Detentions under the Mental Health Act
Keywords
Custody, Mental Health, S136,
Publication Number
PUB 1186
FOI Reference Number
15119
Request Title
Detentions under the Mental Health Act
Date Range
2018,2019,2020
Information Requested
FOI 15119 15269
Between 1 April and 1 December 2020, how many people were detained by your police force under (Section 136) of the mental health act?
Between 1 April and 1 December 2019, how many people were detained by your police force under (Section 136) of the mental health act?
Between 1 April and 1 December 2018, how many people were detained by your police force under (Section 136) of the mental health act?
FOI 15269
In the response, your force said that 71 people were detained by officers at a police station under S136 of the Mental Health Act between April to December of 2018 2019 and 2020.
For all of these 71 people (without disclosing any confidential/data protected information) detained over the stated periods, please could you tell me: how many were under the age of 18 at the time of detention? in how many of the 71 detention incidences was a health professional (for example, but not limited to a paramedic or occupational therapist) not consulted for the detention? On how many occasions was it considered by the arresting police officer not practical to seek advice from a medical professional/source (please could you state for each occasion whether it was: because consultation would not be in the immediate best interests of the safety or wellbeing of the detainee or others; for example in an urgent situation where the officer needs to use their powers to protect the person concerned or others from harm or because the officer knew that there was no appropriate advice service available to them to consult with sufficient timeliness).
Disclosure with Exemptions
n/a
Information Correct as at
7th January 2021
Date of Disclosure
January 2021
Related Documents/Links
- Published items
- Custody meals. What detainees eat and drink in custody
- E0100 Policy - Custody
- E0500 Policy - Mental Ill Health
FOI 15119 Response
Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above reference.
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17 of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which: a) states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
In respect of your enquiry:
I am a freelance reporter for The Guardian writing in connection to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please could you endeavour to answer the following questions within 20 working days, as specified under its clauses:
Between 1 April and 1 December 2020, how many people were detained by your police force under (Section 136) of the mental health act?
Between 1 April and 1 December 2019, how many people were detained by your police force under (Section 136) of the mental health act?
Between 1 April and 1 December 2018, how many people were detained by your police force under (Section 136) of the mental health act?
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating to your request, Essex Police can confirm in respect of Section 1(1)(b) the following data:
Caveat: A filter was applied on the Full Offence Title Field to select only those records under Section 136 of the Mental health Act. Separate figures for people detained by Officers at a Police Station and those detained at another place of safety have been specified by selecting the relevant records from the Location Premises Name Data Field.
Between 1 April 2018 and 1 December 2018, how many people were detained by your Police force under (Section 136) of the Mental Health Act?
A total of 460 people were detained by Essex Police force under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act between 1 April 2018 and 1 December 2018. The breakdown of people detained by location is as follows:
|
Detained at Police station |
23 |
|---|---|
|
Detained at other place of safety |
437 |
|
Total |
460 |
Between 1 April 2019 and 1 December 2019, how many people were detained by your Police force under (Section 136) of the Mental Health Act?
A total of 411 people were detained by Essex Police force under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act between 1 April 2019 and 1 December 2019. The breakdown of people detained by location is as follows:
|
Detained at Police station |
25 |
|---|---|
|
Detained at other place of safety |
386 |
|
Total |
411 |
Between 1 April 2020 and 1 December 2020, how many people were detained by your Police force under (Section 136) of the Mental Health Act?
A total of 406 people were detained by Essex Police force under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act between 1 April 2020 and 1 December 2020. The breakdown of people detained by location is as follows:
|
Detained at Police station |
23 |
|---|---|
|
Detained at other place of safety |
383 |
|
Total |
406 |
Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is accurate and complete. However, Essex Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries. Please note although data can be extracted from a number of sources via database queries, the results may be subject to inaccuracies. Care should be taken to understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use of the data.
Thank you for your interest in Essex Police.
Kind regards
FOI 15269 Response
Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above reference.
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17 of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which: a) states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
In respect of your enquiry:
In the response, your force said that 71 people were detained by officers at a police station under S136 of the Mental Health Act between April to December of 2018, 2019 and 2020.
For all of these 71 people (without disclosing any confidential/data protected information) detained over the stated periods, please could you tell me: how many were under the age of 18 at the time of detention? in how many of the 71 detention incidences was a health professional (for example, but not limited to a paramedic or occupational therapist) not consulted for the detention? On how many occasions was it considered by the arresting police officer not practical to seek advice from a medical professional/source (please could you state for each occasion whether it was: because consultation would not be in the immediate best interests of the safety or wellbeing of the detainee or others; for example in an urgent situation where the officer needs to use their powers to protect the person concerned or others from harm or because the officer knew that there was no appropriate advice service available to them to consult with sufficient timeliness).
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating to your request. Under Section 1(1)(b) the below has been provided from our Performance Statistic department in relation to your request: This data is correct as at 9th February 2021.
1) For all of these 71 people (without disclosing any confidential/data protected information) detained over the stated periods, please could you tell me: how many were under the age of 18 at the time of detention?
When Essex Police perform a 136, we have to find out the age of the patient so we know how to deal with them. For those under 18, they can, under no circumstance be sent to custody if we are looking to remove their liberty under section 136. Essex Police obtain their D.O.B. as a matter of course and this is a mandatory requirement for the 136 medical suites who receive our individuals. This information is recorded on the body of the STORM Incident however, not in any extractable format.
2) In how many of the 71 detention incidences was a health professional (for example, but not limited to a paramedic or occupational therapist) not consulted for the detention?
Prior to advancing to the stage of undertaking a 136, the incident and individual is brought to the attention of the Mental Health Triage Team. This team consists of one police officer who rides double crewed with an NHS fully trained mental health practitioner. This Mental Health practitioner is consulted prior to making the 136 decision and will often attend in person, especially for what would be considered close calls. At the very minimum the officer will consult the practitioner to discuss all other options that could be taken with a 136 being considered as close to a last resort. This activity, however, is often written prose-like on the body of STORM incidents and is in no way extractable.
3) On how many occasions was it considered by the arresting police officer not practical to seek advice from a medical professional/source (please could you state for each occasion whether it was: because consultation would not be in the immediate best interests of the safety or wellbeing of the detainee or others; for example in an urgent situation where the officer needs to use their powers to protect the person concerned or others from harm or because the officer knew that there was no appropriate advice service available to them to consult with sufficient timeliness).
There will always be occasions where exceptions are made, but these will be, as the requestor points out, in the interests of emergency cases where public safety is at risk. Sometimes persons under extreme mental stress behave erratically and the possibility of having their liberty taken away aggravates the situation where immediate action is required. However, such instances would again be recorded in the prose of an incident and would not be in a recordable format.