Police Custody Staff Interviews: Metadata and Documentation, 2023-2024

The themes collected in this pack are taken from semi-structured interviews with police custody staff (Custody Officers, Detention Officers and Healthcare Professionals) as part of a broader project exploring the delivery of healthcare in police custody suites. The project aimed to investigate the interpersonal and interprofessional relationships between various kinds of staff working in police custody, alongside their relationships with detained persons. In addition, we aimed to explore the ways that the design of police custody suites enabled or inhibited relationships as well as the protection and security of detained persons personal data. As a result, the interviews asked police custody staff about their day-to-day work, their relationships with other members of staff and their experiences with detained persons.

The study explored two police force case studies, one in the North of England and one in the South. Staff contact details were provided by managers, who were then contacted and a time and date was arranged for an online interview. Interviewing then continued until saturation was achieved. Interviews lasted between 30mins and 2 hours. Interviews commenced September 2023 and completed February 2024