The Independent Custody Detention Scrutiny Panel (ICDSP) was set up in November 2023 and is made up of a group of local people selected from across the policing area, to represent the local communities in conversations with police officers and staff actively involved in the detention and custody environments.

An ICDSP will be given unprecedented access to material retained by the police to review matters of disproportionality objectively and independently, and police/detainee behaviour in the context of legislation, guidance, policy, and procedure. Once out of the pilot phase, the ICDSP will produce regular reports that will be made available to the wider public to help improve trust and confidence in policing.

What will Independent Custody Detention Scrutiny Panel do?

The objectives of a Police Detention Scrutiny Panel are to independently:

• Assess and report on detention and custody processes.

• Examine and challenge disproportionality in police custody in their application of police powers, notably on grounds of   race/protected characteristics.

• Conduct assessments blind of ethnicity to prevent confirmatory bias by the Panel.

• Ensure partnership review and scrutiny of police detention procedures from start to finish, including appropriate use of   custody data.

• Consider wider issues where the Panel feels it could add value e.g., issues of safety and dignity.

• Build trust and confidence with ethnic minority communities through transparency, accountability, engagement, and understanding of Criminal Justice and custody processes.

• Make observations and recommendations to PCCs and Chief Officers.

• Report back to the wider policing area in the form of a public facing annual report covering the findings of the ICDSP in the preceding year.

• Assist in generating a transparent product suitable for public consideration at the end of each annual panel cycle.

It is intended that the introduction and promotion of scrutiny and review will help build trust and confidence in policing in ethnic minority and other communities, particularly if Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) and Chief Officers work together to agree a consistent and comparative ICDSP approach to address what remains a national matter of concern, irrespective of location.