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Prisoner movements – police stations

Collections from police stations (Back to top)

Vehicles are available to collect prisoners from the police and deliver them to court and/or prisons reducing the need for police to undertake significant numbers of escorts themselves.

We cannot guarantee a vehicle will be available for every single requested move however the number of moves which police colleagues undertake themselves will reduce significantly.

  • Collections from the police are possible throughout the core working day.
  • The escort supplier will use reasonable endeavours to include transporting children and young people from police stations to courts as either planned/unplanned journeys, using sufficient numbers of appropriately trained staff and appropriate vehicles for use with young people, where operational capacity allows.
  • When available the supplier will use non-cellular specialist vehicles and appropriately trained staff to transfer children and young people (CYP) from police stations to court.
  • The notification system by which the police advise the escort supplier of who needs collecting is part of the digital platform with Prison Transfer Requests (PTRs) raised on Book a Secure Move (BaSM).

Overnight remands must be entered by 04:00 hours to enable planning and collection in the initial phase typically around 07:00 hours.

  • Late notifications – any further prisoners who may require collection (e.g. licence recalls, video hearing remands, etc) need to be notified to the escort supplier via a PTR through BaSM before collection can take place.
  • Additional collections will take place within a 3-hour time window from the point the police notify the escort supplier that a person(s) need collection, however for those booked between 04:01 and 06:59 the 3 hours commences at 08:00 with a latest collection time of 11:00 hours, all bookings on BaSM after 11:00 hours revert to a 3-hour collection window.
  • The escort supplier will only collect those persons that a court has agreed to hear the case of (for in-person appearances), and where they can arrive at the court before it ceases work for that day. Police to prison collections will only occur if it is possible to meet the receiving prisons reception closure time.
  • Effective property handling arrangements will be in place and property identification numbers will be recorded for accountability and tracking purposes.

What is required of the police (Back to top)

The police must support the supplier in meeting their contractual duties by following proper handover procedures.

Standard notifications

Police must notify the supplier by 04:00 if a prisoner needs transport that day. 

Late notifications

If a request is made after 04:00 for same-day court appearances, police must confirm the court will still hear the case.

Timely coordination

Police must allow enough time for the supplier to collect and deliver late-notified prisoners as per the agreed process.

Handover requirements (Back to top)

Property

When a prisoner is being transferred, all their property must:

  • Be securely sealed property bag(s) with no rips or tears.
  • Have a unique serial number on each bag that corresponds with the number written on the dPER.
  • Must not contain needles, razors, knives/weapons or other items (sharps) unless they are in protective containers and pose no threat to health and safety. There must be no items within the property that would breach the Offender Management Act 2007 for conveyance of a prohibited item into court or prison (such firearms). All such items should be kept in police evidential property systems.
  • Controlled drugs and/or prescription must be kept separate to general property items. Ideally cash and mobile phones will be in separate bags to other property.

Handover of health risk

The contract identifies specific action to be taken by the supplier in the following circumstances at the point of collection from the police.

Where the prisoner has visible injuries or complains of any injury, the supplier shall make a note of such injuries and ensure that the police personnel provide written confirmation that the injuries were present, and that the complaint has been investigated by the healthcare provider, at the time of handover.

Where the police personnel refuse to provide this written confirmation, the supplier shall refuse to accept the prisoner.

If the supplier personnel have any doubt about a prisoner’s fitness to travel, they must ensure that the police personnel arrange a medical examination before the journey commences, and that the prisoner is not escorted if that is the recommendation resulting from the medical examination.

The list below is taken from the Royal College of Policing as the reason why someone would not be fit to detain:

  • are showing any symptoms of head injuries
  • are, or have been, unconscious
  • have suffered serious injury
  • are drunk and incapable and treatment centres are not available
  • are believed to have swallowed or packed drugs
  • are believed to have taken a drugs overdose
  • are suffering from any other medical condition requiring urgent attention
  • are suffering from any condition that the arresting officer or transporting staff believes requires treatment prior to detention in custody

dPER

A full and thorough review of the risk information on the dPER must be carried out before handing over a prisoner. All risk information within the dPER must be accurate, relevant, and up to date. The risks associated with the prisoner must be communicated during the handover.

