Greater Manchester Police's custody services require urgent improvement, say government inspectors. A report reveals there are not enough staff to make sure prisoners are safe, inmates are sometimes left naked in cells, children are being detained unnecessarily and the monitoring of the use of force by officers is not good enough.
Inspectors have made six recommendations regarding main causes of concern, and highlighted a further 13 areas for improvement. They say not there has not been enough progress since recommendations were made in a 2016 inspection, and "significant concerns remain."
These include a lack of senior-level oversight for custody services. The report says GMP's priority under new Chief Constable, Stephen Watson, to tackle crime and increase arrests has led to an increase in demand for cells as the number of detainees rises.
But it adds: "There has been limited monitoring of the effect of this increase on custody services or of how detainees are affected. We saw staff stretched at times and unable to carry out all the duties expected of them. We are concerned that there aren’t always enough staff on duty to make sure detainees are kept safe in custody."
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GMP said in response work has already started to tackle concerns raised, including oversight and leadership, with the appointment of Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane, and a new Chief Superintendent and Superintendent into the branch to oversee the direct response to the inspection findings.
Five additonal temporary inspectors have been added and ten extra custody sergeants will be deployed to the team to help implement improvements. ACC Colin McFarlane said: “It is my utmost priority to quickly address these issues."
Six main causes of concerns highlighted
Inspectors say the force isn’t consistently following the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and its codes of practice. The necessity for arrest as required by Act isn’t always met and reviews of detention often don’t meet the requirements of PACE.
The report says: "The governance and oversight of the use of force in custody isn’t good enough. Limited information about the use of force and little quality assurance of incidents means that Greater Manchester Police can’t show that when force is used in custody it is necessary, justified and proportionate.
"We found, in the cases we examined, that not all incidents were handled well. This hasn’t improved since our last inspection and is a cause of concern. Recording on custody records varies. Some of the records we reviewed lacked detail, and some weren’t accurate."
GMP's priority to make more arrests means the force is missing opportunities to consider diverting people away from custody when it is appropriate to do so. Alternatives to arrest for children or those who are vulnerable aren’t always considered.
But the force works well with mental health services to meet the needs of people with mental ill health. This has resulted in some good operational arrangements to provide mental health advice and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help keep people in mental health crisis out of custody.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that the force has a clear governance structure to provide strategic oversight of custody services. However, they say they are not resulting in good custody services for detainees.
The inspection scrutinised the force’s approach to custody provision in relation to detaining people safely and respectfully, with a particular focus on children and vulnerable adults.
The inspectorates have six main causes of concern, which are:
- The force's leadership for custody provision isn't strong enough and senior leaders are not fully engaged in ensuring the service is provided well.
- The force doesn’t always meet legal requirements for the detention, treatment and questioning of persons, and in the way reviews of detention are carried out.
- Governance and oversight of the use of force in custody are limited. Information on what force is used, by which officers, or why it is necessary is often incomplete or inaccurate.
- The force doesn't always maintain the dignity of detainees when clothing is removed. Detainees are sometimes left naked in their cells and not encouraged to put on replacement clothing.
- The force isn’t always assuring detainee safety. At certain times of the day, there aren’t always enough staff on duty to manage risk appropriately and make sure detainees are kept safe.
- Records of detainees’ medicines aren’t consistently maintained or accurate, and it doesn’t always securely store medicines brought in with detainees. The lack of control over these medicines presents a significant risk to the force.
His Majesty's Assistant Inspectoe of Constabulary, Nikki Faulconbridge, said: “Anyone detained in custody should be treated fairly and kept safe from harm. Greater Manchester Police has a clear governance structure to provide strategic oversight of its custody services, custody staff are respectful and patient, and the force works well with mental health services. However, our inspection identified some critical weaknesses in how custody is provided to make sure detainees are kept safe and treated and cared for well.
“The force’s strategic priority to tackle crime and increase arrests has led to an increase in demand for custody services as the number of detainees rises. But these custody services are not good enough. Some of the recommendations from our last inspection in 2016 have not been achieved or have only partly been achieved, leaving some important areas of custody requiring urgent attention – including management oversight of custody, governance and oversight of the use of force, risk management and detainee care. These are now causes of concern.
