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Our inspections of police custody usually take the form of a thematic inspection, or take place as part of our Local Policing+ Inspection Programme under which we inspect all custody centres located in a particular local policing division. This inspection was in addition to our regular programme and took place at the request of Police Scotland. While the principal aim of the inspection was to provide assurance about the delivery of custody at both custody centres, the secondary aim was to assist Police Scotland’s Criminal Justice Services Division in developing its own, internal audit processes. Our inspections of Aikenhead Road and London Road followed our usual format, except that when we reviewed a sample of custody records, we did so jointly with a representative of the Criminal Justice Services Division. This allowed us to share and discuss our methodology with the division.
Additional
| Number | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Police Scotland should explore why 15 and 30-minute observations are not being used in some custody centres and provide further guidance and training to staff where necessary. |
| 2 | A detainee’s gender and dignity should be key considerations when allocating a member of staff to carry out constant observations. There should be a presumption, unless a risk assessment dictates otherwise, that constant observations should be carried out by someone of the same gender as the detainee. |
| 3 | Wherever possible, male and female detainees should be held in separate areas within the cell accommodation. |