Tips for Smart Cops Series
Safe custody of detained persons

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1. Once a Duty Officer (DO) has accepted a detained person into his custody, he becomes personally responsible for him and remains so responsible until relieved at the end of his tour of duty, unless in the meantime the detained person is released or transferred elsewhere. (FPM 49-05)

2. The DO is to personally supervise searching of all cells and persons detained in police custody in the cells at least once per shift and will make an appropriate entry in the occurrence book (OB) after this has been done. (FPM 49-05)

3. When there is one or more detained persons in custody a DO or, if he is unavailable, an ADO, is to visit the cells at a frequency of not less than once per hour. (FPM 49-05)

4. A record should be made of each visit in the OB stating the number of detained persons in the cells and whether or not everything is correct. (FPM 49-05)

5. The differential in timing and frequency of cell checks is deliberate, the combination affording a regular frequency of checks that are conducted at irregular times. This minimises the potential for a detained person being able to predict when the next check of his cell will occur and would reduce the potential window of opportunity for a detained person to inflict self-harm without it being quickly discovered and appropriate action taken by the DO and his staff. (FPM 49-05)

(This column is contributed by the Complaints and Internal Investigations Branch)