Deaths In Police Custody Research Articles

Near miss incidents in police custody suites in London in 2003: A feasibility study

Introduction Potentially preventable deaths in police custody include those which involve illicit drugs, alcohol and deliberate self-harm. Near miss incidents (NMI) that did not result in death have a crucial role in understanding risk factors in custody. Such research has not previously been undertaken. A program of research has been developed to study NMI, in order to better identify those at risk in police custody. For the purposes of this research, NMI have been defined as ‘an unplanned and unforeseeable or unforeseen event that could have resulted, but did not result, in human death or may have resulted in injury or other adverse outcomes’. It was intended that the definition although broad, would not include simple accidents (e.g. slipping on urine in a cell) or trivial injury. Aims and methods The two aims of the study are (a) to determine whether it is realistic to attempt to assess NMI with the intention of identifying information of use in enhancing detainee care and (b) to assess how frequently NMIs occur and whether there are specific patterns. Pilot interviews were conducted with three forensic physicians practising in London, UK to create a structured questionnaire for all forensic physicians working in London. The questionnaire provided the basis of a retrospective recall survey of all forensic physicians working in London as Forensic Medical Examiners. The questionnaire was designed to assess the numbers of NMI, patterns in occurrence and relevant learning points within the previous 6 months. A covering letter, background questionnaire (exploring the background of the medical practitioner), copies of the survey, and reply paid envelopes were sent to each Forensic Medical Examiner ( n = 134) in London, contracted to provide forensic medical services for the Metropolitan Police Service. Data about all incidents were anonymised. Results Ninety six (73%) Forensic Medical Examiners responded. Of these 18% were Principal grade, the remainder were Senior (24%), Standard (35%) and Assistant (23%). Thirty eight NMI were reported by 27 Forensic Medical Examiners (of all levels). The initial reason for police contact was recorded as alcohol ( n = 8), theft and robbery ( n = 7), warrants ( n = 4), violence ( n = 3), traffic violations ( n = 2) and single cases of drugs, murder and immigration offences. Of the main perceived cause of each NMI, illicit drugs were involved in 12/38, alcohol in 17/38, deliberate self-harm in 11/38, issues concerning searches, checks or rousing in 8/38, failure of inter-agency communications in 5/38, and possible resource issues in 4/38. In a number of cases more than one factor was involved. Conclusions The information established about NMI is broadly consistent with documented patterns of deaths in police custody in England and Wales which supports the validity of the data. The next stage of this research will be a prospective six month study in which NMI will be analysed in order to learn lessons which may be utilised to attempt to prevent potentially avoidable deaths in police custody.

Deaths in Police Custody: The ‘acceptable’ consequences of a ‘law and order’ society?

This article seeks to explain the acceptance of the rising numbers of police custody deaths in England and Wales over the last 20 years. It argues that these deaths are a consequence of the transformation in the U.K., from a social democratic to an increasingly neo-liberal mode of social organisation. The article links the characteristics of the authoritarian state, which emerged at this point in time, to the current profile of police custody deaths. Then, by using interview material with those who have investigated these cases, the article seeks to understand the narratives which are mobilised to legitimate these deaths as the ‘acceptable’ consequences of a ‘law and order’ society.

Withdrawal of Taser Electroshock Devices: Too Much, Too Soon

In recent months, there has been a great deal of national media attention and debate surrounding a number of unexpected deaths in police custody after the use of Taser electroshock devices (Taser International, Scottsdale, AZ), sometimes referred to as “stun guns.” The problem of unexpected deaths in police custody is not new. Most cases share several common factors including bizarre, excited behavior; the presence of stimulant drugs (cocaine, phencyclidine, methamphetamine, etc); and extreme physical exertion or struggling, followed by restraint after arrest. 1 Stratton S.J. Rogers C. Brickett K. et al. Factors associated with sudden death of individuals requiring restraint for excited delirium. Am J Emerg Med. 2001; 19: 187-191 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (192) Google Scholar Several recent deaths, although displaying many of these features, also share a new and different aspect: exposure to the Taser electrical device. Although no clear cause of death has been determined in these cases, media attention has prompted a number of police departments to curtail their use of the devices, and some groups have called for banning them entirely.

