FOI 6519-25 - Handcuffs and Arrest of Vulnerable People

Request:

1 Policies Guidance etc. concerning handcuffing of vulnerable female adult suspects diagnosed with PTSD

2 The make and model of the handcuffs

3 Policies concerning handcuffing to the front or to the rear?

4 Policies concerning the checking of the handcuffs

5 Policies concerning time periods and reviews

6 Polices concerning removing handcuffs in holding area

7 Details of all adjustments made to accommodate the condition and or disability at the police station

8 Details of designated cells including cell numbers and adjustments made Apart from the cells, do you have any other rooms to accommodate a suspect with a disability?

9 How often are suspects checked in person ?

10 How often are suspects checked by intercom or video?

11 When do the police take photos and finger prints etc. On arrival or following charge?

12 Statistical reports regarding the use of handcuffs for 2021 and 2022 (How many people were handcuffed. How many were not handcuffed- age sex race for both).

13 Statistical reports regarding the number of arrests made between 2021 and 2022 where the suspect was not arrested- ratios between women and men. (The number of people who were arrested - including age sex race. The number of people who were not arrested and invited to attend for a voluntary interview- including age sex , race).

14 Alternative methods used by the police such as a phone call letter ,invite to a voluntary interview as opposed to being handcuffed. Please provide a copy of any policy.

15 Complaints concerning the use of handcuffs received between 2021 and 2022 and the number of complaints upheld according to gender.

16 Who is trained to ask if a suspect after charge has any reply to be recorded. Who has this responsibility?

17 What is the policy concerning the retention of the custody video as unused until the case has been concluded?

18 Is it standard practice for suspects to be interviewed by one police officer? If the suspect is female does this mean the interviewing officer will be female?

19 Is the interview recorded and the retention period and policy

20 Provide blank copies of forms the police are required by law to complete concerning handcuffing arrest detention and release.

Response:

Question 1: There is no specific policy on this. The use of handcuffs is decided on a case-by-case basis using the National Decision Model.

Question 2: TCH 810 hinged handcuffs are used as standard. Other types of handcuffs may be used by officers in specialist roles.

Question 3: There is no specific policy that governs all cases. For safety reasons, rear handcuffing is the preferred method unless there are extenuating circumstances. If there is a need to handcuff to the front, this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Officers are trained in both techniques.

Question 4: There is no specific policy concerning this. Officers are trained in line with the College of Policing National Personal Safety Manual, which includes the ABCDE training method of handcuffing: Apply the handcuffs, Be sure to ask the subject, Check fit, Double lock, Evidence. Officers are trained to check handcuffs in both initial training and refresher training.

Question 5: There is no specific policy on this. Northamptonshire Police follow the guidance given in the College of Policing Personal Safety Manual.

Question 6: There is no specific policy on this. Handcuffs should be removed once they are no longer required. This is subject to continuous assessment and decisions are made using the National Decision Model on a case-by-case basis.

Question 7: Both custody suites are single level. They have sight lines painted along the length of the corridors and doors wide enough for wheelchairs. Each station has a dog bowl and blanket for assistance dogs to allow them to remain with the detained person in the cell. Some cells have colour changing lights to reduce stress. Some cells have blackboards painted on the walls; detained people can be provided with chalk. Distraction packs, bouncy balls and books are available to be offered to people in custody. Wheelchairs are available at both suites. Both suites have accessible shower rooms. There are two exercise yards at the custody suite in Northampton, and one at the custody suite in Kettering.

Question 8: There is a Wellbeing Space at each custody suite.

Question 9: How often suspects are checked depends on the individual. It may be decided on a number of factors, including risk presentation, alcohol, drugs, medical conditions, threats of self-harm, and other known factors. There are four levels of observation used:
1: no major issues. Every 30 or 60 minutes.
2: under the influence of drink/drugs. “Rouse check” every 30 minutes, in which officers enter the cell, move the detained person and ask them questions. Their responses are recorded in designated logs.
3: watched via CCTV. They have been deemed safe enough not to need someone with them.
4: observed by one or two officers with the door open.

Question 10: How often detained individuals are checked will depend on the observation level they have been placed on. If staff are concerned, they may put a detained person’s cell camera feed on a screen to watch in addition to normal observations. Intercoms are usually used by a detained person asking for someone, and are answered by staff. This may be several times a day.

Question 11: Samples should be taken after a person has been booked in and before being placed in a cell. Factors may affect that, such as individuals being drunk, on drugs, violent, experiencing a medical episode, or refusing to cooperate. All detained persons should have their photo and fingerprints/DNA taken before leaving police custody.

Question 12:
Arrest records and Use of Force records (which include handcuffing) are recorded on different systems, and these records cannot be linked. Due to known data quality issues, the same person’s age, sex or race may be recorded differently on an Arrest record to a Use of Force record. For example, these fields may be missing on the Use of Force record. This means that the number of people of a certain age, sex or race who were not handcuffed during an arrest cannot be obtained by subtracting the number of people who were handcuffed from the total recorded arrests for that category.

Age is at start date of the offence.

Question 13:

The total number of people who were arrested, broken down by age, sex and race, is provided in the answer to question 12. The following data is from a search of voluntary attendance records.

Question 14: There is no policy regarding this. Please note that a voluntary interview would be an alternative to arrest, not to handcuffing.

Question 15:
2021 – 23 complaints received.
2022 – 15 complaints received.

The number of complaints upheld was determined by excluding complaints where no action was taken or the Result Description is that the service provided was acceptable.
2021 – 2 complaints upheld, both against one male officer each.
2022 – 1 complaint upheld, against two male officers named in the same complaint.

Question 16: Normal procedure is that, if a person is charged in custody, the charges will be read to them by the Constable. The Custody Sergeant will note down any reply to the charges being read on the charge sheet. These replies appear on the charge sheet just below the printed charge wordings.

Question 17: This is in line with national Management of Police Information (MoPI) retention rules.

Question 18: There is no standard practice. Many people are interviewed by two people, but this will be dependent on crime type, known risks and level of depth of the interview. Interviews are recorded digitally and answers are written on a prescribed form.

Question 19: Interviews are recorded. Retention is covered by MoPI guidance.

Question 20: Custody records are computer-based and are created when a detainee is arrested or has come into the custody suite but detention is not authorised. For this reason, Northamptonshire Police do not hold a blank copy. Should an individual wish to access a copy of their custody record, they can request this through a Subject Access Request (SAR). This can be done on the Northamptonshire Police website or by emailing [email protected].

The numerical data presented in this response is an unaudited snapshot of unpublished data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.

Northamptonshire Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the production of statistical information for Freedom of Information responses.

The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be taken into account when the data is used.

If you decide to write an article/use the enclosed data, we ask you to take into consideration the factors highlighted in this document so as to not mislead members of the public or official bodies or misrepresent the relevance of the whole or any part of this disclosed material.