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Prisoners in police cells (1)

01 January 1991

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Prisoners in police cells
artdoc December=1991

The number of prisoners awaiting trial held in police cells has
passed 1,500 for the first time since the crisis of 1988. This
has led to the re-establishment of the national Mutual Aid Co-
Ordinating Centre at Scotland Yard under the command of Essex
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Simpson. The Centre is staffed
by about ten officers and will allocate prisoners among force
areas according to cell space.
The average cost of holding a prisoner in a police cell is ¼220
a night, which is more than four times the cost of holding
someone in prison. For the year 1990-91 the total cost of holding
prisoners in police cells in England and Wales was ¼53.5 million,
equivalent to the cost of running five prisons the size of
Dartmoor.
The overcrowding has also caused an increased rate in the
number of suicides in police custody according to the Howard
League for Penal Reform. Of the 38 deaths recorded to August this
year nine have been `self-inflicted'. This compares with ten out
of 61 deaths for the whole of 1990.
Guardian, 30.8.91; Independent, 24.8.91; NACRO news release,
2.9.91; Police Review 30.8.91

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