Lay Visiting Day in the North Lay Visiting Day in the South Lay Visiting Day in the House of Lords First Aid Training for Police Book review Southwest News Roundup

Ian Smith, NALV Secretary, reported good media coverage nationally while locally, lay visitors were just as busy spreading the lay visiting word.

In Lancashire, a former mayor accompanied the Co-ordinator for Southern Division on lay visits to custody suites in Chorley, Leyland and Skelmersdale while in Dorset, Kathie Emery, Chairman of the Lay Visiting Committee, set herself the task of visiting all 11 of the area's police stations with custody facilities.

The Day
The day was launched in Brixton by Home Office Minister, Kate Hoey, who acknowledged that:  "Lay visiting is a fine example of community involvement... It (also) has an important role to play in helping the community to be confident that people held in police stations are treated properly... I want to pay tribute to their valuable work and hope that increased awareness will encourage more people to volunteer... Much has improved since the early days of lay visiting in the 1980s - the physical conditions of detention have improved in many police stations and the rights of detainees have been strengthened... But the need for independent unannounced inspections is just as important today as it was then."
 

IN THE NORTH Talking it over are Councillor Mel Coombs and Brian Twist (far right) and Sgt Alan Nichol, custody officer at Chorley Police Station. Since the article about the Lay Visiting Day appeared in the newspaper, several members of the public have written ion requesting to know more about the role of a Lay Visitor. Brian Twist.

AND IN THE SOUTH.  Here's Dorset's experience related by Kathie Emery, Lay-Visitor-extraordinary Dorset is one of the smaller forces, and we've been working really hard on our lay visiting scheme over the last couple of years. Our force covers the whole county, an area of 1,024 square miles with an outer coastline of 88 miles, plus another 89 miles within Poole Harbour. Our population of 675,300 rises to some 900,000 with the influx of tourists in the summer. Over half of the residents live in the busy conurbation of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch - just a small area in the southeast of the county. Our three 24-hour custody suites are at Weymouth in the southwest and Poole and Bournemouth in the southeast along with eight other designated stations dotted around the county where DPs may be kept in the cells for a few hours at a time.

The question was, what to do to publicise lay visiting without bringing the detention process to a halt. In the end I decided that as Chairman of the Lay Visiting Committee, I would set myself the target of a lay visit to all the stations on the one day. As I would need help it was arranged that seven other LVs would meet me along the way and be my partner.

DIARY
7.3Oam         Left home. Dark and pouring with rain.
8.OOam        First visit: Bournemouth. Waved on our way by Geoff Allen, Vice-Chairman, Dorset
                       Police Authority - after we'd had him locked up and then visited him!
1O.OOam    Reached the north of the county. Sun now shining. Feeling more cheerful if somewhat
                       frustrated at just missing DPs at a couple of stations. Also missed a visit when a detainee
                       arrived as I was driving off. (Could not go back as I had to be 30 miles down the road in 30
                      minutes!)
6.3Opm      Beginning to flag but had reached last station! Dark again. Starving!

Although I had seen just six detainees, I had managed to inspect all of Dorset's cell accommodation and more importantly, had drawn lay visiting to the public's attention, having done four local radio interviews (and got write-ups in four local papers). Looking back, I did enjoy myself and I'm already thinking about what we can do next year.

Kathie Emery Poole, Dorset 

Lord Graham of Edmonton asked Her Majesty's Government whether they have in mind any change to the system for lay visiting to police stations to satisfy the public that those in custody are being treated fairly.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)
My Lords, lay visiting is a fine example of community involvement in local policing. There are no proposals to change the important independent role that lay visitors play as part of the range of safeguards and protections for people in police custody. I would like to take this opportunity to wish the National Association for Lay Visiting every success. Its inaugural National Lay Visiting Awareness Day was launched this morning by my colleague Kate Hoey.

Lord Graham of Edmonton:
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his reply. Is he aware that from time to time there are press reports, which are critical of both police stations and police officers in the course of their duty? Is my noble friend satisfied that the present system cannot be improved by providing national coverage to ensure that a fine service is available uniformly across the country? In particular, is he satisfied that there is a uniform standard of achievement before someone is qualified to be a lay visitor?

Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, my noble friend makes an extremely important point about uniformity and the achievement of national standards. Last month as admirable Home Office research study entitled Lay Visiting to Police Stations was published. That is out for consultation with everyone who wishes to be involved, not least the national association that does such admirably good work.

Lord Cope of Berkeley
My Lords, can the Minister do his best to ensure that with the increasing public awareness to which he has just referred the public will get the whole picture following reports of lay visitors, including the great deal that our police have to put up with from aggressive and violent people, drunks and drug-addicts in order that the rest of us should be protected?

Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, I sympathise with the police in having to deal with aggressive behaviour. I believe that lay visitors are an extremely important public safeguard not only for those in police custody but for the honourable, honest policemen in our society who are in the overwhelming majority.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes
My Lords, speaking as the mother of someone who was a lay visitor for many years in her twenties, can the Minister tell the House the minimum age at which someone can become a lay visitor and if there is any age ceiling? Further, is there a time limit? As I understand it, a person could serve for only a fixed number of years.

Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, I do not have those details but I shall research them. Certainly they will b part of the consultative process. I believe - I do not know - that 18 is the youngest age. I do not know whether there is a retirement age, although I am informed that that is becoming the vogue in various quarters. I shall research the matter and answer fully the question posed by the noble Baroness and place a copy in the Library.

Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, is the Minister satisfied that there is no shortage in any of the areas covered by the lay visiting scheme? I understand that there is a geographical spread. Inevitably, some areas will be well supported and others not. I am sure that those outside the House will be enormously grateful for the kind words that have been said about the system. Can special attention be paid to making clear to those outside the House that the purpose of the lay visitor is to reassure the public as much as to make sure that the police and Home Office do their job?

Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, my noble friend is right. One tends to have greater coverage in built-up urban areas. Rural areas are less well served which is probably an obvious consequence of the fact that police stations tend to be much more remotely situated in such areas. That is certainly an aspect that is contained in the Home Office research study which was published in December 1998 and will undoubtedly be part of the discussions that will take place in the next month or two.

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, is there any information to indicate that where there is a lay visiting scheme in police stations those stations are run differently from or better than those where there is no such scheme?

Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, I do not believe that that kind of specific conclusion can be drawn. The importance of the scheme is that it is voluntary and entirely separate from the Police Service and Home Office. Its key characteristic is that police officers and police stations do not know when visits are likely to occur. I do not believe it can be said scientifically that where a scheme works well the police station is necessarily run better. It is a very important safeguard for the public and police alike.

Lord Avebury
My Lords, is the Minister satisfied that an adequate number of persons belonging to ethnic minorities are appointed as lay visitors, particularly in those areas where the population predominantly comprises minorities?

Lord Williams of Mostyn
My Lords, I am not. That is an aspect that will be discussed in the next month or two following the publication of the report. It is very important that there should be full representation by ethnic minority, religious background and gender for those who undertake this important work.

A CPO's Medical Working Group,  headed by Rodney Lind, Deputy Chief Constable, Wiltshire, has now formulated its recommendations for First Aid training for police officers. (VT Vol 5 Issue 3 1998).  The aim is to standardise and maintain certain levels of competency and proposals for this are due for final discussion in late spring.  The proposal will be to ally National Police Training with an independent, accredited agency to develop five structured modules, the delivery of which will then be monitored and audited to ensure truly appropriate training.

 "Police forces are acutely aware of their responsibilities and obligations under Health and Safety legislation. The cost of training probationer constables is already picked up by each force for national police training - obviously there will be a cost for in- force training: there are clearly benefits in getting it right."
Inspector Craig Hill
 

Module 1 2 hours' ABC: Airways, Breathing & Circulation (Target: police support staff)

Module 2 Life-saving skills and resuscitation: (equal to that received by police personnel at training school)

Module 3 Specifically for custody staff (covering particular custodial issues such as self-harm and death - issues previously identified by HMICs and which also emerged at the PCA Deaths in Custody conference  and already being addressed by the Working Group)

Module 4 Would concentrate on police specialist units: those dealing with public order, and firearms. (The provider would be seeking to equate this module to the level demanded by the Health & Safety Executive)

Module 5 Would be a "tactical module" (ACPO Staff Officer, Craig Hill, Wiltshire Constabulary). (While Module 4 would be deemed sufficient training for the majority of officers, this last would aim for exceptionally high standards with training "likely to be delivered by professional paramedic organisations").

References:
PACE Act 1984
Health and Safety Regulations 1981
HMIC Thematic 1997
Public Inquiry Into Police  Management of Stephen  Lawrence Murder  Investigation 1999
PCA Annual Report 1997/1998
The Doctor's Bill: Audit Commission 1998
Deaths in Custody - Learning the Lessons: Police Research Group
Immediate Medical Care at Firearms Incidents: Police Research Award Scheme
Guide to Police Health and Safety: Home Office

Here is someone telling it like it is: someone  who not only knows his subject academically but writes from experience - liaison should be his middle name. This is another provocative book from Peter Villiers which, considering his working background prior to joining the Police Staff College Bramshill as senior tutor, makes him the ideal person to examine the ethical dimension of the decision- making process - something which should interest lay visitors.

Reading Better Police Ethics may help explain previously puzzling police decisions or actions and encourage understanding of the myriad principles that underpin our police service as best practice is continually besieged by competing priorities.

Theme
The hook's leitmotiv is to raise awareness of the need for the application of ethics within policing, and of the difficulties arising from trying to ensure its occurrence, especially in an ever-changing society undergoing an ever- changing morality. In an ideal society the 'right' policing would be a given, but the reality is that in this cultural conglomerate of ours, delivery of such policing, at all levels, needs the wisdom of Solomon, the dedication (and dare it be said, the tunnel vision) of a fanatic - an exclusivist doctrine of 'right' - the flexibility and tolerance of either/or pluralism or inclusivism, and the gift of hindsight. And that would only be for starters!

