1. Deaths in Police Custody
Derrick Campbell
IPCC Commissioner

2. Introduction
• Statutory duty to refer deaths and serious injury to IPCC
• IPCC considers circumstances of all referrals to determine if
they meet criteria for inclusion in the annual report under the
following categories:
• Road traffic fatalities
• Fatal shootings
• Deaths in or following police custody
• Other deaths following police contact
• Apparent suicides following police custody

3. Deaths during or following police
contact - 2012/13
• 15 deaths in or following police custody, the same
figure as the previous year
• No fatal police shootings, for the first time since the
IPCC started work in 2004
• 30 road traffic fatalities, up from 19 the previous year
• 64 apparent suicides following police custody, up from
39 the previous year
• 21 other deaths following police contact that were
subject to an IPCC independent investigation, down
from 47 the previous year
• Mental health continued to be a key factor in deaths

4. Trend data - 2004/05 to
2012/13
Category
Fatalities
04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13
Road traffic
fatalities
Fatal shootings
Deaths in or
following police
custody
Apparent suicides
following custody
Other deaths
following police
contact
44
48
36
24
40
29
26
19~
30
3
5
1
5
3
2
2
2
0
36
28
27
22
15
17
21
15
15
46
40
47
45^
56
54
46
39
64
24
40
22
30
35
38
52*
47
21

5. Incidents by type of death and
investigation type, 2012/13
Road traffic
fatalities
Fatal
shootings
Deaths in or
following
police
custody
N
%
Apparent
suicides
following
custody
N
%
N
%
N
%
10
43
0
-
9
60
4
0
-
0
-
0
-
0
-
0
-
0
12
52
0
-
1
Type of
investigation
Independent
4
0
23
100
0
Other deaths
following
police contact*
N
%
6
19
100
0
-
0
-
-
0
-
0
-
6
40
15
23
0
-
-
0
-
45
70
0
-
-
15
100
64
100
19
100
Managed
Supervised
Local
Back to force
Total
incidents

6. Road Traffic Fatalities (RTI)
2012/13
• 30 people, 24 men and six women, died in 23 police-related
road traffic incidents
• There were 19 fatal police pursuit incidents accounting for 26 of
the deaths – 13 of the deaths were from six such incidents
• 18 of the deceased were the driver/passenger in a pursued
vehicle and died when their vehicle crashed
• Eight people died as a pedestrian/cyclist or after their vehicle
was hit by a car being pursued by police

7. Deaths in or following police custody
2012/13
• 14 men and one woman died in police custody
• Four were known to have been restrained by police
officers at some point prior to their death
• Nine people had a link to alcohol and drugs

8. Deaths in or following police
custody: cause of death, 2012/13
Cause of death
Heart disease / cardiac arrest
Asphyxiation*
Multiple injuries
Drug / alcohol overdose
Gun shot wound
Long-term illness
Inconclusive
Awaited
Total fatalities
Number of
fatalities
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
5
15

9. Other deaths following police
contact 2012/13
• In 17 of the 21 deaths police were contacted as a
result of concerns being raised over an individual’s
safety or well-being
• Domestic-related concern for welfare cases generally
account for the highest proportion of incidents in this
category, followed by health / injuries / general and
then self-harm / suicide risk / mental health.

10. Apparent suicides following police
custody: reason for detention, 2012/13
Reason for detention
Sexual offences
Violence related (non sexual) / threatening behaviour /
harassment
Driving offence, including drink driving
Detained under the Mental Health Act
Theft / shoplifting
Breach of peace / public order / criminal damage
Drug / alcohol related (exc. drink driving)
Breach of bail / orders
Other
Total fatalities
Number of
fatalities
18
17
8
7
5
4
2
2
1
64

11. Type of death by ethnicity,
2012/13
Road traffic
fatalities
Ethnic
group
White
N
22
%
73
Fatal
shootings
N
0
%
-
Deaths in or
following
police custody
N
14
%
93
Apparent
suicides
following
custody
N
57
%
Other deaths
following
police contact
N
18
%
86
1
5
1
5
0
-
1
5
0
-
21
100
89
Asian
4
13
0
-
0
-
3
5
Black
3
10
0
-
0
-
1
2
Mixed
0
-
0
-
1
7
1
2
Chinese /
Other
Not known
1
3
0
-
0
-
1
2
0
-
0
-
0
-
1
2
Total
fatalities
30
100
0
-
15
100
64
100

12. IPCC investigations
Investigator
responsibilities:
- Undertakes investigation
- Family liaison
- Final report
Commissioner responsibilities:
-
Agrees Mode of Investigation
Agrees terms of reference
Media handling
Appoints Lead Investigator
Agrees final report
Powers:
-Arrest and detention
-Require production of
material
-Entry into police
premises
-Surveillance

13. Learning
• Head injuries being masked by alcohol or drugs
• Intoxication changed to drunk and incapable
• Adherence to PACE code C Annex H with respect
to risk assessing, checking and rousing
• Risk assessments should be passed on
throughout different custody environments
• Contracted staff should be trained and aware of
role
• Restraint used during arrest should be provided to
the custody officer during risk assessment

14. Learning the Lessons
• The IPCC publishes a regular
bulletin to help the police
service learn lessons from
investigations and other
operations of the police
complaints and conduct
system.
• Bulletin 16 covers custody