'POLICE TO BLAME' FOR DEATHS OF DRUNKS

Study Criticises Lack of Training

Drunk detainees and those high on drugs are dying in police custody because
officers are not properly trained or equipped to deal with them, according
to a highly critical report published today by the policing watchdog. A
study by the Police Complaints Authority found that alcohol was a factor in
60% of 58 such deaths in England and Wales in 2000-2001, while drugs played
a role in a further 34% - cocaine in 21% and heroin in 13%. Nearly a third
of all cases had identifiable mental health problems, including three who
had been arrested under the Mental Health Act.

David Best, the PCA's head of research, said police officers' lack of
knowledge and resources was costing lives. "In some cases it is apparent
that different action might have avoided a tragic outcome."

Seventeen of those who died had not actually been arrested, or had been
sent straight to a hospital. But many of the 41 who were taken to police
stations had received inadequate care, with long delays in getting them to
hospital.

"It is vital that police officers are trained to identify vulnerable
individuals and take appropriate action, and they must be trained and
equipped adequately to enable them to do this," said Dr Best.

Sometimes, officers failed to spot that drunkeness was disguising more
serious injuries and illnesses, and several detainees who should have been
checked at least every half hour (or some every 15 minutes), under the
Police and Criminal Evidence Act code, were only being checked once an
hour, or even less regularly.

Unless the system was drastically overhauled, said Dr Best, those under the
influence of alcohol or drugs should not be held in police stations, except
where really necessary.

He said while it was encouraging that the Metropolitan and Hertfordshire
police forces were introducing detoxification centres, it was disturbing
that, six years after the PCA first highlighted the issue in a report, it
was only beginning to be addressed. There were still no clear national
guidelines.

"Unless there are vast improvements, there is no alternative but to
conclude that drunken detainees should not be taken to police stations in
other than the most extreme circumstances."

Those who died were mostly white men, aged between 15 and 75. Four were women.

In 33 of the 58 cases, alcohol was the specific reason for the arrest, or
officers decided that the detainee was drunk. Yet in four cases, the
postmortem examination detected no alcohol, and in another four cases, the
pathologist found alcohol the police failed to detect.

Half the detainees were handcuffed and CS spray was used in one incident.
Just over half of those who reached a police station were seen by the
forensic physician, who declared them fit for detention in 87% of cases.
But there was adequate recording of satisfactory checking and rousing of
detainees in only one-third of cases. Even when a forensic physician
advised that the detainee should be under constant watch, checks were only
done slightly more often than every 30 minutes.