No joke
This is not to trivialise a serious subject. It is the conclusion drawn from reading 200+ pages of varying perspectives and good reasons for possible actions: actions which often have to be made quickly, under duress and without the luxury of time to consider the long-term effect until later yet which must be defendable.

Like life
Policing is a series of checks and balances and balancing those checks is no easy task given the amount of perspectives needing taking on board. Setting all this out could not have been an easy task. Thus, this book is not deckchair reading but merits serious armchair 'brown study' and once started, when the dilemmas appear thick and fast, it is soon apparent how diverse - and difficult - policing can be.

No easy option
So, what are its ethics and does the end justify the means? Is there a morally defendable problem-solving technique that officers need only learn at Police College and then apply back at the station? To someone who could fence-sit for England, the number of alternative viewpoints there is shows only too clearly that there is no typical model to follow, that there are more grey than see-clear areas and just how morally responsible policing needs to be considering its overarching complexities. Demanding cognisance are the pros and cons of the organisation's collective and individual priorities and the inherent beliefs, prejudices, values and other human frailties of individuals involved plus the need to stay within the law. (Incidentally Peter Villiers asserts that police officers, while supposed to apply the law, in fact, apply its rules: Discuss)

Jargon
To explain this labyrinthine subject Peter Villiers, ever the tutor and ethicist, perforce uses sociological dicta as a means of explanation when discussing case studies for instance. And it is when a particular interpretation (of the rules) and a possible practical application of them collide that the reader is suddenly aware of the importance of ethical and moral standards not just being applied but being seen to be applied.

Professionalism
As Aristotle said (according to PV.), 'moral behaviour needs to be not only discussed but practised..." hence, perhaps, the current emphasis on police-public accountability and openness. "The credibility of a police force is a delicate growth, easily damaged or destroyed, and difficult to reseed in the mud of public mockery... the police must balance competing interests and find the middle ground." (Villiers)

Even with experience
This is doubtless easier said than done despite honest, determined attempts to blend aspects practical, legal and ethical. Know this: that "Real police work is not a matter of clear, absolute moral standards being leisurely applied in easily grasped situations  although the decision-maker needs to realise that what may have seemed purely a practical problem has an ethical dimension. (But) Conversely, ethical issues cannot be solved by the practical application of moral philosophy alone. They require practical analysis as well" for, as Peter Villiers so wittily paraphrases John Donne, "no act is an island"   and real dilemmas are often protracted, complex and incomplete".

Better Police Ethics
Gives a detailed insight into the dilemma-ridden world that U Urn is policing. It is a place where decision-making is a many- headed monster whose every move demands the 'right' interpretation to ensure the 'right' result. It is a place fraught with ifs, maybes and what ifs which, if not negotiated ethically, morally and responsibly, can have far- reaching consequences - including the possibly unintended consequences Karl Popper believed accompanies every act.

As 1998/99 draws to a close, Lay Visitors can be proud that this year they have undertaken more visits than in previous years. This may be as a result of increasing the number of Lay Visitors on most panels so that there is an additional visitor to provide cover if necessary. There are currently 87 Lay Visitors.

Training
During the year four training days have been held at Police Headquarters and an Annual Conference. In addition, at panel meetings, all Lay Visitors have been informed about Health and Safety Risk Assessments.

Conference
Seven Lay Visitors and the Scheme Administrator attended the NALV Conference in Belfast and were lucky to obtain an invitation to visit a Belfast Custody Unit - as guests!

NALV Day
National Awareness Day obtained good press coverage by both the print and broadcasting media and Co-ordinators from the Taunton and the Bridewell, Bristol Panel both spoke about the scheme on local radio programmes.

On camera
We were proud to be involved in the making of the new NALV video which was filmed at an unused custody unit in the force area.

 The Scheme is working well with 96% of scheduled visits being kept. There are presently 65 Lay Visitors with potential recruits waiting in the wings for the next recruitment day.

NALV Day
The National Awareness Day was very successful, with the Authority's Clerk giving two radio interviews which has triggered recruitment enquiries and requests for interviews from the press.

Dorset

NALV Day
The Chairman of the Lay Visiting Committee and Police Authority Member Mrs Kathleen Emery, undertook a hugely successful marathon Lay Visit to each of its 11 custody units and achieved excellent print and television coverage.

Looksee
As part of a Police 'Open Day' this coming summer it is planned that the public will be able to see the custody arrangements for themselves.

Change
Penny Tonks who has so efficiently managed the lay visiting scheme in the past will be handing over the task shortly when the Dorset Police Authority goes it alone and ceases to be serviced by Dorset County Council. We will miss her. 

Good report
Lay Visitors report that detainees state they are treated well and the conditions and environment of their detention has raised no problems, apart from conditions at one station.

Hep C
Following concerns of Lay Visitors, Divisional Commanders have now been asked to make sure that Lay Visitors are informed in advance of any detainee carrying the Hepatitis 'C' virus.

Rosemary Parker South West Region Representative