Ministers aiming to limit emergency police detention

People charged with crimes should not be held in a police cell for more than a day under emergency measures to deal with prison overcrowding, a cabinet minister has said.

Under Operation Early Dawn, which was triggered on Monday in parts of the north of England and the Midlands, defendants waiting for a court appearance will be kept in police cells until prison space is available.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens told the BBC the measures would only be in force for “a very short period”, typically “a matter of days, or at the most months”.

The Police Federation has warned police cells are not suitable to hold people for lengthy periods, and it could put pressure on the number of cells available.

The prison population has ballooned in recent decades as a result of tougher sentences and court backlogs, with pressure on the system growing since the pandemic.

This has been exacerbated by recent riots in parts of England and Northern Ireland, which erupted following the spread of misinformation online after three girls were killed in Southport.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the violent disorder, whilst 494 people so far have been charged with an offence.

As of Friday, the total number of people in prison in England and Wales was 87,893, not far off the current operational capacity of 89,191.

Asked about the maximum length of time someone would be held in a police cell rather than being sent to court, Ms Stevens told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Anyone who poses a risk to the public will obviously not be bailed, they will be held in a police station until they’re summoned to court and that should be no later than the day after being charged.”

Phil Jones, custody lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said police cells were “not suitable to be used for any great length of time”.

“Although police officers are highly skilled and trained, they’re not prison officers, and prison officers have really specific training around detainee welfare and the needs of prisoners,” he told Today.

“If we have a sustained period of time where prisoners are in police cells, then there could be a situation moving forward where we don’t have the capacity in the system to do business as usual.”

There have been warnings the emergency measure could clog up police cells and limit the ability to arrest people.

However, the National Police Chiefs Council, an umbrella group for senior officers, has insisted police will continue to arrest anyone they need to in order to keep the public safe.

Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, someone should be brought before a magistrates’ court at the next available sitting after they are charged with an offence, which is usually the same or next day.

However, the Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, has said many magistrates’ court cases will be delayed if there must be a prison cell available, impacting victims as well as defendants.

Stuart Nolan, chairman of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, said normally it would not be necessary to hold people in a police cell for more than a day after they have been charged, while waiting for a court appearance.

However, he said there was “no wiggle room” when it comes to prison capacity, meaning if there was a major incident like the recent violent disorder, it was possible people could be held for longer.

Mr Nolan said this could lead to legal challenges, or more people being released on bail rather than being brought quickly before a court.

“It has knock-on effects,” he said. “If you take up too many cells in your local police station, what do you do with the people you arrest for violent disorder?”

More prison spaces are expected to become available in September, when separate measures to release some inmates early come into affect.

The Conservative government also had to use emergency measures to ease the pressure on prisons, with Operation Early Dawn last triggered in May.