“More positively, the force responded quickly to our feedback during the inspection, taking action in several areas. We will continue to monitor the force's progress closely to ensure custody services, and outcomes for detainees, improve.”
The force's custody service is made up of two chief inspectors, nine inspectors, 115 sergeants, 180 custody detention officers, and one facilities co-ordinator. The force has a total of 222 cells with cutody facilties at North Manchester, and at police stations in Swinton, Ashton-under-Lyne, Cheadle Heath, Bolton Central, Wigan, Pendleton, and Bury.
The report says: "Frontline officers understand what makes someone potentially vulnerable. They consider this when deciding whether to arrest, but the offence often takes precedence over vulnerability. This is also the case with children. The number of children arrested has increased during the last year. We found cases where, in our view, alternatives to custody should have been considered.
"There is some good support for frontline officers when dealing with incidents involving people with potential mental ill health. Officers spoke highly of the advice and support offered by the mental health professionals in the force control room and those in the mental health response cars that attend incidents to help officers decide how to deal with people in mental health crisis. But they told us of long waits with people when they are detained for an assessment under the Mental Health Act."
The report says the approach to meeting detainees’ individual and diverse needs is mixed. The needs of some groups are recognised and met. But it adds: "this isn’t the case for all detainees – for example, women, people with disabilities and people who have little or no understanding of English or wish to observe their faith."
Staff routinely remove footwear and clothing with cords or laces from detainees without justifying this through an individual risk assessment. Anti-rip clothing is used too often.
At certain times of the day, there aren’t enough custody detention officers on duty to always manage detainee risk appropriately. This leads to cell welfare visits being carried out late and cell call bells not being answered quickly. This doesn’t ensure safe detention.
On occasions, custody officers authorised detention without all the necessary information and where, in the inspection team's view, detention should have been refused. But officers give detainees information on their rights and entitlements appropriately, together with good explanations of what they mean.
The custody suites are generally clean and well maintained, inspectors found. But they said all of them have potential ligature points – mainly around benches in cells, the fitting of some cell doors, the shower areas and the exercise yards.
Staff were also said to show a caring attitude towards detainees but while food and drinks are offered routinely, other care, such as showers, exercise or reading material, aren’t. These things aren’t always given to detainees even when they have been requested.
GMP response
In a statement GMP said: "Additional resource and leadership will ensure custody staff are getting the support needed to drive improvement plans forward and ensure custody suites are managing the rising demand of increasing arrest numbers and people coming through detention.
"Work has already started on addressing recording use of force, with increased oversight and daily audits taking place to identify where force has been used. Any use of force giving rise for concern are subject to a deeper review via site CCTV analysis. Issues and learning opportunities are now captured and dealt with swiftly with individuals, site Inspectors and where appropriate GMP’s Professional Standards Branch and Operational Training. As with use of force, the use of Anti-Rip clothing is now scrutinised on a daily basis.
"In relation to the control of medicines and secure storage, the established processes have been reinvigorated with all members of staff, and a revised daily recording and audit process is carried out by Sergeants and by the site Inspector every week."
ACC Colin McFarlane said: “It is my utmost priority to quickly address these issues and put in place measures which enable our custody staff to do their job effectively, professionally and to the highest standard possible.
“It is important to recognise that this report consistently acknowledges the hard work our custody staff and officers do, particularly for those who come into custody with mental health issues, whilst working in what can be a very difficult and volatile environment.
“GMP’s improvement plan has seen the Force become the most improved in the country, and our strategy to be more proactive in arresting people and getting criminals off our streets has created additional demand on our custody resources and capability, which I am here to address. We cannot and will not stop arresting people who cause a blight on our communities, however, no matter how busy our custody suites are, we must ensure we are treating people fairly and with dignity.
"We have not waited for the report to be published to take action and we are already very much on our way to addressing all areas for concern, including robust leadership and oversight, increased scrutiny on use of force and anti-rip clothing, enhanced measures to secure medication, and thorough regular review and auditing procedures to ensure compliance and professionalism.
“I have already personally met a significant number of our custody suite staff and I firmly believe with the right leadership and working practices in place, we can and will improve our service level, and support our force as we arrest more people and get criminals off the streets and through the criminal justice process.”
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