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Report on legalised police cells
03/07/2008
Legalised police cells are bleak and prisoners being held in them do not always have access to information which they might require, according to the latest report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons.
Dr Andrew McLellan's report describes an inspection of Scotland's legalised police cells in 2007-08. Legalised police cells are cells in which prisoners can be detained for a period of up to 30 days. They are based in nine police stations which are not near prisons.
Dr McLellan's report highlights a number of concerns:
- Cells do not contain even basic furniture when they are being used
- Toilets in cells are not screened
- Prisoners are not always able to exercise in the open air
- A copy of the Prison Rules and other information notices are not always available
- Information on how to access the relevant Visiting Committee or how to make a complaint is not always available
Dr McLellan said:
"Prisoners form only a very small proportion of people detained in police custody. The conditions and treatment of prisoners being held in the cells are therefore likely to be similar to those being detained in short-term police custody.
"The conditions are very bleak. Prisoners do not even have a chair on which they can sit and eat a meal. Toilets in cells are also unscreened. Boredom is a real problem.
"A lack of available information means that prisoners may not know how to access the Visiting Committee or make a formal complaint. Although responsibility for supervising these prisoners remains a matter for the police, SPS also has a responsibility and as far as can be achieved within the constraints of police cells, prisoners being held should have access to conditions similar to those in a prison."
There are nine police stations in Scotland where police cells have been legalised. In them prisoners - as opposed to those taken into police custody - can be detained for up to 30 days. These police stations are all in places which are not near prisons, where prisoners would otherwise be held - Lerwick, Kirkwall, Thurso, Stornoway, Lochmaddy, Oban, Campbeltown, Dunoon and Hawick. When prisoners are detained in the cells, they are held there for as short a period as possible. It is the responsibility of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons to inspect legalised police cells in the same way as prisons, and report on the conditions and treatment of prisoners in them. Inspection of the cells are carried out every three years.
The absence of prisoners apart from in one location, made it impossible to carry out an inspection in the same way as an inspection of a prison is carried out. The reports are therefore heavily dependent on the information and advice supplied by the police.