{{Unreferenced, date=June 2011 A custody suite is an area within a

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

designed and adapted to process and

detain Detention is the process whereby a state or private citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom or liberty at that time. This can be due to (pending) criminal charges preferred against the individual pursuant to a prosecution or ...

those who have been

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

ed, or who are there for purposes such as answering

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

. Historically, all police stations had a small number of individual cells where offenders could be detained. However, in recent years most detainees are more likely to be taken to a large police station which are designated to hold

prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

Facilities

There are numerous facilities contained within the custody suite, which most commonly include: Leith Police Station cells, 2012

* A holding cell where officers wait with prisoners awaiting entry to the suite. * A number of

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

s for detaining prisoners, often split into

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

and juvenile groups of cells. * A prisoner processing area where custody officers (most commonly uniformed sergeants) process the prisoners presented to them by

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s * Designated

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

rooms, holding equipment used to conduct and record interviews with suspects for use as

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

. * A medical room for use by police medical staff * Consultation rooms where detained persons can consult with their legal representatives. * Rooms used for video identification parades or similar. * A room officers can complete the necessary arrest documentation after their prisoners have been legally and formally logged in as held in custody.

Procedure

Upon arrival at the suite, the police officer who has made an arrest presents the suspect at a desk before the custody officer explaining the reason and details of the arrest and evidence gained. If the custody officer is satisfied that the person has been lawfully detained, they will authorise further detention of the person. The detainee would then be asked a series of questions regarding their personal details and informed of their rights whilst in custody under the

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. 60) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise ...

Criminal Procedure (Legal Assistance, Detention and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 2010 Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or i ...

in Scotland. Before being allocated a cell and a record being made of the time detained, the detainee is usually searched with any item they are carrying removed and in some cases if

forensic evidence Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". H ...

has to be preserved. All items of clothing and personal items taken from the detainee are logged and held in a secure place until the detainee's departure. The arresting officer will then complete the necessary documentation for the arrest and may conduct brief further enquiries (including a tape recorded interview with the suspect) before the suspect is brought before the custody officer again for disposal. This disposal could take numerous forms, the most common being that the person is charged with an offence, given police

in order for further investigation to be carried out, or released without any charge.

Independent custody visitor An independent custody visitor is someone who visits people who are detained in police stations in the United Kingdom to ensure that they are being treated properly. Prisoner escort and custody lay observers carry out a similar function in relation ...

s may make unannounced visits to custody suites to ensure that people being detained are treated properly.

External links

Brief description of the Custody Suite
Police stations in the United Kingdom Law enforcement in the United Kingdom Imprisonment and detention