Fall in ‘deaths during and following police contact’

The number of deaths during and following police contact has fallen in the last year, according to a report published by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) tomorrow.

The report entitled Deaths During or Following Police Contact: Statistics for England and Wales 2006/07 includes statistics on police-related road traffic incidents, deaths in or following police custody, fatal shootings by police officers and deaths following police contact.

Road Traffic Fatalities: Deaths of motorists, cyclists or pedestrians arising from police pursuits, police vehicles responding to emergency calls and other police traffic related activity.

In 2006/07 there were 36 fatalities, a fall of 12 deaths from 48 in 2005/06.

In 2006/07 there were 35 police-related road traffic incidents that resulted in the deaths of 36 individuals.

Nineteen of the individuals died during or shortly after a police pursuit and 13 people died when a vehicle seemingly made off at speed from a patrolling vehicle or failed to stop when asked to do so by officers.

Three pedestrians died after being hit by a pursued vehicle.

Fatal shootings: One person was fatally shot by police officers in 2006/07 compared to five in 2005/06. He was a 41-year-old male reported to be of White British background. The shooting involved armed officers from the Metropolitan Police Service and is being independently investigated by the IPCC.

Deaths in or following police custody: Deaths of people who have been arrested or otherwise detained by the police; deaths which occur whilst a person is being arrested or taken into detention.

There were 27 deaths in 2006/07 compared to 28 in 2005/06.

Four people died in the custody suite and two people died during or shortly after being arrested. A further 21 were identified as injured or unwell while in custody or during arrest and died later in hospital.

Twenty-two of the 27 individuals were known to have consumed, be in possession of, or were known drug or alcohol misusers.

Deaths during or following other police contact: Deaths where a link can be established between the police contact and the death, and which did not involve arrest or other detention.

There were 18 deaths, a fall of 21 deaths from 39 in 2005/06. They include deaths where someone has attempted to evade arrest, deaths in siege situations, and deaths where there are concerns about the police response, such as domestic violence incidents.

The deaths included in this category span a diverse range of circumstances and so it is difficult to identify one specific set of circumstances, which accounts for the decrease of 21 deaths from 2005/06.

In 2006/07 the most common type of death in this category was where the individual actively tried to avoid contact with officers.

Apparent Suicides following Release from Custody: “The IPCC presents figures on suicides following release from police custody separately from the overall figures due to inconsistencies in the reporting of these deaths to the IPCC,” said the report.

In 2006/07 the IPCC reported 47 apparent suicides following release from police custody. Twenty one of these people were reported to have mental health needs. Ten of those who died were arrested in connection with sexual offences relating to children or indecent images of children.

IPCC Chair Nick Hardwick said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the fall in the number of fatalities the IPCC has seen across all categories of deaths over the last year.

“This decrease is largely accounted for by a fall in the number of fatal road traffic incidents and the number of deaths in the general category of ‘during or following other contact’,” he said.

Mr Hardwick added that whilst there has been a significant reduction in the number of road traffic fatalities, referrals to the IPCC show that the number of serious injuries arising from road traffic incidents has increased.

The IPCC is working wi