Independent Custody Suite Visitors 21/09/13 Thank you for inviting me to speak to you; this is an important opportunity for me. First to get to know you better; I am impressed by the agenda you have put together for today s conference and I am conscious that I am addressing an audience of volunteers drawn from all over the North West of England and North Wales. An audience comprised of folk who dedicate their time and interest to visiting custody suites. Welcome to Merseyside! Secondly, this provides me with an opportunity to say thank you for the work you do, it is recognised and appreciated. You carry out an important public duty and provide reassurance that all is well with the detention of men and women, young and old, in our British system, a system of justice of which we are rightly proud. I ll take a few minutes now to describe the last ten months. As Police and Crime Commissioner, I am in a unique position - the only politician elected to represent the whole of Merseyside. Not only that, but I also have a statutory responsibility to monitor the whole criminal justice system in the region.
The role encompasses the power to set the policing budget of over 330 million, to settle the priorities for the police on Merseyside, to issue crime reduction grants, all 3.1 million and hold the force to account. I inherited an already very effective police force. Furthermore, in a recent visit by HMIC s Roger Baker and his team during the Value for Money inspection, Merseyside was the only force he said he could describe as demonstrating a palpable sense of family. But Merseyside Police have had to make savings of 61.4m. This has resulted in us losing more than 1,000 people; officers, PCSO s and staff, over the last 36 months. Leading a force through such a significant reduction and at the same time maintaining morale is no mean feat and I acknowledge and respect our Chief Constable, Jon Murphy for achieving that. But what difference can I make? How can I help Merseyside Police to achieve even lower crime and an even safer Merseyside? By co-operation and consensus, I have built a pan-merseyside Safer Community Partnership board which draws together all the
terrific regional partnerships at a senior level. I have secured the participation of health service representatives and serious discussions are now underway to examine how we can tackle alcohol-related problems as successfully as we have tackled opiate abuse. Modern drinking patterns and the use of other drugs pose as big a threat to health and community safety as ever, presenting a complex problem crying out for a multi-agency response. As a result crime figures are still falling, because the force is continuing the truly inspirational work to reduce re-offending. Just last month I was able to win agreement from the leading Clinical Commissioning Group that our management of s136 mental health cases needs to be urgently improved and representatives of the force will be involved in a working group to do just that. By tackling this topic together, we can ensure police time is used more efficiently, which is important, but perhaps more importantly we can try to ensure that the best possible service is provided to those with mental health needs, instead of holding them in police custody. A common criticism of the now abolished police authorities was the slow and cumbersome nature of decision making. As a consequence of our strong relationship, the Chief and I can avoid tying up his chief officer team in endless meetings Merseyside
Police Authority had 29 sub-committees - and efficiently work together to address problems in the here and now. On Merseyside I have been warmly welcomed onto our highly effective Criminal Justice Board and was elected Chair at my first meeting. Independent criminal justice agencies, the courts, prosecutors, probation service and the prisons come together with local authorities and youth offending teams. It s superb and exciting to be involved with because it is making a difference by coordinating effort to reduce crime. This critically important group is where performance of the whole system is closely monitored with a genuine openness that allows assistance to be offered and accepted between agencies without damaging public criticism. The police authority cost 2.4million every year. I ve managed to reduce that and from now on 800,000 more will go towards the police service of Merseyside every year than did before. I m pleased with that result even if I didn t manage to achieve anything else. Some feel that is criticism of the old authority, but that s just the way it was.
In conversation with Custody Suite Visitors in Merseyside I have come to understand the nature of your work. Correct me if I m wrong. You spend hours driving, walking, bussing to police stations in heat, in snow, in fog, in rain. You set time aside to ensure you meet up with your visiting partner and arrive at an agreed time to visit a custody suite. Sometimes the journey is wearisome travelling from anywhere on the Wirral to Southport is often enough to put some off! On arrival you push the buzzer and utter the all important words Can we come in please? The Code of Practice issued on the authority of the Secretary of State says in paragraph 49 that you have to be given immediate entry. Any delay has to be accounted for and you are required to report any such delay in your report. It is a long time since Lord Justice Scarman investigated the circumstances of the Brixton riots of 1981, and yet those words Can we come in please? still make you think of his report and why it came about. Lord Scarman recommended that independent custody suite visitors should be introduced but the requirement on a police authority to have them only became mandatory in 2002.
