Independent Custody Visitors' Scheme

It is the statutory duty of Cambridgeshire Police Authority to administer and monitor the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme for the county.

Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) are volunteers from the local community who make unannounced visits in pairs to places of detention to check on the welfare of detainees and the conditions under which they are detained. The purpose of their role is to act as an independent monitor of police custody areas and to comment on whether PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence Act) guidelines are being met.

Scrutiny and challenge takes place at a number of levels:

• with the Custody Sergeant so that any immediate issues can be addressed;
• at three local independent panel meetings - in Cambridge, Peterborough and Huntingdon - with representatives from the constabulary;
• at the Custody Visitors' Panel at which senior officers of the constabulary and authority members can review any strategic issues and recurring themes emerging from ICV visits and ensure that the voice of ICVs is being heard.

The authority's Scrutiny Committee receives a regular report of this work in public.

A full summary of the work carried out is contained within the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme Annual Report, which can be found in Our Work, Plans and Reports.

For further information contact:
The Scheme Administrator
Cambridgeshire Police Authority,
Room G038,
Cambridgeshire Constabulary Headquarters,
Hinchingbrooke Park,
Huntingdon, PE29 6NP.

By Telephone

0300 333 3456

By Email

police.authority@cambs.pnn.police.uk

Or log onto the Independent Custody Visiting Association website - www.icva.org.uk