Police often first point of contact for people with mental health issues or addictions

Police custody deaths have hit their highest level in a decade with police, campaigners and experts warning that austerity and a crisis in mental health services have driven the figure up.

A total of 23 people died in or after detention in 2017-18, according to official figures released by the police watchdog, up from 14 people the previous year.

More than half had mental health problems, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who said the conditions included psychosis, depression and self-harm or suicidal tendencies. Eighteen people had drug and or alcohol issues.

Deborah Coles of Inquest, which supports bereaved families, said austerity was a contributing factor, with mental health services being overwhelmed leading to those who are ill or have substance-addiction issues dying in police custody. “Until you have investment in frontline mental health services, the police will be the first point of contact for people in crisis.

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“Too many highly vulnerable people with mental ill health and addictions are ending up in the criminal justice system. The solution does not lie within policing. Many of these preventable deaths illustrate the impact of austerity and the historic underfunding of health and community services.

“It does not absolve the police of their duty of care, while people are in their custody.”

There were other unwanted records in the figures. A disproportionate and record number of black people died after use of force or restraint by officers.

The number of deaths after the use of force or restraint rose last year, as did the number of people from an ethnic minority background who died after a clash with police. Of 11 deaths after police restraint or the use of force in 2015-16, three were from ethnic minorities. The figure for 2016-17 was five out of 15.

Coles said: “The disproportionality in the use of force against black people adds to the irrefutable evidence of structural racism embedded in policing practices.”

The record figures are all the more concerning because there has never been more attention from the top of government on the issue.

Theresa May took a personal interest while home secretary, meeting families and ordering a report which was published last October that called for sweeping reforms and said bereaved families were getting a poor deal.

The ages of those who died ranged from 21 to 82, and all except two were male.

The IOPC said three people died after being held in a police cell, and another five died after being held in a cell, becoming unwell and then being pronounced dead in hospital. It said another nine people died in hospital after falling ill at the scene of an arrest.

Michael Lockwood, director general of the IOPC, said: “What is clear is that many present a complex and challenging set of factors, with links to drugs and alcohol and mental health concerns being very prevalent among those who have died.”

Police say they are having to use their mental health detention powers at all-time record levels, and four of the deaths in the report ensued after police had used section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

Rod Charles, a retired chief inspector in the Met police whose great-nephew Rashan Charles died in an incident involving restraint by a police officer last July, said the care of managing people with poor mental health had been shifted on to police “for decades”.

However, he cautioned against laying the blame for custody deaths purely on the mental health issues of those arrested. “Austerity and a crisis in mental health do not explain many other cases where otherwise sound and fit people are reported as becoming ‘unwell’ following police contact, and a short time later, life is pronounced extinct,” he said. He said the main reason for the rise in deaths was a culture of impunity among officers.

The IOPC also said that 17 people had been subjected to the use of force or restraint “by the police or others” before they died, but that did not mean the use of force was a factor in their deaths. Of the 17, those restrained in custody numbered 11, the IOPC said, while six were not classed as having been in custody or detained when this happened.

Of the 17 cases where force was used, the IOPC said nine people were white and eight were black. That means the proportion of black people dying after the use of force or restraint continues to be higher than the proportion of black people in the population of England and Wales.

Among the deaths covered by the latest statistics are high-profile cases such as Rashan Charles and Edson Da Costa in London. Those deaths led to tension in the streets between police and communities.

One woman died in Cheshire after restraint that included leg shackles.

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Other uses of force included deploying a baton, incapacitant spray, Taser, and leg restraints. Police say they are looking at alternatives to restraint.

Lockwood told the Guardian: “The proportion of black people who died this year among those who had force used against them by police or others does raise questions. It is important that each death is thoroughly and independently investigated.

“In these cases, the use of force did not necessarily contribute to the death.”

In October, the government-commissioned report into deaths in custody showed a possible racial factor. The report, by Dame Elish Angiolini, said: “Deaths of people from BAME communities, in particular young black men, resonate with the black community’s experience of systemic racism, and reflect wider concerns about discriminatory over-policing, stop and search, and criminalisation.”

In 1998 there were 65 deaths in police custody, and broadly, the numbers have been reducing. The assistant chief constable, Nev Kemp, said: “It is important that we don’t jump to conclusions as the numbers of deaths following police contact are very small and do fluctuate year on year.

“We are working closely with an independent panel examining alternatives to using restraint. We strive to make custody as safe as possible for the hundreds of thousands of people every year who need to be detained and for our officers and staff dealing with them.”

The report reveals the first death linked to the use of spit or contamination hoods –pieces of mesh placed over suspects’ heads for fear their saliva could transmit diseases to officers they assault by spitting.

In one case a man arrested for domestic assault attacked officers and was carried to his cell with a hood placed over his head and in leg restraints. Shortly afterwards, with the restraints removed, he fell ill and later died. The investigation into his death continues.

The IOPC said it investigated 170 deaths after contact with police. It said: “Forty-five died following reports of a missing person and 43 related to concern about a person’s risk of self-harm, risk of suicide, or mental health. Twenty-one fatalities followed concern for welfare linked to domestic-related incidents – broadly the same proportion as last year.”

The IOPC added that 57 people killed themselves after arrest; half of those – 29 people – after arrest for alleged sexual offences. Twenty-five of those people were involved in alleged crimes against children.

Sarah Marsh contributed to this report

• This article was amended on 27 July 2018. An earlier version said that of the 23 people who died during or after police custody, 17 had been subjected to the use of force. Seventeen people were subjected to force, but not all were in custody when this happened.