Deaths following police contact 2004-07

Report: 6
Date: 12 April 2007
By: Assistant Commissioner Operational Services

Summary

In October 2006 the MPA’s Professional Standards and Complaints Committee (‘PSCC’) was presented with a report setting out the numbers of persons who had died following police contact for the period 2004–06. In discussions about that report the PSCC requested that this data be brought before the Committee on a 6-monthly basis but that the report be jointly produced by the MPS and the IPCC to ensure that the status of investigations was consistent between the two organisations. This was intended to become a routine report – with individual cases being asked for as and when the need arose.

The Committee also requested that a basic analysis be undertaken of the proportionality aspects of the data. In addition, the Committee required an update on the investigation into the death of Enzo Stompanato – as this had been the trigger question that generated the production of the earlier report.

A. Recommendations

That Members note the information contained within the report.

B. Supporting information

Number of cases in 2004/5 & 2005/6 & 2006/7 (to 22 March 2007)

1. The table below sets out the raw figures as supplied to the MPA throughout the year. It is worthy of note that the IPCC in some cases re-determine a death as ‘Not to be Recorded’ after submission of monthly figures and the totals can change. It is important to note that this report has the same starting point – 2004 – as the earlier report, yet now encompasses a greater span of time. The figures will therefore be higher in total and will continue to rise with each subsequent report unless the Committee determine that a standard reporting period, for example the last 3 years, be adopted. Overall figures are replicated in the Commissioners Annual report and thus already open to scrutiny.

Number of cases in 2004/5 & 2005/6 & 2006/7 (to 22 March 2007)

2. The Committee will note that in the majority of cases since 1 April 2004 (29 out of 44), the person who died was not in Police Custody – in other words had not been taken to a police station. These included persons who had fallen from heights whilst trying to avoid arrest, who had been taken to hospital by police after being found injured in the street, or died as a result of vehicles failing to stop when requested and then subsequently being involved in collisions.

3. Very nearly half, 19, were as a result of vehicle usage. In only three of these 19 was there actual contact with the person who died, the remainder being where the presence of police might have contributed to the vehicle having a collision, e.g. stolen vehicles trying to escape.

4. Most cases will be placed before a Coroner to determine the cause of death. This can take many months before finalisation and, where no Coroner’s inquest has yet taken place the apparent cause of death is shown in the statistics.

5. For each case in the total, PSCC members require the following:

• A description of the incident and the victim (gender, age, ethnicity)
• Date of death, inquest & verdict
• Status of investigation, i.e. whether IPCC independent
• Duration of and date of completion of the investigation
• Whether criminal or misconduct proceedings followed or are pending
• What action has been taken by way of prevention and organisational learning

6. In order to comply with the above requests a short template was produced onto which data for each of the 44 deaths was entered. This data has been kept brief to prevent the report from being overlong. This set of data is to be found at Appendix 1 (exempt).

7. It should be noted that the MPS already sends to the MPA extensive details concerning the initial stages of the investigation but that the subsequent updating is not part of the standard processes.

A general description of how the Directorate of Professional Standards oversees and monitors action following death after police contact cases

8. All investigations into deaths following police contact are undertaken by the DPS Specialist Investigation (SI) unit. All are referred to the IPCC and the DPS then follows the directed mode of investigation. The IPCC invariably retain control and direction of these investigations.

9. For every DPS investigation into an incident that might be a death following police contact, a Family Liaison Officer is appointed. This is a trained officer who act as a conduit for information to the family of the deceased and provides such assistance as the family might require. Such liaison can be for a very long period and needs careful management to ensure the needs of family and investigation are balanced.

10. DPS supervise these investigations by a weekly briefing to the DPS Commander on progress and a bi-weekly meeting between the Investigating Officer and the SI Detective Superintendent. Organisational learning from such deaths is progressed by the DPS Prevention and Organisational Learning Command (POL), which following its creation in April 2006 absorbed the Prevention and Reduction Team that existed within DPS. POL have managed 97 recommendations arising from fatal incidents and has identified which of those recommendations have an element of organisational learning within them. All recommendations are maintained on a Holmes database and fed into an ongoing series of lectures and seminars on custody and contact issues.

11. The Committee will be aware of how this links into the Professional Standards Support Programme (PSSP), launched by the Deputy Commissioner in November 2006, and which the Committee supported. The PSSP commenced its visits to operation staff and custody suites in January 2007.

12. An example of how this learning is translated into action has been the purchase by POL of defibrillators for every custody suite and the provision of support and ongoing training within Occupational Health. This follows a successful trial and our determination to minimise the potential for harm to anyone who comes within our custody.

Details of investigation into the death of Enzo Stompanato

13. The inquest into the death of Enzo Stompanato was held on 12 October 2006. The jury found that he had died from the opiate poisoning. Their conclusion was that he had died from the abuse of drugs. There was no criticism of any of the police officers involved. The Coroner stated that he intended to write a letter to the MPS and the NHS under Rule 43 of the Coroners’ Rules to promote joint working to improve healthcare for detainees whether they ended up in a police station or hospital. To date no such letter has been received.

14. Staff from POL were present at the inquest and all the issues identified had already been actioned.

15. In respect of allegations of misconduct by the officers concerned, the MPS, in the light of the Inquest, has written to the IPCC and a response is awaited.

C. Race and equality impact

Every such incident is subject to scrutiny by the IPCC and then, in due course, by the Coroner’s Inquest. This report does not introduce any new processes and has been prepared on a factual update basis as requested by the Members. Limited analysis has been included with the Appendix 1 data, as has an explanation of the Identification codes used in public documents. This has been included within the restricted section as the analysis uses data not confirmed by Coroner’s Inquests and relies instead on apparent causation of death.

D. Financial implications

There are no additional financial implications. Investigation is already funded through the DPS budget. Delay in decision-making by external organisations does impact on suspension of officers (and therefore organisational opportunity costs) and duration of investigation but these are outside DPS’s sphere of control.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Andrew Campbell, Temporary Detective Chief Superintendent, DPS Prevention and Organisational Learning

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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