Detention and custody units
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/25/2763
Version Date: 10/02/2025
The Criminal Justice, Professional Standards and Legal Services Departments have provided the following information.
Please can you provide the following information relating to your detention and custody units.
1. Relating to the size of your detention and custody units.
number custody units in your force
Two that operate 24/7 with an option to open a 3rd as a contingency
total number of cells within all custody units
54 in the 24/7 suites and 24 in the contingency suite
number of cells within your largest custody unit
36 cells
number of detention officers
36 detention officers
2. The annual volume of custody related complaints in the last 12 months (or recent 12 month period) that required an investigation. If possible, split by the following
• Property related
• Defence related (i.e. lack of access to a solicitor, lack of provision of medication, etc.)
• Health & wellbeing related
• Other
If you do not have the above split and have an existing report on the volume of custody complaints, please provide that.
There were 43 schedule 3 complaint cases, containing 63 allegations, that related to custody in the period 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024.
Schedule 3 cases are those that contain an allegation against a specific officer or member of staff that requires investigating.
Those 63 allegations were split in to the following categories
|
Category |
Count |
|
Police action following contact |
1 |
|
Decisions |
1 |
|
Information |
3 |
|
General level of service |
3 |
|
Stops, and stop and search |
1 |
|
Power to arrest and detain |
8 |
|
Use of force |
8 |
|
Detention in police custody |
22 |
|
Bail, identification and interview procedures |
6 |
|
Out of court disposals |
2 |
|
Other policies and procedures |
1 |
|
Disclosure of information |
1 |
|
Impolite language/tone |
2 |
|
Impolite and intolerant actions |
1 |
|
Unprofessional attitude and disrespect |
1 |
|
Sexual assault |
1 |
|
Other |
1 |
|
Total |
63 |
3. How much has been paid out in compensation in the last 12 months for the investigations listed in Question 2, split by the following types
• Lost property
• Defence
• Health & wellbeing
• Other
|
Complaint |
Amount (£) |
|
Property related |
0 |
|
Defence related |
0 |
|
Health & wellbeing related |
0 |
|
Other |
35,000 |
|
Total |
35,000 |
Please Note:
Any payment made in the last 12 months may not necessarily relate to a claim that was made in the last 12 months