The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) are very concerned by the police custody review published today.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMCIS) and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) examined 90 custody cases, across three police stations in Glasgow, in September last year.
Inspectors found five children were held longer than necessary:
- a 13-year-old held in police custody for more than six hours
- three 14 year olds held for over six, 10 and 12 hours respectively
- A 16-year-old held overnight for more than nine hours.
Responding to the findings, Fiona Dyer, Professor of Practice at CYCJ said:
“The findings from this review are deeply troubling. In our research, children have told us police custody is the most traumatic aspect of their justice journey. We need to stop holding children unnecessarily in police cells and use more trauma-informed alternatives.
A new working group with members from Police Scotland has recently been formed, co-chaired by CYCJ and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA), to examine this issue.
There is a national, cross-agency commitment, including from Police Scotland, to finding alternatives to police custody. This is a key part of Keeping the Promise and the evidence shows that avoiding unnecessary detention is in the best interests of the child
Scotland is committed to upholding the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and this covers the right to be processed as quickly as possible, and for deprivation of liberty to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. These children are clearly being failed on these fronts.”
You can read our recent research on children’s experience of police custody here: Children’s Experiences of Police Custody and the Implications for Trauma-Informed Policing
You can read the full inspection review here: Custody Inspection Report – Greater Glasgow | HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland