I’ve often referred to the stack of reports on my shelf at home which have been published over the years and touch upon my treasured Venn diagram of policing, mental health and criminal justice. Well, those thousands of pages all went for recycling recently and I decided to put links to them all on one post so they can be referred to electronically, as and when required.
This is mainly for my own benefit, to be fair(!) but I hope it’s helpful to you, too!
- The Main Thematic Reports —
- Strategic Review of Policing: government commissioned review of policing, which touches upon policing and mental health, citing this blog, amongst other things (2022).
- Joint Thematic Inspection: various national inspectorates’ inspection of mental health and criminal justice (2021).
- UN Human Rights Committee: human rights violations of African descent by law enforcement (2021).
- National Strategy on Policing and Mental Health: published by NPCC and the College of Policing (2020).
- CPS Prosecution Guidance: Victims with mental health conditions (2019) – DPP’s guidance relating to vulnerable crime victims and witnesses.
- CPS Prosecution Guidance: Suspects with mental health conditions (2019) – DPP’s guidance on relating to vulnerable suspects.
- CQC Review of the MHA Code of Practice (2019) – reports on how the Code is not well understood, used or disseminated; particular findings on s140 MHA.
- The NHS Long Term Plan (2019) – Strategy for the development of the NHS.
- The Wessely Report (2018) – Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983.
- Picking Up the Pieces (2018) – Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary report.
- The Future of Policing Report (2018) – Home Affairs Committee report.
- What Works? (2018) – Scottish Government report in to collaborative responses to mental health crisis.
- The Angiolini Report (2017) – Independent Review.
- Five Year Forward View (2016) – NHS England.
- Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat (Wales, 2015) – Cross-government and partner concordat in Wales.
- Right Here, Right Now (2015) – CQC Thematic Review of Crisis Care.
- Crisp Report (2015) – Independent Review in to inpatient mental health beds for adults.
- Preventing Deaths in Detention of Adults with Mental Health Problems (2015) – Equality and Human Rights Commission.
- Policing and Mental Health (2015) – Home Affairs Committee report.
- Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat (2015) – Cross-government concordat in Wales to improve mental health crisis care.
- Victim Support Report (2014) – At Risk, Yet Dismissed.
- Crisis Care Concordat (2014) – Cross government concordat in England to improve mental health crisis care.
- A Safer Place to Be (2014) – CQC Report in to health-based Places of Safety.
- The Iacobucci Report (2014, Canada) – Independent Review.
- The Adebowale Report (2013) – Independent Review in to policing and mental health in London.
- A Criminal Use of Police Cells (2013) – HMIC / CQC / HMIP review of the use of police custody as a Place of Safety.
- The Work of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (2010) – Home Affairs Committee Report.
- The Bradley Report (2009) – Independent Review in to mental health and criminal justice.
- The Police and Mental Health (2008) – briefing paper by the Centre for Mental Health.
- The Richardson Report (2000) – Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983.
- Caldicott Report (1997) – Independent report on patient confidentiality.
In addition to thematic reviews on stuff, there are also a number of guidelines which have been published which touch on these matters, to one extent or another. They are often the product of thematic reports.
- Guidelines on Acute Behavioural Disturbance (2022) – Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
- Position Statement on Acute Behavioural Disturbance (2018) – College of Paramedics.
- Memorandum of Understanding (2017) – on Restraint in MH and & LD settings.
- Authorised Professional Practice on Mental Health (2016, updated 2017) – College of Policing guidelines.
- NICE Guidelines on Violence (2015).
- Guidelines on Management of ABD in Police Custody (2019) – Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine / Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
- NHS Patient Safety Alert on Restraint (2015).
- Home Office Circular 66/90 (1990).
IOPC (and IPCC) reports on deaths in police custody or following police contact —
- Death after custody / contact, 2021
- Death after custody / contact, 2020
- Death after custody / contact, 2019
- Death after custody / contact, 2018
- Death after custody / contact, 2017
- Previous reports are available via the National Archive for the IPCC
Finally, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England and Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW) publish annual reports about their monitoring of the Mental Health Act 1983. All the published reports I can find are here –
- England —
- Monitoring the Mental Health Act, 2020/21
- Monitoring the MHA, 2019/20
- Monitoring the MHA, 2018/19
- Monitoring the MHA, 2017/18
- Monitoring the MHA, 2016/17
- Monitoring the MHA, 2015/16
- Monitoring the MHA, 2014/15
- Monitoring the MHA, 2013/14
- Monitoring the MHA, 2012/13
- Monitoring the MHA, 2011/12
- Monitoring the MHA, 2010/11
- Monitoring the MHA, 2009/10
- Wales —
- Monitoring the Mental Health Act, 2018/19
- Monitoring the MHA, 2017/18
- Monitoring the MHA, 2016/17
- Monitoring the MHA, 2015/16
- Monitoring the MHA, 2014/15
- Monitoring the MHA, 2013/14
- Monitoring the MHA, 2011/13 *
- Monitoring the MHA, 2010/11
- Monitoring the MHA, 2009/10
* for the avoidance of doubt, there is no report specific to either 2011/12 or 2012/13; merely the double year report linked above.
What is not included on this page, but may be added as things go along, are Preventing Future Death reports from individual inquests or the case-law which is relevant to this area, which I have covered on another page. I may add to this page as others come to mind that I didn’t print off at some stage and, inevitably, as others emerge in coming months and years!
You might remember I’ve argued on here that the challenge is to take those things we know from clinical guidelines, legal guidelines and judgments and come up with a ‘theory of stuff’ on policing and mental health. How do you we express ALL of the above in a few statements about the role of the police. Remember, policing is not the problem here: the extent to which we over-rely upon the police is the problem. In my view, these reports are the evidence for this way of looking at things.
Winner of the President’s Medal,
the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Winner of the Mind Digital Media Award
All opinions expressed are my own – they do not represent the views of any organisation.
(c) Michael Brown, 2019
I try to keep this blog up to date, but inevitably over time, amendments to the law as well as court rulings and other findings from inquests and complaints processes mean it is difficult to ensure all the articles and pages remain current. Please ensure you check all legal issues in particular and take appropriate professional advice where necessary.
Government legislation website – http://www.legislation.gov.uk
All the best for the New Year and thank you for the above. I am the custody trainer for Merseyside police and can only agree that increasingly we are finding our custody staff having to make difficult ethical decisions when it comes to mental health crisis within the custody environment. The decisions sometimes having to make are not police decisions as we would normally perceive them but humane and care decisions that are being made because of failures in the very fabric of mental health provision. These decisions when it comes to basic care sometimes call our custody Sgts to have to work outside APP, PACE, and our influenced only by that human instinct to care for our fellow human in distress. Your blog is a continued support when it comes to trying understanding that lonely place where legislation and guidance has to give way to basic humanity.
Thank you
Sgt Frank McCreadie
Policing’s a team game, Frank – as soon as someone tells me it’s not a support to frontline cops, I’ll stop doing it. Meanwhile, I’ll take all the abuse and sarcasm they want to throw if it’s helping prevent the troops standing in the lonely operational places I’ve stood, no doubt you have, too.