Independent Custody Detention Scrutiny Panel 

The Independent Custody Detention Scrutiny Panel (ICDSP) was set up in November 2023 and is made up of a group of local people selected from across the policing area, to represent the local communities in conversations with police officers and staff actively involved in the detention and custody environment. The ICDSP is given unprecedented access to redacted material retained by the police to review matters of disproportionality objectively and independently, and police/detainee behaviour in the context of legislation, guidance, policy, and procedure.

 The objectives of the Independent Custody Detention Scrutiny Panel are to independently:

• Assess and report on detention and custody processes.
• Examine and challenge disproportionality in police custody in their application of police powers, notably on grounds of race/protected characteristics.
• Conduct assessments blind of ethnicity to prevent confirmatory bias by the Panel.
• Ensure partnership review and scrutiny of police detention procedures from start to finish, including appropriate use of custody data.
• Consider wider issues where the Panel feels it could add value e.g., issues of safety and dignity.
• Build trust and confidence with ethnic minority communities through transparency, accountability, engagement, and understanding of Criminal Justice and custody processes.
• Make observations and recommendations to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) and Chief Officers.
• Report back to the wider policing area in the form of a public facing annual report covering the findings of the ICDSP in the preceding year.
• Assist in generating a transparent product suitable for public consideration at the end of each annual panel cycle.

The ICDSP meet on a bi-monthly basis in person at Kempston Police Headquarters and produce a report using a traffic light system (red, amber, green) of each custody record they review. Feedback is provided to the police and the PCC’s office verbally at each meeting. Feedback is then inputted onto a list by the PCC’s office, and any issues raised are discussed with the Chief Inspector and Inspector.

Feedback is also escalated via the Performance and Governance Board and reported into the Quarterly Transparency Report. Any urgent themes are addressed directly with the Senior Leadership Team.

Key focuses of the meetings include:

• Strip Searches
• Anti Rip Suits
• Young Detainees
• Black Detainees
• Female Detainees
• Use of Force

We currently have 13 volunteers as of October 2024; however, we are actively recruiting to ensure the panel is representative of the counties diversity and age profile.

We are therefore actively recruiting, especially for:

• Those with lived experience of custody and/or with interacting with the police
• Those with a profession such as healthcare professionals, liaison and diversion service, appropriate adults etc
• Individuals aged under 25
• Those from an ethnic minority

Please contact our office at PCC@beds.police.uk or visit https://www.bedfordshire.pcc.police.uk/independent-custody-detention-scrutiny-panel/