Source · IOPC Learning Case

Recommendation - West Midlands Police, August 2020

West Midlands Police Ref: 2019/122790 Recommended 27 Aug 2020 Response due 22 Oct 2020

Welfare and vulnerable people

On 23 July 2019 a man called the Police stating he was going to hang himself. Officers arrived quickly and the evidence suggests there was no conduct concern and that he was dead before they arrived. However, it took officers over an hour to access his apartment partly due to the unavailability of an enforcer. One officer returned to the station to discover there were no approved methods of entry kits available. The officer then stated he proceeded to search …

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Recommendations

1 total

Recommendation 1

The IOPC recommends that managing officers at Stechford police station conduct an audit to establish whether additional approved methods of entry kits are required and to formally consider whether such equipment is being suitably located and managed. This recommendation was made following the outcome of a Death and Serious Injury report that highlighted a problem with officers from Strechford police station being able to force entry into a property because they could not locate appropriate equipment in a timely manner. While the IOPC recognised that forces have dealt with funding issues in recent years, it was of concern that the officers in this case were unable to locate basic equipment in what could reasonably be described as a life and death incident. Do you accept the recommendation? Yes

Addressed to: managing officers at Stechford police station

Linked bodies: managing officers at Stechford police station

Accepted

Force response

Accepted action: West Midlands Police have accepted the recommendations outlined by the IOPC. A local audit of Method Of Entry (MOE) kits was undertaken at Stechford Police station in response to the learning. A wider audit of MOE kit was then undertaken across the Force. The audit focussed on the following key points: The responses identified the availability of MOE kits; their locations; access; storage and maintenance. The audit revealed that officers across Force Response, Neighbourhood Task Force and Gangs team are trained in the use of MOE kit. However, the audit highlighted the need to have more officers trained in the use of MOE. This is being addressed by the PSD Prevention & Intervention team in collaboration with WMP Learning & Development’