The risk of drug swallowing at the point of arrest: An analysis of 24 cocaine-related deaths following police care or custody in England and Wales

The increase in cocaine use in young people has been reflected in an increase in the number of deaths in which cocaine is identified post mortem. This increase is evident in relation to police custody deaths. In the current analysis, 43 drug-related deaths in custody are considered with cocaine identified in 24 of the post mortem examinations. The article examines the characteristics of these deaths, with particular attention paid to the method and related reasons for drug consumption. Crucially, these deaths contrast with national drug mortality data as they generally involve cocaine consumed by swallowing at the point of arrest. A total of 18 of 24 cocaine deaths involved oral ingestion with at least 15 of these possible attempts at drug concealment occurring at the point of arrest. There is likely to be a considerable risk of loss of life among street-level drug dealers who swallow to avoid drug detection; the article examines the risks associated with this behaviour and possible preventative strategies.

Drug deaths in police custody: is dual diagnosis a significant factor?

This study examined cases for possible mental health issues based on a study of 43 deaths in custody that had been supervised by the PCA between 1998 and 2002 involving the use of drugs. In 18 of the 43 cases, there was evidence of one of three groups of mental health symptoms – in five cases, there was evidence of psychosis, in five of previous self-harm or suicidal attempts, and in a further eight, there were indications of anxiety or depression. This constitutes a total of 42% of the cases studied. Those with mental health factors were more likely to have swallowed the drugs used, were more likely to have used prescription drugs and were more likely to have been believed to be faking their symptoms by the officers involved in these cases. While it is recognised that mental health problems are widespread in the criminal justice system, the diversity of conditions and the marked overlap with the use of alcohol and illicit drugs has not been sufficiently recognised, either in the training of officers or in the procedures for intervention in the custody suite.

Cutting-edge Discussions of Management, Policy, and Program Issues in Emergency Care

Cutting-edge Discussions of Management, Policy, and Program Issues in Emergency Care

Custody-related deaths in Durban, South Africa 1998-2000.

Custody-related deaths have become a major human rights issue in South Africa since the 1994 democratic elections and led to the formation of the Independent Complaints Directorate who, in April 2000, had recorded 2174 custody-related deaths since their inception. A 3-year retrospective descriptive study on all custody-related death cases at a Durban Medico-legal mortuary from January 1998 to December 2000 was undertaken. The study included deaths that occurred during arrest and deaths within the South African Police Services holding cells. Deaths of prisoners within the Correctional Services and psychiatric institutions were excluded. A total of 117 cases were reviewed, of which 88 (75.21%) were due to police shootings, 11 (9.40%) were due to assault by the police during arrest, and 3 (2.57%) were due to assault by police dogs. There were 102 (87.18%) "police action" related deaths and 16 (13.68%) police custody deaths, of which 7 (5.99%) were due to suicide by hanging and 2 (1.71%) due to natural causes. The results from this study differ significantly from published reports from other countries, with respect to the high numbers of deaths caused by police action. Prevention of custody-related deaths should be recognized as an area of concern and should be given greater priority by the government and the South African Police Services.

Deaths in police custody: a question of health or discipline?

This paper addresses the issue of deaths in police custody. The role and effects of ‘proactive’ and ‘reactive’ policing in addressing suicidal and non‐suicidal deaths is considered. Failings in the training and public accountability of police services and forensic medical examiners are discussed. Some of the past failings, it is argued, seem set to continue in the face of the Secrecy Bill (1999).

A Duty to Answer Questions? The Police, The Independent Complaints Directorate and the Right to Remain Silent

ABSTRACTOne of the obstacles that the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) has experienced in the performance of its functions has been the refusal of South African Police Service (SAPS) members, whose actions are the subject of investigation, to answer questions put to them by ICD investigators. This phenomenon has hampered the investigation of deaths as a result of police action and deaths in police custody, where there are frequently no non-police witnesses and potentially no witnesses other than the police officers whose actions are the subject of investigation. In considering policy options, this article focuses on police accountability in the context of police powers. Mechanisms to compel police co-operation in ICD investigations and internal disciplinary hearings are considered against the background of the 1996 Constitution. The article suggests amendments to the South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995 that would set out the circumstances in which police officers might be obliged to answer questions in both ICD and internal SAPS proceedings.

