The last place a person in a mental health crisis should be is in a police cell, says the secretary of Staffordshire Federation as new figures reveal the scale of the issue across the country.
Glyn Pattinson called for greater investment in mental health services to provide the right support for people in a crisis and to ease the burden on police officers.
He was speaking as statistics obtained by the BBC under Freedom of Information law suggests up to 4,500 people in mental health crisis were unlawfully held in police custody in England and Wales in a year.
The figures come from a report commissioned by Theresa May when she was Prime Minister and given to ministers in 2018.
Glyn said: “It’s unacceptable for people to be placed into a police custody cell because the appropriate mental health support is not available.
“Our members are not trained medical professionals and the last place that someone who is urgently unwell should be is in a police cell – they need to be in an appropriate setting. But, of course, not taking them into custody can also have an impact on police resources since officers would still need to stay with them to ensure they are safe and this can be a real drain as mental health services often don’t have enough beds or staff to respond."
“We need the Government to take responsibility and put money into ensuring the right services, support and care is available when people are in crisis.”
His comments were echoed by John Apter, the chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
John said: “It is deeply frustrating to see more headlines revealing members of the public in mental health crisis are being kept in police cells when they absolutely shouldn’t be as they are patients – not prisoners.
“The Federation has been warning about this issue for many years which presents an unfair risk to both people in desperate need of professional help and the police officers left with no choice but to step in.
“If we fail to talk about this the problem won’t go away - it’s almost like a dirty little secret and nobody wants to accept we have a problem when in fact it’s a massive issue which is only getting worse.
“Our NHS and social care services simply don’t have the capacity and policing is unable to say no. This must change.
“Alongside us, other policing bodies, including the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, have supported urgent need for action as the police service continues to be used to plug the gaps of other agencies when they already struggling to cope with demand. This is grossly unfair and must stop.
“I would urge the Government to take responsibility, both legislatively and financially, so that real money is put into secure non-police facilities, drug and alcohol services, community health and social care programmes so that the most vulnerable people in society can be helped and protected.”
