Independent Custody Visitors

Each Police and Crime Commissioner has a legal obligation to make arrangements for a custody visiting scheme to operate in its area. In London, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) holds overall responsibility for the scheme’s management and administration. The Scheme not only helps the public have greater confidence in the police, it also helps MOPAC to hold the Commissioner to account. The scheme is administered by officers within MOPAC who provide a point of contact for each panel of ICVs and coordinate, collate and monitor the statistics of visits.

We appreciate that people lead very busy lives and fortunately the scheme does not require a huge amount of the volunteers; however it does require a level of commitment and flexibility. When they join the scheme visitors are required to participate in the induction training, which takes place over two weekday evenings and to conduct 3 shadow visits with an experienced pair of existing ICVs.

Each custody suite must receive a minimum of one visit per week. Rotas are drawn up in advance so visitors know which week they will be visiting and so there is a fair rotation with regards to how often each volunteer carries out visits. Visits can be carried out at any time, 7 days a week. It is important for the success of the ICV scheme to have visits carried out at a variety of times and this is where the need for flexibility arises. Each panel meets on a quarterly basis and ICVs are expected to attend.

Upon appointment, ICVs are given a memorandum of understanding, which further details what is expected from them.

The person specification lists the essential and desirable criteria. It is important to be able to listen well and have the ability to talk to people from a wide range of backgrounds.

There is no set uniform or written dress code, however it is important to consider health and safety and practicality. For this reason some items of clothing or accessories are advised against in all cases, for example: neck ties, scarves, necklaces, expensive jewellery, short skirts and shorts.

It is up to each individual to determine what is most appropriate for themselves, but as a general guide ‘smart-casual’ will be most appropriate. Formal wear such as suits are not advised as this may give the impression that the visitor is an ‘official’ or ‘authority’ figure rather than an independent individual.

You can resign at any time and resignations should be made in writing to MOPAC. When an ICV resigns they will be offered an exit questionnaire to give feedback on their experiences whilst in the scheme.

It is important that custody visits are spread out across different days and times of the week and weekend visits must be carried out by each team to ensure an even distribution of visits. It is helpful if several volunteers are willing to carry out frequent weekend visits, and we would encourage each volunteer to undertake at least one weekend visit after 8pm.

You should not make any physical contact with the detainee, and you will usually be positioned just in the door way of the cell, while the detainee will be inside, usually sat down.

Police custody is a very controlled environment and steps are taken to ensure the safety of custody visitors. Visitors can only undertake visits in pairs and the visit will be conducted in the line of sight of the escorting officer. Visitors will be advised by the custody staff if there are any specific health and safety risks from detainees and if it is ever unsafe for ICVs to visit a particular detainee then the visit to that individual will not go ahead.

The ICV scheme utilizes a range of professional competencies and skills from the volunteer workforce. Here are some examples of skills volunteers need to have and/ or will develop:
• Commitment
• Communication - written and verbal
• Assertiveness
• Compassion and Empathy
• Leadership
• Strong work ethic
• Teamwork
• Time management