Mental Health & Policing: A perspective from the ‘front-line’ of police custody

This small scale research study was carried out by Leeds Beckett University in collaboration with West Midlands Police, to explore how mental health issues impact on police custody suites. A significant number of people with mental illness will come into contact with the police on a daily basis, and Bradley (2009) proposed that, there needs to be improvements made to police training in mental health awareness and where appropriate, people with mental illness should be diverted to suitable services which meet their needs. Despite this, the Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing (2013) noted cases where people have, “died or [have been] seriously injured following police contact, or [within] police custody” (p.6), and the findings from this review inform police conduct around the safety of detainees. The Crisis Care Concordant promotes partnerships between the police, health and social care to improve the experience of people in mental health crisis (Department of Health 2014a) and this has led to the provision in some areas, of ‘street triage’ teams, with a move to have psychiatric nurses based within police custody suites (Department of Health 2014b). These initiatives focus on reducing the use of Section 136 detentions under the Mental Health Act (1983), with the aim of improving the experience of people who find themselves in a mental health crisis (NHS England 2015). This research was a case study based in the West Midlands which explored the experience of custody support officers, detention and escort officers, triage workers, custody sergeants and inspectors, working with people with mental health difficulties. Although this study was located in the West Midlands the findings provide key insights into the tensions that exist when dealing with mental health difficulties within police custody, further research is required to inform practice.