Deaths in police custody at highest level for five years

Latest figures showing 17 people died in or following detention by police in 2014-15 come hours before Theresa May announces independent review

Sean Rigg, who died in police custody seven years ago. 

The number of people dying in police custody has reached its highest level for five years, according to the latest figures released hours before the home secretary launches an independent review following decades of pressure from families who have lost loved ones.

Theresa May to launch independent review of deaths in police custody

Home secretary will state desire to rebuild public confidence in police in speech that comes after tensions between ministers and force under Tory-led coalition

The last time the figure was higher was in 2010-11 when it stood at 21. The IPCCalso revealed that there were 69 apparent suicides following custody. This is 50% higher than the 46 people in 2010-11.

On Thursday afternoon Theresa May will launch an independent review of deaths in police custody and promise to stamp out the “evasiveness and obstruction” suffered by families at the hands of the authorities. The home secretary aims to transform public confidence in the police, declaring that she has been “been struck by the pain and suffering of families still looking for answers”.

The speech, to be given in south London, is expected to touch on some of the most emotive issues in the police’s relationship with the communities it serves and follows five years of barely concealed running warfare between ministers and the police under the Conservative-led coalition.

The invite for selected guests to attend on Thursday afternoon hails the significance of May’s speech. It reads: “The home secretary will set out the government’s reforms to transform the relationship between the public and the police and to preserve the historic principle that the public are the police and the police are the public.”

May will return to a subject she focused on in an uncompromising 2014 speech to the conference of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers. She warned then that abuses by officers had jeopardised the bedrock of British law enforcement – policing by consent of the public.

Families and those who have helped their battles for justice said they wanted to learn the full details of the government’s plans before giving their blessing.

In extracts released in advance by her officials, May says: “In my time as home secretary, I have been struck by the pain and suffering of families still looking for answers, who have encountered not compassion and redress from the authorities, but what they feel as evasiveness and obstruction.

“I have also heard first-hand the frustration of police officers and staff, whose mission it is to help people but whose training and procedures can end up causing bureaucracy and delay.
“No one – least of all police officers – wants such incidents to happen, and I know everyone involved takes steps to avoid them.

But when such incidents do occur, every single one represents a failure – and has the potential to undermine dramatically the relationship between the public and the police.”
The review of deaths in custody will investigate the restraint methods used by officers and how incidents are investigated, following sustained criticism of the IPCC from families.

It will also examine how to provide alternative places for people with mental health problems, so they do not end up in a police cell with officers acting as a service of last resort because there is no other service available.

In April, the Guardian revealed that the home secretary had held several meetings with the families of two men who died in custody – Sean Rigg and Olaseni Lewis – and wrote to them to say how moved she was by their suffering, which was made worse by the failings of the criminal justice system. Rigg and Lewis died after restraint by officers in 2008 and 2010 respectively. Their families are yet to receive full answers and the final resolution they want despite years of legal action.

The home secretary, Theresa May. Photograph: Rex Shutterstock

Ajibola Lewis, the mother of Olaseni Lewis, said families such as hers should have been consulted by the home secretary about what the review should examine and it was too early to tell if it was a public relations exercise or meaningful: “We are surprised that the proposed review, its purpose and its scope is being announced without any prior consultation with us or other families in our position.”

Lewis added: “We find deep-seated and repeated failures on the part of all of the agencies of the state to whom we look to take responsibility to investigate and prevent such deaths, including those concerned within the senior management of our police service, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the Crown Prosecution Service and the coroner’s courts.”

Marcia Rigg-Samuel said of the proposed review: “There is a clear need for a radical overhaul of how the whole system works following a death in police custody, and I hope that the independent review will address this, as well as the root causes of these avoidable deaths and ensuring accountability for those who fail in their duties to members of the public.”

The latest official statistics show that in 2013-14, 68 people took their own lives within two days of being arrested or detained, the highest figure for a decade. There were also 11 deaths during or after police custody. May will say: “All too often vulnerable people, often those with mental health problems, are taken because there is no other place to go.”

Theresa May to Police Federation: you don't like me, but I don't care

John Crace

Unfettered by coalition, the home secretary’s speech could be summed up as ‘come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough’

It is also expected that May will promise to make the police more diverse because police officers are currently more white than the communities they serve.

The speech follows a raft of announcements on key policy areas from the new Conservative government, showing that despite only having a small majority, it will not shy away from pursuing its agenda, which it says is reformist and radical, while critics dismiss it as dogmatic and divisive.

Now elected with a parliamentary majority and armed with a fresh electoral mandate, the Conservatives seem set to take on the police service between now and 2020. Ministers will say they are necessary reforms, while some in policing will see it as a continuation of bashing a service already diminished and demoralised by the past five years, which have seen large budget cuts.
The home secretary is threatening police with legislation over their use of stop and search powers if they do not demonstrate that they are voluntarily stamping out the excessive targeting of black people and other minority groups.

As part of the drive to professionalise the police, the government pressed for a College of Policing to be founded, which it was in 2012. Its chief executive officer, Alex Marshall, said: “Police officers and custody staff do a difficult job dealing with detained individuals who may be aggressive and abusive. However, policing is often seen as a service of last resort, and officers often come into contact with people in a vulnerable state.

“While we have seen significant improvement in this area over the past decade, much remains to be done to improve cross-sector work. It is vital that health and social services recognise their role to help prevent the tragic loss to the families involved.”

Deborah Coles, of Inquest, which supports those who have lost loved ones during detention or contact with state agencies, said: “It is too early to tell if this is more about a public relations exercise than a real attempt to bring about effective systemic change and the necessary accountability of police officers.”