Substandard care of police detainees / death in police custody

Individual suspects detained in police custody are owed a duty of care by the police which starts from the initial point of arrest. Forensic physicians are well placed to scrutinise custody detention logs in addition to police custody CCTV recordings, in order to establish whether the duty of care may have fallen below an acceptable level. Injuries sustained by detainees may sometimes appear disproportionately severe and may suggest that excessive force may have been used. 

In the worst possible case scenario of a death in police custody, Expert forensic physicians can help to evaluate whether or not the care provided to a detained person by the police staff or any health care professional may have been deficient or possibly contributed in some way to the tragic outcome.