Monitoring Injuries in Police Custody: A Feasibility and Utility Study

• NCJ Number: 209631
• Author(s): Jo Sallybanks
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 83 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Australian Institute of Criminology, Technical and Background Paper No. 15; downloaded April 29, 2005.

Annotation

This study, commissioned by the New South Wales (NSW) Police to monitor injuries that occurred in police custody, was conducted to determine the feasibility and utility of such a routine data collection process.

Abstract

Data were gathered from the NSW Computerized Operational Policing System (COPS) for the following categories: demographics, police warnings on COPS, offenses, incidents related to the detainee, and incidents involving injuries to others. For the purposes of this study, an injury in police custody is defined as an injury or attempted injury to a person in police custody, an injury or attempted injury caused by lack of proper care while in custody, an injury or attempted injury sustained in the process of detention, or an injury or attempted injury sustained in the process of the person escaping or attempting to escape from police custody. Analysis of the data found that 260 detainees were involved in 1,066 incidents during the custody process over the 19-month study period from November 1, 2001, to June 30, 2003. The main findings related to the demographics of the injured detainees included: three-quarters of those injured were male, their mean age was 28.5 years, over half were unemployed, and detainees of Aboriginal descent accounted for 19 percent of those injured. The main findings regarding the types of incidents that occurred in custody included: over half the incidents involved an injury occurring or having the potential to result in an injury; 81 percent of the incidents involved only the detainee, indicating a high level of self-inflicted harm; abusive language, aggressiveness, resisting arrest, and threatening to injure oneself or others were all found to be associated with injury incidents; and only four incidents were classified as accidents. The results of this study show that it is possible to monitor injuries occurring in police custody and to determine the nature and extent of these injuries. Study limitations are discussed. 37 references, 12 tables, 19 figures, and Appendix 1: Data collection sheet