Man dies after contact with police - Thames Valley Police, March 2018

On 28 March 2018 Thames Valley Police officers responded to a concern for welfare call for a man in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The man, who was reported to have been feeling suicidal recently, was found by police officers at a car park in the area. He was sitting on the ledge of the car park, approximately 20–25 feet off the ground, saying that he would jump if officers tried to grab him. Officers verbally engaged with the man and encouraged him to step away from the car park ledge. After 50 minutes of negotiation, the man pushed himself off the ledge of the car park. He sustained fatal injuries.

Our investigators attended the scene and conducted a detailed examination. They took witness statements from police officers and obtained and analysed footage from CCTV and police officers’ body-worn cameras.

From the evidence available, it appears that officers made significant effort to engage with the man and to urge him to move away from the ledge. The man initially appeared engaged with the conversation, but seems to have become distressed at the point he received a phone call from an unknown caller. Officers all stated that they acted in line with the force’s ‘no grab’ policy, which appears appropriate in the circumstances, given the man’s threats to jump off if officers attempted to grab him.

Based on the evidence available we found 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 concluded our investigation in July 2018, but waited until the inquest into the man’s death had taken place in early 2019 before publishing our findings.