Blackstone's Custody Officer's Manual

by Smart, Huw

• ISBN13: 9780199265541
• ISBN10: 0199265542
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-10
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Designed to provide a practical companion for trainee and establishedcustody officers, the Custody Officers' Manual contains all relevant legislationtogether with interpretations of the areas of Codes of Practice that are mostcommonly misunderstood. It offers a comprehensive treatment of all the elementsof the custody officer's role, highlighting common problem areas and offeringpractical guidance.Professionals involved in the criminal justice system will be acutely aware ofthe ever-changing legislation that governs the reception, treatment and welfareof people detained at police stations. From the introduction of the Police andCriminal Evidence Act 1984, through to the Human Rights Act 1998 and morerecently, the Police Reform Act 2002 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003, new Actsof Parliament have been introduced to reach a balance between protecting therights of individuals, protecting the public from serious harm andprofessionalising the police service. As a reuslt, increasing pressure isplaced on custody officers, police inspectors and superintendents to reachappropriate decisions in relation to detainee. Practitioners face the threat ofpersonal litigation and their decision-making is tested regularly in both thecriminal and civil courts.This book provides advice relating to all aspects of the detainees at policestations, and interprets the significant changes made recently to the Police andCriminal Evidence Act 1984 and the accompanying Codes of Practice. It should beseen as an essential reference material for future and existing custodyofficers, inspectors, and superintendents. The book will also be useful totraining providers and to the private industry entering the criminal justicesystem in this area.

Author Biography

Huw Smart is a part-time lecturer at Glamorgan University, South Wales.

