Twice as many 'mentally ill' end up in custody rather than a hospital

Sep 10 2008

According to a report by a police watchdog group in Britain, the number of people held in police cells suspected of being mentally ill, rather than a hospital is "intolerable".

The report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has revealed that twice as many people were placed in custody at police stations for assessment under the Mental Health Act of 1983, than were taken by officers to a hospital - under section 136, police officers can detain people believed to have a mental disorder, who are in a public place, for assessment.

The report says between 2005 and 2006, an estimated 11,500 people were held in custody compared with about 5,900 in a hospital, even though a hospital would have been a safer option - the oldest person was 89 and four were children under 12.

Though the majority of people were detained for 12 hours or less, some people were held for up to three days and the report says someone whose distress or strange behaviour causes the police concern needs rapid medical and social assessment in a safe environment.

The IPCC commissioner for mental health, Ian Bynoe says it is intolerable that despite government policy dating back to 1990, stating that a hospital is the preferred place of safety for such an assessment, research shows that twice as many people are detained in police custody than in a more appropriate hospital environment.

The commissioner says police custody is an unsuitable environment for someone with mental illness and may make their condition worse, particularly if they are not dealt with quickly, appropriately and don't receive the care they need.

There is also concern that the continued use of cells not only diverts police resources from fighting crime, but criminalises behaviour which is not a crime and Bynoe says a police cell should only be used when absolutely necessary, such as when someone is violent, and not as a convenience.

While it is generally agreed that police custody should be used only in exceptional cases, the IPCC report suggests it is being used as the main place of safety with wide variations occurring across police forces.

The report "Police Custody as 'Place of Safety'" is the first time national data has been collated from all 43 police forces - those with the lowest rate of detention were Cheshire and Merseyside, while Sussex, Devon and Cornwall reported the highest - the disparity was attributed to the availability of alternative places of safety.

The Police say they are under-resourced and not trained to deal with mental health issues and even where forces had received funding to build new dedicated places of safety, there has been no money for staffing, and so they remained unused.

The mental health charity Mind says the report highlights the need for mental health awareness training.

The IPCC report has come up with 22 recommendations which have been sent to the chief executives of all primary care and mental health trusts and police chief constables, including new facilities being made available.