Examining the Liability Factors of Sudden Wrongful Deaths in Police Custody

Use-of-force encounters between the police and violent arrestees have in creased over the past few years. Annually in a small number of these ar rests, the individual suddenly and unexpectedly dies in police custody after a period of intense struggle—frequently in restraints. Such wrongful deaths in custody generate civil lawsuits. This discussion identifies the liability factors associated with these deaths by examining cases filed under tort theories of negligence in state courts and claims filed in federal court un der provision of Title 42 United States Code Section 1983. The analysis addresses standards of using force, medical care and training issues. Rec ommendations for police administrators are also presented.

Deaths in Police Custody

Deaths in Police Custody

Deaths in police custody during 1994: a retrospective analysis

This paper presents the results of a retrospective analysis of deaths in police custody from 1 January to 31 December 1994. During that year, there were 32 such deaths in the UK. For purposes of analysis, the deaths were grouped into three principal categories based on the frequency of their occurrence: deaths by hanging (12); deaths among those arrested for drunkenness (11) and other deaths (9). By considering the results of this study together with a comprehensive literature review, several strategies for reducing the frequency of deaths in police custody are proposed.

Suicides and other deaths in police custody.

This article presents data from a study on 59 deaths in Dutch police stations in the period 1983-1993. Twenty deaths were caused by suicide, 19 by intoxications, 8 by natural causes, and 12 by other or unknown causes. The mortality rate, suicide rate, and poisoning rate in police stations were higher than in penitentiary institutions and in the general population. The morality rate was lower in large police stations than in small police stations. Identification of deviant detainees seemed less problematic than handling these deviant detainees. It is argued that exceptional detainees without serious charges should be transferred to Health Care services. Other structural preventive measures are also discussed.

Prison cells unhealthy for prisoners, say BMA

Prisoners detained in police cells in Britain are denied the standards of care expected by patients in the NHS, said the British Medical Association, last week. Police officers are expected to identify warning signs in prisoners with head injuries and those with alcohol dependence. The situation is made worse by poor facilities, overcrowding, and a lack of paramedical training, claims the association. There is a “serious risk of death in police custody” for prisoners with alcohol dependency who are left in cells. “Police cells are not designed for detaining even healthy people, never mind those with addiction problems. They are simply too confined,” said Dr …

What now — what next? The future of clinical forensic medicine in the UK

There has been considerable resistance to the recognition of clinical forensic medicine as a specialty in the UK. In the past, when forensic medicine was taught in the medical schools, its clinical aspects were negligible; even the interpretation of wounds, such as it was, was conducted on cadavers. If the whole of forensic medicine was regarded as a superfluous luxury in the medical curriculum, what hope was there for its apparently minuscule clinical component? Nevertheless, the need by society for clinical skills at the medico-legal interface has exerted considerable pressure for change. It was inevitable that doctors called by police to examine and report on injuries caused by criminal activity would lead the way and form a nucleus of clinical forensic practitioners. As legislation developed, their skills had to include the assessment of intoxication by drink or drugs, particularly in relation to traffic offences, and the examination of victims of sexual perpetrators and other serious crime. As concern for the care of persons in custody increased, attention had to be focused on medical fitness to be detained and increasingly fitness to be interviewed. Apart from the general skills possessed by the average primary care physician, this required speciality knowledge of the effects of the custodial situation on healthcare, in particular in the short-term to distinguish it from long-term custody in prison. An understanding of mental illness and mental health law became very necessary, initially as more acute psychiatric sick were taken to police stations as a ‘place of safety’, as a result of increased use of community care. One of the main driving forces for change has been the increasing realisation by the media and the public that not only must justice be done, but that it must be seen to be done. Public scrutiny is intense. Deaths in police custody and disclosures of miscarriages of justice associated with dubious medical and scientific evidence