Lord Scarman considered racial disadvantage to be a fact of British life, and wanted something done about it. His report found that the police and the local community were equally to blame for the riots. His recommendations included the recruitment of more black police officers, changes in policing methods, with local liaison committees, and independent custody suite visitors and these recommendations have been largely carried out. Can we come in please? Lord Scarman wanted to ensure that the public had a share in the detention of people. He wanted to ensure that the public, ordinary men and women, could visit police stations and meet those being detained and comment on how they were being treated. At the time of their detention in a police cell, those detained are innocent in law. I am the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside and in winning this election I have returned to work with and for the people of Merseyside. It has been good to meet again people I have previously worked with when representing them in Parliament. One of those is Peter Beaman. I knew him as The Reverend Peter Beaman of Oakvale United Reformed Church on Edge Lane. Now I know him as Peter Beaman MBE. He is one of those who has driven through the rain and snow, fog and heat to visit police
stations. Peter said something to me recently that I want to share with you because it relates to what I have been saying about Lord Justice Scarman and your work. He said It is a privilege to be allowed to visit people when they are at their most vulnerable. Detainees are vulnerable, but a key protection for them is your right to visit and meet with them. It s true that you have a right of entry to the suite but it is for the individual to agree to your visiting them. For some you are a nuisance. Some will have choice words of rejection! However, the majority find reassurance in your presence. Sitting waiting, and waiting, and waiting...at best its boring and at worst depressing. I would like to see faster processes at work; we should not detain people longer than necessary. Your presence for many is a light personal relief from the monotony and oppressing bureaucracy. Some will be curious as to why you do it. Some will enjoy a natter. Two, three minutes is a long break from monotony. Don t underestimate the positive impact your presence has on a person s ability to cope with detention. Hello. How are you? We are independent members of the public appointed by the police commissioner to visit police stations and check on your welfare. Someone out there cares. When you are
vulnerable, that caring presence is so important. The society that, at that moment, has empowered your arrest and detention still cares about you and respects your human rights. I am a politician elected to an executive role in our criminal justice system. Before that I was an MP and Government Minister, the first woman to hold Ministerial office in the Lord Chancellor s department with responsibility for magistrates, the judiciary and family law policy. I was a Minister between 1997 and 2010, serving in six different departments and becoming Britain s first woman Security Minister with responsibility for Policing in Northern Ireland. It was in Northern Ireland, where tension around detention and policing issues can flair very quickly into dangerous disorder, that I came to understand that public policy in this area must be grounded within a framework of justice and respect for human rights. But policy makers and those, like the police who carry out our policy need a moral framework within which to operate if we are to be successful. When we read reports the result of the investigation into Stafford Hospital, for example or the discrimination against the Lawrence family what strikes me is that there appeared to be noone outside the professional world saying Hang on, this isn t right.
Sometimes organisations and institutions cross moral boundaries without noticing and sometimes the public only notice and redefine their moral standards after the event. You are part of that moral framework. When we were introducing video recording of custody suites in Northern Ireland there was resentment from some amongst the police who felt we did not trust them to behave with integrity. But I always believed the technology would provide reassurance and protection to them as much as to the detainees. Your visits provide the same reassurance. I sleep easier knowing you are patrolling the moral boundaries for me. I am not for one moment suggesting that the police are not acting professionally or do not respect the dignity of those they arrest and detain. Public service is an honour to perform and those who do so generally have the highest motives and often demonstrate a depth of commitment to their fellow human beings that springs from a quality of altruism that money can t buy. A sense of duty usually permeates the public sector and the police service in particular. I was in Parliament in July 2005 when Frank Dobson, MP for Holborn and St Pancras spoke of his deep respect
for those in the emergency services, especially the police, who run towards the bomb blast when we are running the other way. I respect the police service and those who work in it. Here s a test for you do you recognise these:- The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder. The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions. Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public. The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force. Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law. Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient. Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence. Police should always direct their
action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it. Recognise them? I can see that the police officers here certainly did. Those are the Peelian principles which are the foundation stone of British policing. You are a vital part of the securing of public cooperation and support for police action to prevent crime and disorder. There is one other paragraph from the Code of Practice that I want to comment upon. Paragraph 76 states that for independent custody visiting to be effective it is essential that visitors and police staff develop and maintain professional working relationships based on mutual respect and understanding of each others legitimate role. This is so important. If you don t get this right nothing else will follow. If the officer on duty offers you a cup of tea you will know you are succeeding! If they are warm towards you, welcoming and positive, helpful, you know you are succeeding. This is not to say that you are in their pocket. It is an expression of normal professional relations. It is about mutual respect and courtesy.
In order for this relationship to be right you have to take up the role as it is set out in the code. The very title defines the role Independent Custody Suite Visitor. You are a visitor. You are not an auditor. You are not an inspector. The police are not accountable to you. In visiting and having access to all those detained and to all parts of the station you have the opportunity, as a visitor, to observe and then to comment. I value those comments and I know my fellow Commissioners across the North West do so too. I am content that these visits and the comments arising from what has been observed are of value. I am not happy with the quality of the proforma that is used on Merseyside and I am working to restore the opportunity to make qualitative comments instead of ticking boxes. I need to be able to read the comments! But you need the opportunity to describe in your own words what you have observed. Merseyside s Chief Constable, Jon Murphy, is the only chief to be serving in the same force he joined as a cadet. He is experienced and has worked his way through the ranks gaining knowledge and understanding at every level of policing. He has been asking his force to Just Think ; Just Talk and Just Lead. His approach is
working and I have no ambition to usurp him as leader, so in many respects my approach is Just keep calm and carry on! Ultimately, the Chief Constable and I have a shared purpose for Merseyside Police. We both have had long, varied and challenging careers and have mutual respect for each other. We have common goals reducing crime; helping people to feel safer in their communities. But those goals are not common to the Chief and me alone. They are true too for all of the staff and officers of Merseyside Police; to all of my staff. To you and the people who support you in your work. It s all of us. Lord Scarman believed that the independent visitor scheme would give the public reassurance that people were detained in appropriate condition and their welfare looked after. He was right. It is also true that the police value your presence. You are the public they serve. To hear from you that all is well, to hear praise and thanks is important. It contributes to morale and an even better quality service. I wish to do my best for Merseyside, for it s police service, it s criminal justice system, for the people like you who work as my
partners in a magnificent cause continuing to improve the safety and security of the neighbourhoods in which we live and work. I thank you for all you are doing and wish you a successful conference.