13 October 20194 August 2020 4WardEverUK

Police vow for ‘improvements’ after Leroy Medford cell death in 2017

all credits: BBC News
published: 11 October 2019

A police force has vowed to make improvements after a man took heroin in his cell and died. Leroy Junior Medford was being watched at a police station in Reading in April 2017, after he was suspected of concealing drugs internally.

At an inquest this year, the coroner said police should have “done more”. In a report to the coroner, Thames Valley Police said a number of changes have been made and a comprehensive review has been launched.

Medford, 43, had been searched twice by police and taken to hospital for a scan to check for drugs. Two officers were tasked with “constant supervision” of the father-of-eight in his cell. They had not seen him removing a package from his trousers and swallowing it, which was shown on CCTV.

6 January 201922 December 2019 4WardEverUK

Kingsley Burrell custody death: Police probe ‘secret’ Facebook site

source: Birmingham Mail
published: 6 January 2019

Police are investigating a secret Facebook site which has called on police officers to stage a counter protest to a demonstration that was planned to demand justice for Kingsley Burrell, who died in custody.

The call was made on Facebook page “Support for PC Adey” – which describes itself as a “secret group with 1.2k members” – and contains messages from supporters, some of whom appear to be serving officers.

That is a reference to PC Paul Adey, sacked by West Midlands Police last month for breaching standards over the restraint used on Mr Burrell after he was arrested and sectioned in 2011.

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23 December 201825 July 2019 4WardEverUK

Police watchdog admits that investigations must ‘speed up’

source: BBC News
published: 21 December 2018

The police watchdog has admitted its investigations take too long – with officers facing misconduct probes suspended on full pay for years. Data shows almost half of the UK’s suspended officers have been off-duty for at least a year.

One, who has retrained as a priest, told the BBC he has spent five years being paid “unnecessarily” for a job he does not want to do. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it must do better.

From the 31 forces that provided information to the BBC through a Freedom of Information request, 71 of the 153 officers (46%) who were fully suspended from duty in October 2018 had been suspended since at least November 2017.