What is the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme?
Independent Custody Visiting (ICV) was established in 1984 on a non-statutory basis to provide assurance to local communities about how those in the custody of the police are being treated. In 2003, custody visiting became a statutory requirement, and the Home Office issued a Code of Practice (PACE Code C) for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) to follow.
PACE Code C sets out the requirements for the detention, treatment, and questioning of suspects (excluding terrorism-related cases) in police custody. The Code was revised in 2014, and the updated version came into force that year.
In 2008, PACE Code H was first introduced to address the specific requirements for detaining and questioning terrorism suspects. Both Codes can be accessed via the GOV.UK website here: Code C & Code H.
To accompany the Code of Practice, the Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA) developed the National Standards to support effective custody visiting. These standards provide context for the Codes of Practice underpinning paragraph 51 of the Police Reform Act 2002 and outline what is considered best practice for all involved in the process. A copy of the National Standards is available here.
How and why did Custody Visiting start?
During the first half of 1981, several outbreaks of unrest occurred in major cities throughout the country. The most significant of these disorders was the ‘Brixton Riots’, when hundreds of young people attacked property and the police.
These disorders centred around people protesting oppressive policing and in particular the alleged harassment of people, especially young black people, by the police – in short, these incidents were anti-police and voiced a lack of trust in law and order authorities. These serious incidents led to an urgent government inquiry, culminating in the Scarman Report. Lord Scarman advocated a system for members of the public from local communities to inspect the way the police detained people in their custody.
Originally referred to as lay visiting, Independent Custody Visiting is the system that has been developed to meet this recommendation.
Why do we need oversight of the Police?
This public oversight helps to prevent harm, it provides public reassurance that custody is safe and contributes to the UK’s human rights obligations. Police forces welcome the role of the ICVs to give them an independent insight into their custody suites, often stating that the visitors’ reports are helpful to drive improvements.
The UK National Preventive Mechanism was established in 2009 to strengthen the protection of people in detention through independent monitoring. Across the UK, the NPM focuses attention on practices in detention that could amount to ill-treatment, and works to ensure its own approaches are consistent with international standards for independent detention monitoring.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment is an optional UN Protocol that countries sign up to. It has a preventive mandate focused on an innovative, sustained and proactive approach to the prevention of torture and ill-treatment.
Derbyshire’s ICV Scheme
The Commissioner’s office has a statutory responsibility to have an effective ICV Scheme in place.
Typical ICV Schemes will visit custody, interview detainees, and leave. In Derbyshire, we felt this wasn’t enough to understand the full custody process. Derbyshire has pioneered a different observational way of visiting custody. ICVs will attend a custody suite with their visit partner and spend a couple of hours in the suite, observing the following where possible:
- Booking in
- Release
- Stocks of clothing, soap, sanitary products, religious materials and food
- Kitchen cleanliness
- Have conversations with detainees
- Detention officers doing their rounds or custody inspector/sergeant reviews
It is not necessary or practical to observe all of the above during every visit.
To complement the Independent Custody Visiting (ICV) scheme and provide deeper insight into the treatment of detainees, we also operate the Custody Record Review(CRR) scheme. Under this scheme, a pair of volunteers, usually ICVs, review up to five redacted custody records each week.
For full details about the CRR scheme, please visit the dedicated page here.
When are visits undertaken?
ICVs visit each custody suite in pairs once per week and ICVs can visit either the Ripley or Derby suite.
We try to ensure that visits vary across weekdays and weekends, and vary between daytime and evening. This ensures we visit a breadth of detainees and check on welfare at as many different times as possible. It is also a requirement of the Quality Assurance Framework that we do this.
At the end of their visit, ICV’s complete an electronic visit report form which is used to inform the Commissioner’s office of any issues raised and actions taken. The scheme manager will then raise any issues ICVs have reported to the lead of custody within force.
Recruitment of an Independent Custody Visitor
ICVs need good observational and thinking skills, strong ethical principles and should be comfortable challenging authority if required. ICVs would be required to undertake a minimum of one record review and one visit per month, totalling around 4/5 hours volunteering time. Where necessary, adjustments can be made in line with the Equality Act 2010.
There are some restrictions on who can volunteer as an independent custody visitor in order to avoid conflicts of interest. For example, serving members of the police force and those who currently sit on the bench are not eligible to become custody visitors. If you are concerned that you may have a conflict of interest, then please contact the office and we will be able to advise you.
Visitors are volunteers, and are not paid a salary but are reimbursed for any expenses they incur whilst carrying out their duties, such as car mileage and parking costs.
We are currently open for volunteer applications to the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme.
If you would like more information or would like to register your interest to join our Scheme, please submit the request via the online contact form.
Please note, we can offer assistance to any individual who requires help completing their form. If you require assistance, please email PCCOffice@derbyshire.police.uk
To assist with your application, please see the following documents:
Application Form Guidelines
Person Specification (ICV and Custody Record Reviewing Scheme)
Role Description (Independent Custody Visiting/ Custody Record Reviewing)
Training for ICV and the CRR Scheme
In order to ensure that potential ICVs are sufficiently aware of the relevant law requirements for the care and custody of detainees, new ICVs must complete initial training which is arranged by the OPCC. This enables new ICVs to enable them to carry out their function in an efficient and credible manner.
Training will cover the basic knowledge and skills required to carry out visits and record reviewing effectively. Students will receive a detailed manual of guidance to support their training.
Following successful completion of the initial training, ICVs will then be invited to attend a tour of the custody suite with the scheme manager and the custody manager. This allows the ICV to gain an understanding of what the custody suite looks like, what they will check during their visits and an opportunity to ask the custody manager any questions they may have.
Once initial training and a custody tour have been completed, ICVs will then be appointed for a six-month probationary period during which time experience will be acquired in a supportive environment. During this time, ICVs will participate in custody visits and will shadow different pairs of more experienced volunteers. Following the shadow visits, the custody manager will reach out to the more experienced volunteers to gather their feedback.
At the end of the six-month probationary period the ICV will have a call with the scheme manager to understand how they are finding it and any feedback gathered will be shared. They will also have the opportunity to comment upon their experiences, and to give their views on the operation of the scheme in general through an interview with the scheme manager.
Only once the probationary period has been successfully completed will full accreditation be granted.
Transferrable Skills as an ICV
In your role as an ICV, you will develop a number of transferrable skills to utilise in other areas of your personal and professional lives, including:
Having difficult conversations and challenging behaviour/conduct – ICVs will, where appropriate, challenge custody staff to ensure detainees receive their rights, entitlements and appropriate care.
Verbal communication – ICVs will have to communicate with each other, detainees, custody staff and ICV scheme managers in their role.
Working with vulnerable people – some people detained in police custody are very vulnerable by virtue of their age, gender, mental health or otherwise. Being an ICV will involve communicating with, and recognising the needs of, a variety of vulnerabilities.
Team working – ICVs will develop team working skills by conducting visits and record reviews with a variety of colleagues and through team training events.
Time management – ICVs are given a rota of roughly when to conduct visits and reviews, but it is the responsibility of ICVs to arrange with their visiting partner when to meet to conduct their visit.
Visit Statistics, Comments and Causes of Concern
The statistics, including the number of visits made, where to, how many detained persons were spoken to and what issues were raised, are retained by the Scheme Manager and regularly reviewed by the Commissioner, Chief Inspector in charge of Custody Suites and, of course, the Independent Custody Visitors. See more information here.
Independent Custody Visiting Association
The Independent Custody Association ICVA is a Home Office funded organisation set up to promote and support the effective provision of custody visiting nationally. ICVA values the work of independent custody visitors, who play a vital role in raising standards of custody and the treatment of detainees. It provides support to ICVs right across the UK.
Quality Assurance Framework
ICVA set up a Quality Assurance Framework which is a tool that helps schemes to:
- Reflect on how they comply with the Code of Practice
- Celebrates areas of strength
- Promotes Custody Visiting and the achievements they have made
- Drives up the performance of schemes
How does it work?
Schemes were asked to assess themselves against the criteria for each level, being:
- Code Compliant – Schemes meet statutory requirements and basic volunteer standards
- Silver – Schemes provide a good standard of custody visiting and volunteer management
- Gold – Schemes provide an excellent standard of custody visiting and volunteer management
- Platinum – Schemes provide an outstanding standard of custody visiting and volunteer management
For silver and Gold claims, schemes must get their submission peer-assessed and for a platinum award to be given ICVA will assess the submission.
For more information, please visit ICVA’s website.