Sheffield study sheds light on police custody

Sheffield study sheds light on police custody. Suspects in police custody consider civilian employees more caring and compassionate than police officers, research from the University of Sheffield has found. The research by Dr Layla Skinns, from the University´s Centre for Criminological Research, has for the first time explored the significant changes police custody has undergone to civilianise and privatise key roles that used to be performed by the police, such as booking-in suspects or looking after their welfare whilst they are in the cells. Her findings, which have been published today (10 December 2010) in a book entitled Police Custody: Governance Legitimacy and Reform in the Criminal Justice Process , have revealed that civilian members of staff play an important role in police custody areas and are highly regarded by suspects for their rapport and communication skills, caring and compassionate attitude and responsiveness. However, the research revealed that due to differences in roles between civilian employees and police officers, police officers remained largely in control of custody areas and responsible for ensuring that suspects accessed their due process rights, such as legal advice. The findings follow a study of two custody areas in England - one publically-run site, employing mainly police officers, and a largely privately-run site in which the majority of staff working on any one shift are employed by a private security company and in which the police custody facility had been refurbished and operated by the same private security company.