Restraint of man in custody – West Yorkshire Police, April 2022
On 28 April 2022, West Yorkshire Police Officers (WYP) officers arrested a man for numerous offences and transported him to custody. The man was verbally and physically abusive towards officers, who had to restrain him. On the second restraint, a detention officer struck the man three times in the face with his hand, and then a fourth time with his knee. The man was then taken to his cell where he disclosed he had taken an overdose before coming into custody. The man was taken back to the custody desk where he continued to make threats to the officers and was therefore restrained on the floor. Whilst others placed leg restraints on the man, the detention officer restrained him by holding his head down to the floor with his hands, which he then switched to his knee as he helped his colleagues lift the man’s legs to position the leg restraints. The man was then taken to hospital.
During the investigation, we obtained CCTV of the custody area and body worn video from the police officers involved. We interviewed the detention officer under the criminal and misconduct caution in regard to his use of force, during which he provided a full account of his decisions and actions. We obtained witness accounts from other detention officers and police officers who were also involved in the man’s restraint. In addition, we obtained a statement from a WYP use of force trainer and a report from a use of force trainer. We also obtained and analysed other relevant policy and guidance in order to consider if the decision to use force and the specific tactics employed were in line with local and national policy and guidance. The man declined to engage with our investigation.
We concluded our investigation in October 2022 and found the detention officer had no case to answer for misconduct but determined that he should be referred to the Reflective Practice Review Process (RPRP). RPRP is not a disciplinary outcome, but a formalised process set out in the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020. It is used when it is considered more appropriate to address one-off issues or instances where a need for individual learning has been identified.
We shared our report with WYP who, in November 2022, agreed with our findings.
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, we did not identify any organisational learning for WYP but did identify a potential area for individual learning in relation to the actions of a police officer involved in this incident.