Response to safe and well check - West Midlands Police, December 2017

On 7 December 2017, at 11.58am, West Midlands Police (WMP) officers were asked to conduct a safe and well check on an elderly man by his daughter after he had failed to answer a pre-planned call. An officer was dispatched and received no response at the man’s home when he arrived at 8.41pm. The officer requested that a second check be conducted and entry forced to the property, if necessary. A second patrol attended the man’s home at 8.33pm on 8 December. Officers found him dead in the rear garden of his property. The post-mortem concluded that the man had died of natural causes.

Our investigators interviewed the officers who attended the property and spoke to the man’s daughter. They recovered and reviewed images of the scene as well as the documentation generated by WMP throughout their investigation.

Evidence indicated that WMP appeared to have made efforts to conduct the safe and well check, despite considerable resourcing issues on 7 and 8 December 2017. There was actually no requirements for them to do so, as the man did not meet the definition of a missing person but that of an ‘absent’ one. The decisions and actions of WMP officers and staff would therefore appear to be not only in accordance with the local and national policy, but over and above what was required of them.

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.

After reviewing our report, WMP agreed.