Allegations of assault and degrading treatment while in custody - West Midlands Police, April 2018

On 19 February 2018 West Midlands Police (WMP) officers arrested a man and took him into custody. The man remained in custody until 21 February 2018. Custody CCTV showed that the man was subjected to a strip search on three occasions during his time in custody. The man alleged that, during a strip search, he was physically assaulted by police officers, his clothing was taken from him and he was left to remain naked in the police cell without his underwear or a blanket.

On 21 February 2018, the man was taken to court. He alleged he was kept in custody longer than necessary and could have been taken to court the day before.

The man also alleged that he attended a police station on three separate occasions to complain about police harassment, but was refused.

The man’s complaints were referred to us in April 2018.

During the investigation, our investigators examined several pieces of material from WMP, including the custody log, custody CCTV, E-notes, and CCTV from the police station he attended. They also obtained witness accounts. Our investigators found indications that four police officers and one member of police staff may be considered to have committed misconduct, and obtained written accounts from all of them regarding a number of allegations.

Three officers admitted that, in hindsight, their behaviour towards the man could have been different. They said that their comments and actions were regrettable, and explained that, following the man’s persistent aggressive behaviour, there was a real fear for safety and/or a momentary lapse of judgement that led to their behaviour falling below the standards of professional behaviour.

The fourth officer and member of police staff stated that, after the man had been strip searched and he behaved aggressively and spat at them, they made the decision to wait until the man had calmed down before returning his clothing. They explained that safeguarding the detainee’s dignity had to be weighed against the need to protect officers.

We found that the member of police staff had not followed policy while completing cell checks.

On review of the custody CCTV and officer accounts, we recognised that the man was a challenging detainee, subjecting officers to verbal and physical assaults during his time in custody.

Based on the evidence available and the circumstances of this case, we were of the opinion that all four police officers and the member of police staff may be considered to have a case to answer for misconduct. We were of the view that this did not require disciplinary proceedings, but could be dealt with through management action.

We also investigated the man’s other complaints and found no evidence to support them, so they were not upheld.

We completed our investigation in May 2019, after waiting for criminal proceedings against the man to be finalised, early in 2019.

After reviewing our report, WMP agreed that the four officers and one member of police staff could have handled the situation better and would receive a performance/learning debrief.