Recommendation - West Yorkshire Police, September 2022
We identified organisational learning from a local death or serious injury report after a suspect in a child sexual abuse case took their own life while under investigation. The Officer in Charge (OIC) took the appropriate safeguarding action when the suspect was released from custody. However, force policy states that there should be an ongoing risk strategy and that there are certain trigger points in an investigation that may mean that the risk of self-harm is increased. The OIC does not appear to have known about this policy, which is concealed within the force's policy on Safeguarding Children and Young People.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
The IOPC recommends that West Yorkshire Police devises supplementary guidance on safeguarding suspects during child sexual abuse investigations. At present the guidance is contained within force policy on Safeguarding Children and Young People. We recommend that the guidance is embedded in all relevant policies under a specific heading of suspect welfare. We also recommend that the current guidance is revised to incorporate College of Policing Guidance (Managing the risk of suicide for persons under investigation for online child sexual abuse and exploitation).
Accepted action:
The recommendation has been accepted by the Force.
As a result, a supplementary guidance document has been created by the Safeguarding Central Governance Unit. The Guidance Document has been embedded into all relevant policies under the heading of ‘Suspect Considerations’
The Guidance also includes the College of Policing Guidance in respect of Managing the Risk of Suicide for Persons Under Investigation for Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. The Guidance document is linked to the following policies:
Safeguarding Children and Young People policy,Custody and Detention policy,
The changes were implemented on the 16/11/22