New data has revealed a shocking increase in deaths at the hands of the police and in custody, the highest in 17 years.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has released statistics for 2023/24 which show there were 24 deaths in police custody and 68 apparent suicides following police custody. The data also includes 32 road traffic fatalities and two fatal shootings by police.
There were 60 further deaths that were investigated by the IOPC where someone had died after contact with the police, including people who had been restrained by police.
The charity INQUEST has found that of the 24 who died in police custody, 14 had force used against them by officers, and three of them were tasered before their deaths.
This data comes as a pregnant woman and her unborn baby died after a collision with an unmarked police car on Friday in South London. Two officers who were in the unmarked car were taken to hospital but have since been discharged, and the IOPC is investigating the circumstances of the crash. A witness told the Guardian the police car was on the wrong side of the road, and described a convoy of cars ‘racing down the road’ with their lights flashing. He said the woman’s car flipped over three times.
Last year the Metropolitan Police were responsible for 6 deaths following road traffic incidents, with the next highest numbers of fatalities from Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire and West Mercia Police (three respectively).
Responding to the IOPC’s latest data the Director of INQUEST, Deborah Coles, said: ‘No one should by dying at the hands of police. Yet every year, more people are dying in and following police custody.
Inquests and investigations uncover issues of disproportionate use of force, and neglect of people in need of care not custody. Yet police continue to fail to enact learning. The fact that the majority of these deaths relate to mental ill health and drugs and alcohol reiterate the urgent need for a community health and not a policing response.
Ultimately to prevent further deaths and harm, we must look beyond policing and redirect resources into community, health, welfare and specialist drug and alcohol services.’
The Director General of the IOPC released a statement alongside this year’s data, in which they said: ‘Not all deaths where police have contact with an individual will be preventable. However, it is disappointing to see increases this year among deaths in or following custody, road traffic fatalities and post-custody apparent suicides. It is important that any learning from investigations is acted on and fed into improvements to help police officers better manage risk.’
‘As the new IOPC director general, I want us to be effective, fair, and independent in our work investigating deaths. I am determined we play our part in holding police accountable where appropriate, while helping them learn from cases.’