All sections must be completed, and PECS suppliers cannot accept custody of a prisoner with an incomplete dPER as per HMPPS policy. The supplier will escalate any incomplete dPER to the vehicle base or logistics centre.

It is the responsibility of the sending establishment (prison/police) to update any omissions from the dPER prior to handover, this should not unduly delay any transport.

Verbal communication with sending and receiving parties is also an important aspect of highlighting risks or concerns. Further guidance on Digital Prisoner Escort Record completions can be obtained within the BaSM User Guide.

Special vehicles (Back to top)

Following assessment by a healthcare practitioner, it may not be appropriate to transport a prisoner in a cellular vehicle. This may apply to prisoners with particular disabilities, all women known to be pregnant, and women if accompanied by a child.

When requesting a prisoner move via the BaSM platform it is imperative that the “special vehicle” requirement is requested, ensuring PECS suppliers plan a suitable vehicle.

Due to the high volume of move requests each day, PECS suppliers will plan routes and vehicle types using high level data containing key metrics for each move, and therefore do not check every dPER at the planning stage.

Therefore if the special vehicle is not requested appropriately, a cellular vehicle will be planned. The BaSM User Guide provides further information on booking moves correctly.

Shared facilities (Back to top)

From 08:00 each day, the supplier takes over responsibility for transporting prisoners from shared police facilities to court. The supplier is responsible for the welfare and custody of prisoners in the designated custody area until court proceedings are complete, and prisoners are processed accordingly.

Comfort breaks taken at police premises (Back to top)

During ‘long journeys’ (those that take or are planned to take longer than two hours) the PECS supplier is obliged to offer all prisoners the opportunity to access lavatories (‘comfort breaks’). These breaks must be taken in a secure place, which will occasionally need to be at police premises.

If such a need arises, the supplier must only use such premises with the prior agreement of police, which will be confirmed directly by the supplier at the planning stage. Suppliers may also allocate police stations as contingency sites should there be any issue on a journey.

Operation Safeguard (Back to top)

Should Operation Safeguard be activated, the agreed protocol between police and HMPPS will be reviewed and circulated to operational leads within police forces.

Use of force (Back to top)

It is the responsibility of the police to locate a prisoner from the cell/custody suite onto a PECS vehicle (see separate section for UoF on children). Dependant on risk there may be a requirement for the supplier to utilise a separate or more suitable vehicle and this should be organised in conjunction with the relevant supplier Operational Manager.

Use of force on children and young people (Back to top)

The PECS approach to the use of force on children under the age of 18 is aligned with the Youth Custody Service’s (YCS) policy.

PECS suppliers will not use force on any child displaying passive resistance or failing to comply with instructions, including refusing to attend court whether from a police station, secure site or the court custody suite.

In the event of a child becoming passively non-compliant staff should ensure that every other option has been fully explored, such as:

  • De-escalation
  • Change of staff- if they have responded positively to a particular member of staff
  • Incentives/positive encouragement
  • Asking why they are displaying this behaviour

These options should be repeatedly demonstrated; however, this may result in incidents becoming protracted. The supplier, in these cases, will:

  • Assign a supervising manager/competent person
  • Commence a decision log capturing details of the incident
  • Inform the PECS CDM (on-call SCDM out of hours) at the earliest opportunity

Should there be any escalation of the situation to a point where the child or other’s safety may be at risk, the matter will be further escalated to the Head of PECS, or their delegated officials, who will provide authorisation (if appropriate) for force to be used to conclude the incident.

This process does not prevent supplier staff on scene from responding with spontaneous force, should any immediate risk to life/safety arise.

Where a child continues to refuse to attend court from a police station, the court/HMCTS must be made aware with alternative arrangements such as video link or being heard in their absence.

Collection following virtual court hearings (Back to top)

For prisoners requiring collection from police premises for escort to prison, following completion of a virtual court hearing, the supplier should be notified as soon as possible, and collection should take place within a three-hour collection time from time of notification.

Collection shall only take place if it is reasonably possible for the escort to make the reception closure time of the destination prison. It is not considered safe or decent to move prisoners from one police station and then lock them out in another.