Australian deaths in custody, 1980‐1989

To assess the risks of death in police or prison custody in Australia for Aborigines and non-Aborigines. Retrospective collection and analysis of data about deaths occurring in police or prison custody in Australia in the 10-year period 1980-1989. For the period 1980-1989, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in prison had risks of death similar to those of the total Australian population, but the risks of death in police custody for both Aborigines and non-Aborigines were between 10 and 20 times the risks of death experienced by the general population. Within each type of custody, there were no significant differences in the risks of death experienced by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Although some deaths in custody are inevitable, the very much higher risks of death in police custody for both Aborigines and non-Aborigines has implications for custodial authorities in terms of preventive and remedial action. Reduction of the excess of Aboriginal over non-Aboriginal deaths in police and prison custody relative to general population figures requires action to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody and to improve the general well-being and health status of Aboriginal people in the community.

Alcohol and deaths in police custody.

We examined the involvement of alcohol consumption, chronic alcohol abuse or dependence, the soundness of the police determination of alcohol-related intoxication, and the importance of other drugs in deaths in police custody in a survey of the cases reported to the Chief Coroner of Ontario during the past 10 years. The data suggest no mismanagement by the police. At least 86% of the fatalities were associated with recent alcohol consumption or chronic alcohol abuse/dependence. Use of drugs other than alcohol was far less common. Promoting use and further development of simple tests to estimate blood alcohol concentration, chronic alcohol problems, and suicide risk, before incarceration takes place, may save lives.

Seeing and remembering: Sanggye-Dong and the demonstrations of June 1987

Renters of Sanggye-Dong began demonstrating and resisting relocation in June 1986, and by March 1987 the situation had intensified to the point where the remaining resisters took refuge at Myungdong Cathedral in the center of Seoul. It is important to realize what was going on in the southern part of Korea at that time. Demonstrations had flared sporadically since the 10 January torture-murder of Park Chong Chol, a twenty-one-year-old linguistics student from Seoul National University. Park's death in police custody had been the latest in a series of such events that had marked the years of Chun Doo Hwan's rule. Indeed, Chun's ascension to power had been facilitated by the 1980 massacre by military and paramilitary forces of 2,000 or more residents of Kwangju. The demonstrations increased in the spring of 1987, and in June they were almost continuous. The great peace march of 23 June included 1.5 million people demonstrating in some forty cities and townships, with 250,000 demonstrating in Seoul alone. The June demonstrations caused not only Chun Doo Hwan's 10 June endorsement of Roh Tae Woo as his chosen successor but also the 27 June promise by the ruling party and Roh Tae Woo of direct rather than indirect elections in December 1987. June 1987 was a turning point in the history of the southern part of Korea.

Deaths in Custody in Britain and Australia1

Abstract: An examination of the available evidence relating to deaths in prison and police custody for Britain and for Australia reveals that the Australian prison crude death rate is twice as high as the equivalent rate for England and Wales. There were equal proportions of suicides in both groups, but the prison deaths from England and Wales were much more likely to be among remandees than was the case in Australia. The Scottish prison death rate was found to be slightly higher than that of England and Wales, but also much lower than the Australian rate. A comparison of the rates of death in police custody also produced interesting differences with the Scottish rate being the highest. This was followed by Australia, with England and Wales again being found to have the lowest rate. A closer examination of the data for England and Wales and Australia revealed that a higher proportion of the Australian deaths in police custody was self‐inflicted and that proportionately many more of the British deaths in police custody occurred in hospitals rather than in police stations. An examination of the figures for each year showed that 1987 was a particularly bad year for prison suicides in both countries. There were also higher than expected numbers of other deaths in custody in 1987 in Australia, but this pattern was not reflected in the British data of deaths in police custody. Possible explanations for these findings are considered together with their implications for reducing deaths in custody.

Deaths in police custody in England and Wales

Worldwide deaths in police custody are causing public disquiet. An account is given of all the deaths occurring in police custody in England and Wales over a ten-year period from 1970 – 1979 with details of the causes of death and inquest verdicts.