HMIC criticises Lincolnshire Police for use of force in custody suites

HMICFRS has published a report (attached) following an inspection of Lincolnshire Police custody facilities. 

Cause of concern: use of force

The force doesn’t have effective oversight of the use of force in custody. While recognising the force’s efforts to improve, it still doesn’t have enough information to scrutinise when and how force is used. The details of incidents aren’t always recorded, or recorded accurately enough, on custody records, and not all officers submit use of force forms. There is little quality assurance to assess how well incidents are managed. Our review of incidents showed that not all of them were managed well. This means that Lincolnshire Police can’t show that when force is used in custody it is always necessary, justified and proportionate.

Recommendation

The force should scrutinise the use of force in custody to show that its use is necessary, justified and proportionate. This scrutiny should be based on accurate information and robust quality assurance, including viewing CCTV footage of incidents.