People with mental health problems entering custody.
Dear Humberside Police,
Would you be able to provide me with some information relating to how people with mental health problems that enter custody are dealt with? I am looking into how they have been treated in comparison to those who enter custody that claim to not be suffering from any mental health problems.
What is the boundary as to when a person who suffers from mental health problems enters custody where the decision is made as to whether they stay in custody or receive a form of care? And if they go into care, how is this care established? What forms of care do they recieve and does Miranda House play a role in this?
Between 2005 and 2010, how many people have come into custody that have mental health problems? And how many of these stayed in custody and how many went into care?
How, since the implementation of PACE Code C, have how you deal with people with mental health problems changed? Has this been for the better or worse – for both the police service and the offender/s?
And have there been any incidents that have occurred both within Humberside and other police services throughout England and Wales that have resulted a change in which Humberside Police custody staff operate to avoid similar incidents/situations.
Any information that you are able to provide will be greatly appreciated and a great help.
Kind Regards,
Yours Faithfully,
Theo Connolly.
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED - NO DESCRIPTOR
Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2012-00020
04 January, 2012
Dear Mr. Connolly,
Thank you for your request for Information, received at this office on 01 January, 2012, in which you requested details of the following:
Request for information on those brought into custody with mental health problems
Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party. In some circumstances Humberside Police may be unable to achieve this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at the earliest opportunity.
There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment from you. If you chose not to make a payment then your request will remain unanswered.
Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.
We anticipate being able to provide you with the information that you have requested on or before 30 January, 2012.
Should you need to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact the unit.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Waller
Information Compliance Officer
+44 (1482) 317096
Humberside Police
Corporate Development Branch
Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Kingston Upon Hull
HU5 5SF
Fax:+44 (1482) 317090
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED - NO DESCRIPTOR
Internet Email should not be treated as a secure means of communication. To ensure regulatory compliance Humberside Police monitors all Internet Email activity and content. This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Unauthorised use or disclosure of the content may be unlawful. If you are not a named addressee, you must not disclose, copy, print, or in any other way use or rely on the data contained in this transmission. If received in error you should notify the sender immediately and delete this Email Humberside Police routinely checks e-mails for computer viruses. However addressees are advised to conduct their own virus checks of all e-mails, & any attachments). Opinions expressed in this document may not be official policy. Thank you for your co-operation. Humberside Police
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED - NO DESCRIPTOR
Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2012-00020
04 January, 2012
Dear Mr. Connolly,
Thank you for your request for Information, received at this office on 01 January, 2012, in which you requested details of the following:
Request for information on those brought into custody with mental health problems
Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party. In some circumstances Humberside Police may be unable to achieve this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at the earliest opportunity.
There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment from you. If you chose not to make a payment then your request will remain unanswered.
Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.
We anticipate being able to provide you with the information that you have requested on or before 30 January, 2012.
Should you need to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact the unit.
Yours sincerely,
Waller, Paul
Information Compliance Officer
+44 (1482) 317096
Humberside Police
Corporate Development Branch
Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Kingston Upon Hull
HU5 5SF
Fax:+44 (1482) 317090
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED - NO DESCRIPTOR
Internet Email should not be treated as a secure means of communication. To ensure regulatory compliance Humberside Police monitors all Internet Email activity and content. This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Unauthorised use or disclosure of the content may be unlawful. If you are not a named addressee, you must not disclose, copy, print, or in any other way use or rely on the data contained in this transmission. If received in error you should notify the sender immediately and delete this Email Humberside Police routinely checks e-mails for computer viruses. However addressees are advised to conduct their own virus checks of all e-mails, & any attachments). Opinions expressed in this document may not be official policy. Thank you for your co-operation. Humberside Police
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED - NO DESCRIPTOR
Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2012-00020
20 January, 2012
Dear Mr. Connolly,
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act for information on those brought into custody with mental health problems.
We write to advise you that the cost of providing you with the information requested is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the "appropriate level" as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. It is estimated that it would cost in excess of the £450.00 or 18 hours to comply with your request.
After discussing your request with Detention Officers at Humberside Police Headquarters, unfortunately to retrieve the information that you require would mean accessing the records of every individual brought into custody in the Humberside area. Separate data is not kept regarding the mental health of an individual as it is part of the standard questioning procedure when someone is brought into the custody suite. This procedure as defined in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ensures the safety and care of a suspect when brought into custody. With over 30,000 people brought into custody throughout the Humberside Force area, using an average time of 5 minutes to access and retrieve the information, we estimate it would take 2,500 hours to complete. Guidance regarding requests that have a potential to exceed the Fees limit states that if one part of a request takes the request as a whole over the limit, then a suitable exemption can be applied.
Under the Freedom of Information Act I am obliged to exempt your request under Section 12 - Over the Fees. Please see below for further details.
Section 12 - Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit.
(1) s1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the 'appropriate limit' (18 - hours).
Activities that may be counted within our time estimations are:
*Determining if the information is held;
*Locating the information, or a document containing it;
*Retrieving the information, or a document containing it; and
*Extracting the information from a document containing it.
The following have not been included within our calculations:
* The time spent identifying information to be exempted and the time dedicated to the process of redaction.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.
As a public authority we have a duty assist wherever possible. However as you are asking for information that relates to the care of suspects brought into custody with mental health issues, the majority of your questions would require the accessing of individual records to ascertain whether there was a mental health issue. You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the costs shown above.
You have also made reference to whether the implementation of PACE Code C has had a 'better or worse effect' either for the Police Service or prisoners. The Police service will follow guidance as laid out under PACE ensuring the safety and care of a prisoner whilst in custody. Freedom of Information is about data that is held by an authority, not conjecture or opinions of an individual/s within the force.
Should you need to discuss this further please contact the Information Compliance Unit on the details below.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Waller
Information Compliance Officer
Information Compliance Unit
+44 (1482) 317096
Humberside Police
Corporate Development Branch
Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Kingston Upon Hull
HU5 5SF
Fax:+44 (1482) 317090
Paul Waller | Information Compliance Officer | Information Compliance Unit| Humberside Police Headquarters |Priory Road |Hull | HU5 5SF | Tel: 01482 317096 (Int 1396) | Email [email address]
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED - NO DESCRIPTOR
Internet Email should not be treated as a secure means of communication. To ensure regulatory compliance Humberside Police monitors all Internet Email activity and content. This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Unauthorised use or disclosure of the content may be unlawful. If you are not a named addressee, you must not disclose, copy, print, or in any other way use or rely on the data contained in this transmission. If received in error you should notify the sender immediately and delete this Email Humberside Police routinely checks e-mails for computer viruses. However addressees are advised to conduct their own virus checks of all e-mails, & any attachments). Opinions expressed in this document may not be official policy. Thank you for your co-operation. Humberside Police
Dear Waller, Paul 8065,
Would you be able to assist my request if less information was asked for. The new request is:
1. What form of care is available for someone with Mental Health Problems within the Humberside area?
2. Has PACE Code C influenced positively or negatively on how the service operate?
3. Out of a select 100 people between a period of 2005 and 2010 who enetered custody, how many of these had mental health problems?
Yours sincerely,
Theo Connolly, 6670.
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now