West Yorkshire Police has made improvements to its custody
services, but progress in some areas has been limited since its
last inspection, a report has found.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found
that West Yorkshire Police has clear governance arrangements for
the provision of custody.
However, HMICFRS and CQC said that some concerns from the force’s
previous inspection haven’t been addressed well enough,
especially around the use of force.
The inspectorates have two main causes of concern, which are:
- the force doesn’t use performance information well enough to
make sure it achieves good outcomes for detainees; and
- governance and oversight of use of force in custody is not
good enough and quality assurance of incidents does not provide
effective scrutiny.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer
said:
“Anyone detained in custody should be treated fairly and kept
safe from harm.
“West Yorkshire Police has a clear governance arrangement for its
custody services. Frontline officers have a good understanding of
what can make a person vulnerable, and the force works well with
mental health services to support people with mental ill health.
Custody personnel treat detainees with politeness and
respect.
“However, in some areas progress has been limited and there
remain two areas of concern. These include governance and
oversight of the use of force in custody, as well as the use of
data to improve custody services, with some key areas of custody
not being monitored.
“We will be working closely with West Yorkshire Police and
monitoring its progress against our new recommendations.”
