17 June 2015 Independent Custody Visitors Annual Report 2014-15 Ensuring that people in police custody are treated properly is a statutory duty of Tim Passmore, the Police and Crime Commissioner and he relies on an army of volunteers to help him monitor the welfare of people who are detained in police stations in Suffolk. The PCC considered the Independent Custody Visitors Annual Report 2014-15 (PDF, 748KB) at the Accountability and Performance Panel on Tuesday 16 June 2015 and was pleased to note that the overall findings were positive. Tim Passmore is looking for additional volunteer custody visitors to make regular unannounced visits to Police Investigation Centres. The volunteers will be required to look, listen and report on their findings to the PCC to ensure that the police are providing the service that is expected of them. Tim Passmore said, “Suffolk has two Police Investigation Centres in Suffolk – one in Bury St Edmunds and one at Martlesham, Ipswich – and we are looking to recruit two people to each of those visiting panels. I need the overall panel of visitors to be representative of the local community, so I would really encourage interest from younger people and black and minority ethnic residents. We have a great team of custody visitors in Suffolk, who give their time to support this valuable service and I thank them for their commitment which does not always receive the recognition it deserves.” Volunteers are required to attend an initial training session of half a day and then receive training by observing existing visitors until confident in performing the role. Visitors carry out approximately one visit per month (as part of a panel carrying out the weekly visits), there are quarterly panel meetings which are held in the evening and then 1-2 training days/conference per year. The role is voluntary but we do pay expenses for travel costs. Applicants must be over 18 years of age and appointments are subject to police vetting checks and references. ‘Have you Got What it Takes?’ Information Leaflet (PDF, 1.82MB) Role Profile (PDF, 168KB) Person Specification (PDF, 152KB) Application Form (WordDoc, 44KB) Monitoring Form (WordDoc, 52KB) For more information about the role or for a hard copy of the application pack please contact us.