Table of Contents

Table of Cases	xv
Tables of Statutes	xvii
Table of PACE Codes of Practice	xxiii
Special Features	xxvii
The Role of the Custody Officer	1	(23)
Introduction	2	(1)
Responsibility and liability	3	(4)
Designated and non-designated police stations	7	(2)
Appointment of custody officers	9	(2)
Designated persons	11	(3)
Custody officers and impartiality	14	(3)
Explaining the term `at variance'	17	(1)
Summing up	18	(6)
`Booking in' the Detainee	24	(26)
Introduction	25	(1)
Accepting custody of a detainee	26	(6)
The custody record	32	(2)
What else must be recorded on the custody record?	34	(6)
Signing the custody record	40	(1)
Delay in updating the custody record	41	(1)
Transferring detainees	42	(3)
Summing up	45	(5)
Risk Assessments and Clinical Attention	50	(41)
Introduction	51	(1)
Deaths in police custody	52	(5)
The `cell environment'	57	(1)
Risk assessments	58	(4)
Suicide and self-harm	62	(6)
Identifying medical issues	68	(1)
Clinical treatment	69	(6)
Medication	75	(3)
Drugs and alcohol	78	(4)
Other medical issues	82	(2)
Protecting custody staff from risk	84	(1)
Summing up	85	(6)
The Detainee's Entitlements	91	(32)
Introduction	92	(1)
What the detainee must be told	93	(2)
Right to have someone notified when arrested	95	(1)
Delay in notification of arrest (Incommunicado)	96	(2)
Other entitlements	98	(2)
Citizens who are foreign nationals	100	(1)
Access to legal representation	101	(3)
Delay in access to legal advice	104	(2)
Interviews without a solicitor being present	106	(5)
Inferences from silence	111	(1)
The Terrorism Act 2000	112	(4)
Summing up	116	(7)
Vulnerable People and Appropriate Adults	123	(31)
Introduction	124	(1)
Detained persons---special groups	124	(1)
Appropriate adults---general issues	125	(2)
Contacting the appropriate adult	127	(1)
Vulnerable detainees held incommunicado	128	(2)
Legal advice	130	(1)
Interviews	131	(2)
Charging the detainee	133	(2)
Bail	135	(1)
Specific matters affecting juvenile detainees	136	(2)
Specific matters affecting vulnerable adults	138	(2)
The Mental Health Act 1983	140	(4)
Other vulnerable detainees	144	(3)
Summing up	147	(7)
Dealing with Property and Searching	154	(23)
Introduction	155	(1)
Recording property	156	(2)
Seizing property	158	(4)
Searching detainees	162	(2)
The extent of the search	164	(1)
`Routine' search	165	(1)
`Strip search'	165	(2)
Intimate search	167	(4)
Intimate searches of vulnerable people	171	(1)
Custody record	172	(1)
Summing up	172	(5)
Warrants	177	(11)
Introduction	178	(1)
Warrants for failing to appear	178	(3)
Warrants to detain in police custody ('three day lie down')	181	(2)
Detainees produced from prison ('production orders')	183	(1)
Summing up	184	(4)
Reviews and Relevant Time	188	(28)
Introduction	189	(1)
The detention clocks	189	(1)
Reviews	190	(1)
What is a review?	191	(1)
Review officer's checklist	192	(5)
Who should be reviewed?	197	(3)
Timing of reviews	200	(2)
Reviewing detainees who are unfit to be dealt with	202	(2)
Relevant time discussed in depth	204	(2)
Answering police bail	206	(3)
The Terrorism Act 2000	209	(3)
Summing up	212	(4)
Extending Detention	216	(29)
Introduction	217	(1)
Superintendent's authority	218	(8)
Serious arrestable offences	226	(1)
Warrants of further detention	227	(5)
Extension to warrant of further detention	232	(3)
Review officer's responsibility	235	(1)
The Terrorism Act 2000	235	(5)
Summing up	240	(5)
Detained Person's Welfare	245	(26)
Introduction	246	(1)
Conditions of detention	247	(1)
Cells and detention rooms	247	(4)
Welfare issues	251	(3)
Juveniles and cells	254	(2)
Documentation	256	(1)
Care and treatment of detainees	257	(4)
Independent Custody Visitors (Lay Visitors)	261	(5)
Summing up	266	(5)
Identification and Samples	271	(31)
Introduction	272	(1)
Fingerprints	273	(4)
Examination to establish identity	277	(3)
Taking photographs	280	(3)
Intimate samples	283	(3)
Non-intimate samples	286	(4)
Vulnerable people	290	(1)
Testing for presence of Class A drugs	291	(4)
The Terrorism Act 2000	295	(1)
Summing up	296	(6)
Dealing with Legal Representatives	302	(22)
Introduction	303	(1)
Who may act as a `solicitor'?	303	(5)
Understanding the role of solicitors	308	(2)
Access to the custody record	310	(1)
Initial disclosure to solicitors	311	(1)
The solicitor's role in an interview	312	(2)
Removing a solicitor from an interview	314	(3)
Objections to charging and bailing suspects	317	(2)
Summing up	319	(5)
Charging Suspects	324	(18)
Introduction	325	(1)
Making the decision to charge the suspect	326	(5)
Charging and cautioning the suspect	331	(2)
Written statements	333	(1)
Interviews after charge	334	(1)
Recording the detainee's responses	335	(2)
Vulnerable detainees	337	(1)
Summing up	338	(4)
Continued Detention After Charge	342	(25)
Introduction	343	(1)
Detention after charge	343	(6)
Restriction on granting bail	349	(2)
Other matters affecting refusal of bail	351	(2)
Attendance at court	353	(2)
Juvenile detainees	355	(8)
Summing up	363	(4)
Bail	367	(35)
Introduction	368	(1)
Granting bail	369	(1)
Bail to appear at a police station	370	(6)
Bail to appear in court	376	(1)
Conditional bail	377	(7)
Failing to surrender to custody	384	(2)
Sureties and security	386	(4)
Specific matters relating to juvenile offenders	390	(1)
`Street bail'	391	(5)
Summing up	396	(6)
Interviewing	402	(19)
Introduction	403	(1)
The role of the custody officer	404	(1)
Fitness to be interviewed	404	(2)
Annex G	406	(4)
Rest periods	410	(4)
Other matters concerning interviews	414	(2)
Summing up	416	(5)
APPENDIX 1: Flow Charts	421	(11)
1 Taking an arrested person to a non-designated police station	421	(1)
2 Sufficient evidence to charge, (s. 37)	422	(1)
3 When medical attention should be arranged	423	(1)
4 Delay in notification of arrest/access to solicitor, (Annex B)	424	(1)
5 Authorising an intimate search	425	(1)
6 Superintendent's authority to extend detention, (s. 42)	426	(1)
7 Warrant of further detention, (s. 43)	427	(1)
8 Extension to warrant of further detention, (s. 44)	428	(1)
9 Taking fingerprints without consent, (s. 61)	429	(1)
10 Transfer of juvenile detainees to Local Authority care, (s. 38(6))	430	(1)
11 Fitness to be interviewed, (Code C, para. 11.18(b))	431	(1)
APPENDIX 2: Home Office Circulars	432	(25)
13/2002 Deaths in Police Custody	433	(6)
32/2000 Minimum Standards for Risk Assessing Detainees	439	(10)
28/2002 Learning the Lessons from Adverse Incidents	449	(8)
Index	457