Under s136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, the police are allowed to take someone they believe to be suffering from a mental illness and requiring medical treatment to a ‘place of safety’ in order to have their mental disorder assessed.
This only applies to people found on public premises as private premises are covered by s135 of the same Act. The ‘place of safety’ can either be a police cell or a hospital; however there are concerns that a police cell may not be an appropriate environment for such people. There are even calls for this ‘dangerous practice’ to be banned.
Being detained in a police cell is understandably a stressful and difficult situation to be found in, especially for somebody with severe mental health problems. Although these people require urgent treatment and specialist care, finding an available place of safety in a hospital environment is not always possible. In some situations a police cell may be the only option.
Although the numbers of police cell cases are generally falling, there are still concerns that they remain too high. With 269 cases in 2015-16, West Yorkshire Police are currently the biggest offenders. However, with numerous police forces reducing the practice so that no s136 patients at all are detained in police cells, many leading charities are questioning why this is still being allowed to continue in some areas.
However these concerns have not gone unnoticed. The Police and Crime Bill attempts to address numerous problems with both s135 and s136, including the issue of using police cells as ‘places of safety’. One of its recommendations is that police cells should only be in exceptional circumstances, whilst not being used at all to detain patients under the age of 18.
It seems that the practice of sending vulnerable people with mental illnesses to police cells may not continue for much longer, and if these changes can be implemented, it will please both patients and charities alike.