Recommendations - Northumbria Police, July 2024

The IOPC recommends that Northumbria Police provides guidance to front line officers and the Street Triage Team (STT) in respect of their responsibilities and actions to be taken when encountering a member of the public who has self-harmed in their presence, particularly if that person is exhibiting behaviour which could suggest they are in crisis.

This recommendation has arisen from a Death and Serious Injury (DSI) investigation and review, where officers attended an address following reports that a person had been acting erratically. The person was exhibiting behaviour which could be perceived to be related to their mental health and officers noticed that the person had self-harmed whilst they were present, sustaining what were described as superficial wounds. Officers provided basic first aid but were advised by the force STT to leave the person at the scene and ask them to contact the local CRISIS team for further support. The person was sadly later found deceased at their home address.

The guidance provided by the STT to the attending officers was to advise the member of the public to contact their CRISIS team and withdraw from the scene, as a police presence was obviously a triggering factor for the person. However, when taking into account that the person had self-harmed and been provided with basic first aid by the officers, this may not have been perceived as appropriate.

The Street Triage Team Operational Policy does not currently contain guidance for officers in respect of how best to deal scenarios such as this, particularly in respect of whether or not the fact that alleged self-harm had taken place should have been considered to increase the likelihood of face-to-face triage or further medical attention being required. Guidance to officers would provide further clarity and ensure that more robust and appropriate decision making is made in the future.

The IOPC recommends that Northumbria Police provides guidance to the Street Triage Team (STT) around the importance of considering the particular circumstances faced by frontline officers when attending an incident, when making a decision about how best to resolve a mental health related matter, to avoid placing too much weight on the patient’s past presentation during other historical incidents which may have occurred several years ago.

This recommendation has arisen from a Death and Serious Injury (DSI) investigation and review, where officers attended an address following reports that a person had been acting erratically. The person was exhibiting behaviour which could be perceived to be related to their mental health and officers noticed that the person had self-harmed whilst they were present, sustaining what were described as superficial wounds. Officers provided basic first aid, but were advised by the force’s Street Triage Team (STT) to leave the person at the scene and ask them to contact the local CRISIS team for further support. The person was sadly later found deceased at their home address.

Whilst the decision to withdraw appears to have been made in the best interests of the member of the public, significant weight for this decision was placed on the person's past presentation, rather than the specific circumstances which were faced by the attending officers. The incidents previously involving the deceased were largely historic in nature and therefore, it may not have been appropriate to rely on them when deciding how best to deal with the matter faced that day. Further consideration may have resulted in more appropriate support being provided to the person at that time.

The IOPC recommends that Northumbria Police should work with Cumbria, Northumbria Tyne and Wear NHS (CNTW) to review and revise the referral points discussed in the Street Triage Team (STT) Operational Policy document around when a member of the public may require CRISIS intervention or home based treatment, to ensure that the referral points and guidance to staff remain appropriate and offer the best possible support to members of the public, when considering the current demand on front line officers and the STT.

This matter has arisen from a Death and Serious Injury (DSI) investigation and review, where officers attended an address following reports that a person had been acting erratically. The person was exhibiting behaviour which could be perceived to be related to their mental health and officers noticed that the person had self-harmed whilst they were present, sustaining what were described as superficial wounds. Officers provided basic first aid, but were advised by the STT to leave the person at the scene and ask them to contact the local CRISIS team for further support. The person was sadly later found deceased at their home address.

Section 12 of the STT Operational Policy discusses Crisis Referral points when attending mental health related incidents. These are focused on STT staff contacting the Crisis team themselves to arrange that referral and there is no reference to asking members of the public to contact the CRISIS team themselves. It is unclear if this way of signposting a member of the public is commonplace, however it does appear to deviate from the policy as is currently written. Guidance to staff around whether or not this is appropriate may reduce the likelihood of recurrence in the future. Should it be determined that self-referral to the CRISIS team is not appropriate, then this should be clearly stipulated to STT staff.