Police contact with man – Staffordshire Police Service, June 2022
In June 2022, Staffordshire police service officers attended reports of a man running in the road and jumping on vehicles in Stoke-on-Trent. Staffordshire Police arrested the man for criminal damage and public order and conveyed him to custody.
Upon arrival at custody, he was seen by a health care professional who advised he should be taken to hospital. On arrival at hospital, he was diagnosed with multiple organ failure, and he subsequently suffered serious non-fatal injuries.
We obtained accounts from the officers involved and obtained medical record from the injured man. We analysed CCTV footage and police officers’ body-worn camera footage along with radio transmissions.
Our investigation concluded in April 2023.
The investigation concluded there was no indication any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence.
We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.
We did identify organisational learning and issued a learning recommendation.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
The IOPC recommends that Staffordshire Police review and amend their body worn video (BWV) polices to ensure they are consistent and explain any differences. They should also ensure their policies are in line with relevant national NPCC guidance. Staffordshire Police should also communicate any changes to officers, and ensure officers are aware of the different force BWV policies and the circumstances in which each apply.
This follows an IOPC investigation where officers turned off their BWV cameras in line with a force BWV policy that did not apply to the nature of their deployment. This meant there was no footage of interactions between the officers and a detained male in the back of a police van whilst in the van docking area of a custody facility. The CCTV from the custody facility was obscured by the police van and did not capture audio. The investigation subsequently established that there are unexplained differences between the policy applied and the BWV policy that was actually relevant in this case. These policies also need to be reviewed in line with the NPCC Body worn video guidance 2022 (it should be noted that the incident investigated predates the publication of the NPCC guidance).
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
This recommendation is to be placed onto the Force Action Plan database and assigned to the relevant policy/procedure holder of both procedure documents to review and amend accordingly. The procedures require consistency, in particular with regards to the use of BWV within the custody environment.