a ‘welcoming party’ for a violent offender who is dragged in literally kicking and screaming, injured and accused of assault.
No crime is too horrific or shocking for these officers to lose focus.
Sue says: “If you show empathy and are actually listening to them then you settle them down.
“You have to look at the bigger picture for everybody because they’ve always got their story. You do care.”
- Hotel Custody is shown on Thursdays at 9pm on ITV.
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