Police response to calls for concern about man’s welfare – Northumbria Police, July 2022

In July 2022, Northumbria Police responded to a report of a concern for welfare for a man. Officers attended his address and spoke to him and did not consider him to be at risk of harm.

Two days later a member of the public contacted the police to report further concerns for the man, he was recorded as a missing person and officers conducted a search for him grading him as a medium risk missing person.

After receiving information officers forced entry into the man’s work address where he was found unresponsive. An ambulance attended but he was pronounced dead. There was no evidence of third-party involvement.

During the investigation, we reviewed police radio communications and body worn video footage. We obtained statements from several witnesses and reviewed the actions of the police officers and staff against local and national policy.

We obtained a statement from the man’s family who made a complaint about the investigation. The family’s complaint related to the search of the man’s address. We found the service by the police was acceptable.

They also raised a complaint in regard to the contact with the police after he had been found dead. We found the service provided by the police to be unacceptable and recommended an apology from the force to the family. Northumbria Police provided a formal written apology to the family.

We completed our investigation in December 2022. We waited for all proceedings to be finalised before publishing our findings.

During our investigation 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 found that officers and police staff acted in accordance with policy and guidance.

An inquest was held in January 2023, where the Coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.

We carefully considered whether there were any organisational 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.

In this case, the investigation identified organisational learning but we did not deem it necessary to issue any recommendations. A reminder of the importance of ensuring care and contact for a bereaved family was highlighted.