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Angiolini Review on deaths in police custody calls for sweeping changes

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Dame Elish Angiolini

Former police officers should be barred from leading investigations into deaths occurring in police custody, which should be treated like crime scenes, according to a major UK review.

The report carried out by Dame Elish Angiolini also recommends that the scenes of death should be investigated by people trained in securing evidence from crime scenes and that “drying out centres” be used instead of police cells for drunk detainees.

Its recommendations include:

  • Police chiefs should be subject to misconduct charges if they fail to preserve the scene of a death that needs investigating.

  • The introduction of a National Coroner Service in England and Wales to address “inconsistencies and fundamental shortcomings”.

  • On-call teams at the Independent Police Complaints Commission to respond to deaths in police custody 24 hours a day.

    • Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: “The police have a duty to protect the lives of people in detention, the public deserves full confidence in our justice system, and the state must investigate any death for which it might be responsible.”Sadly the long-awaited Angiolini Review, which reiterates the findings in our own report on non-natural deaths in detention, proves we’ve got a long way to go before we achieve any of these.

    “The government must use findings to improve the ability of public authorities to serve the needs of people with mental health conditions, to eradicate unavoidable deaths in detention, and to ensure that the families of the deceased are able to access justice effectively. Without this, we are failing those in need of protection.”

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