Police commissioner’s office wins award for custody visiting

The Office of the Police Fire, and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire and York has been recognised nationally for the quality of its independent custody visiting scheme.

Under this scheme, trained volunteers from the local community make regular unannounced visits to police custody suites to check on the rights, entitlements, wellbeing and dignity of the detainees held there.

Their findings are reported to the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and North Yorkshire Police custody suite managers. They review on a regular basis to ensure the highest standard of oversight and care.

The Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA) – the national membership organisation that supports, leads and represents these schemes – has developed a quality assurance framework to assess how well schemes comply with the code of practice that governs custody visiting [see note].

This is the second year that schemes have been assessed under the framework, and have been able to gain quality assurance awards to recognise the value of their work.

The Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for York and North Yorkshire was awarded with a Code Complaint quality assurance award by the ICVA on Wednesday 29 November, at a ceremony in Birmingham.

Welcoming the award, Zoë Metcalfe, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for York and North Yorkshire, said: “Independent custody visiting is a vital element of the scrutiny work of the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in ensuring the police service is open and accountable to the people it serves.

“I am delighted that following this independent assessment, our scheme meets statutory requirements and necessary volunteer standards.”

Dame Anne Owers, chair of ICVA, said: “Independent custody visiting schemes ensure that the public have oversight of a high pressure and often hidden area of policing. These awards demonstrate how local schemes use volunteer feedback to make change and ensure that police custody is safe and dignified for all.”