At the very heart of some of the most difficult s136 cases lies the following problem:  some individuals detained under this legal authority cannot be managed by the police alone in a cell – the medical risks there are just too great. But equally, it is true that they cannot be managed by the NHS […]

Once upon a time, there was a s136 policy which contained the throw-away sentence, “If the person detained has physical healthcare requirements, they should be taken to Accident & Emergency first.”  I’ve also seen similar sentiment expressed “Where there are injuries or medical problems.” What does this mean?  How injured is injured; what are ‘physical […]

If we all gathered in a good pub – and I think we should – to discuss those mental health related tasks which belong to the police (at least initially) and those that do not, we would probably agree at the edges.  Management of individuals who pose a risk to the public because they are […]