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‘I Feel Trapped’: The Role of the Cell in the Embodied and Everyday Practices of Police Custody

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The Prison Cell

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

This chapter explores the police custody cell from the perspective of policing staff. Legally it is the cornerstone of the criminal investigation process, being the place where arrested persons are taken while charging decisions are made. Police custody is a liminal space, one where detainees are monitored extensively and where detainees are ‘betwixt and between’ their previous existence. It is therefore a complex and multi-faceted environment that has, until recently, been treated in a fairly monolithic way. This chapter draws on 15 hours of observations and 12 interviews with police officers and custody staff. It argues that the police custody cell is a space where the monitoring of risk and emotional turmoil is managed by staff.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The charge bar is the desk where the Sergeant and booking in officers are located. It is where a detainee is booked in to custody; where details of the arrest are relayed; where a risk assessment is normally carried out; where the rights and entitlements of the detainee are explained; and where a search is carried out. It is also the place where a charging decision is relayed to the detainee. Most of these are raised platforms, which practically allows a better view and therefore control of detainees, but arguably also symbolises the power of the police over suspects (Skinns 2011).

  2. 2.

    Dynamic risk assessment is the process of continually identifying potential issues, assessing risk, taking action to reduce risk, monitoring and reviewing those decisions and accounting for the actions taken.

  3. 3.

    These are the authorised professional practice from the College of Policing which describe how staff remove restraints from detainees within the cell and then exit the cell safely, with minimum risk to staff and detainee.

  4. 4.

    ‘Dirty protests’ is the vernacular for smearing excrement on the walls of the cell. This rose to particular prominence during The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1970s.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK

    Andrew Wooff

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  1. Andrew Wooff
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Correspondence to Andrew Wooff .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Jennifer Turner

  2. School of Applied Social Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Victoria Knight

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Wooff, A. (2020). ‘I Feel Trapped’: The Role of the Cell in the Embodied and Everyday Practices of Police Custody. In: Turner, J., Knight, V. (eds) The Prison Cell. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39911-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39911-5_5

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-39911-5

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