Police response to concerns for the welfare of a man - Cambridgeshire Constabulary, April 2019

On 1 April 2019, Cambridgeshire Police received a call from a woman reporting her son as missing. It was established he had been seen by his girlfriend; it transpired he had moved out of his family home to live with her, and his mother was unhappy with this arrangement. Calls to police were placed later that day by both the man and his girlfriend, reporting his mother was at their address and refusing to leave. Officers attended, by which point the mother had left, and completed a domestic abuse risk assessment with the man.

On 24 April 2019, the man’s girlfriend called the police reporting he had threatened suicide and that she was unable to find him. Officers attended a college where the man had last been seen and were told by a member of staff he had been located on site; shortly afterwards they were informed he had left, and his whereabouts was again unknown.

Officers searched the local area. Police then received a report that a man had been struck by a train nearby; this was later confirmed to have been the same man, who died at the scene.

The case was referred to IOPC as is usual after someone dies following contact with the police. No conduct was identified during the investigation, and no complaints were made.

We sought to establish whether police took sufficient measures in safeguarding and assessing risk to the man on 1 April 2019, and whether they took sufficient action in locating and safeguarding the man on 24 April 2019.

We reviewed evidence including recordings of phone calls to police and documentation of the risk assessment carried out by officers with the man, and took statements from the officers involved, radio transmissions, body-worn footage and CCTV footage.

Police were found to have adhered to policy and guidance in their response to the incident and were not found to have caused or contributed to the man’s death.