What are Independent Custody Visitors? Independent custody visitors are members of the local community that visit police stations unannounced to check on the treatment of detainees, the conditions in which they are being held and ensure that their rights and entitlements are being observed.
Why become an Independent Custody Visitor? This is your chance to make a difference and offer support to both detainees and the police, reassurance to the community at large and gain an insight into the criminal justice system by checking on the treatment of people in police custody, the conditions in which they are held, and that their rights and entitlements are being observed.
Visiting a custody centre can take between half an hour to a few hours twice a month. ICVs always visit in pairs and decide themselves when the visit is made – morning, day or night!
Interested in applying to become an Independent Custody Visitor? Drop us an email at enquiries@northumbria-pcc.gov.uk and one of our team will get in touch with you.
Northumbria Custody Facts – We have 15 Independent Custody Visitors. Custody Suites at Berwick, Middle Engine Lane, Millbank, Southwick and Forth Banks police stations. Did you know, we also have custody suites at St James Park and the Stadium of Light for use on match days. Being an Independent Custody is voluntary, but your travel expenses are covered. We’re also a national gold award winning custody visiting scheme!
The formal details – we must make this available, but we’d much rather chat to you in person, so drop us an email. You can read the code of conduct here and the Custody Visitor process here.
Visiting During Covid 19 Pandemic
During the Covid 19 pandemic, Northumbria OPCC adopted measures to continue our scrutiny of Northumbria Police Custody with visitor, staff and detainee safety at the forefront. Therefore we adopted a procedure for visits which you can read by clinking here.
Our ICVs returned to face to face visits in September 2020 and you can find out more about the visits undertaken since this time in our ICV reports section below.