national-PCSOs

should PCSOs EVER set foot in the custody area?
Leon Briggs died in hospital after being restrained and detained under the Mental Health Act at Luton police station

Police community support officers (PCSOs) were helping police officers who used outdated tactics to carry and restrain Mr Briggs, a trainer said.

He also said they were wrong to carry Mr Briggs into a police cell head-first.

Mr Briggs, a father-of-two and lorry driver, was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act in Marsh Road, Luton, at around 14:00 GMT on 4 November 2013, before being taken into custody in handcuffs and leg restraints.

He became unconscious and was pronounced dead in hospital at about 16:15.

The inquest heard his primary cause of death was "amphetamine intoxication with prone restraint and prolonged struggling". A secondary cause of death was given as coronary heart disease.

The jury at the inquest in Milton Keynes was shown CCTV footage of Mr Briggs being placed into a police van after he was picked up off the pavement.

Personally I feel it would be really beneficial if police staff were given training in areas like this. If the situation is urgent and you need more people to assist, there will be occasions where there won't be enough police officers. So safety first, let's give everyone the best training we can to keep everyone safe and reduce risk as much as possible.

Nice one Lieutenant, I also feel that not everybody is naturally attuned to the subject matter at the centre of the training, as an example take first aid.

first aid wont come in handy that often, but on the other hand WHEN it is needed, if the training has not been kept up and the person dealing is not naturally attuned to first aid, the result is going to be poor, I speak from personal experience. I was never a person who had a passion for first aid, in fact I found it a huge mystery until I went to another police force, which had a lot more refresher training and through repeated sessions, like being hit over the head with a hammer, I slowly began really understanding it and taking it on board, until I reached a point where I could actually do C P R knowing all the stages.

I see this situation in a similar vein, refresher training on this would be vital or the knowledge just fades, in fact it looks like this is exactly what happened with the PCs dealing here, I am sure they were glad of the PCSOs help but it is up to the PCs to give the PCSOs correct guidance