Lack of proper staff in rdps It is the officer on duty in the facility who needs to ensure safety to individuals placed in RDPs and at the same time allow them to exercise their rights. Pursuant to current legislation, the head of the unit needs to organize work in such a way to make sure that there is at least one police officer on duty in the RDPs62. The findings of the NMPT made in the course of performed inspections indicate, however, that one person is not able to carry out procedural duties (completing documentation), control tasks and at the same time make sure that detainees can exercise their rights (e.g. to use a sanitary facility). Under such circumstances it may also be particularly difficult to respond to extraordinary incidents, including suicide attempts. The current work organization may result in restricted exercise of detainees’ rights and their ill-treatment. Therefore, the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture has consistently been arguing for amending applicable regulations. CPT Establishment of a separate, specialized group of officers who will only be responsible for taking care of persons in police detention offers a number of benefits. Among other things, it leads to higher specialization, professionalism and effectiveness of officers as well as to the increased sense of responsibility for persons in Police detention. Such a practice may help to break the sense of solidarity in case of ill-treatment and enhance procedural safeguards which are supposed to protect one from ill-treatment. An officer may, for example, check at the moment of placement whether the detained has been informed about all his/her rights and whether they are clear to him/her. It also constitutes the first opportunity for the detained to file an official complaint against apprehending officers in relation to, for instance, excessive use of force at the moment of apprehension. In some countries visited by the CPT every detained person, prior to the initiation of any procedural steps, is introduced to a designated, experienced officer working in the pre-trial detention centre. That officer is responsible for checking the physical and mental state of the detained and for offering him/her the possibility to inform a person of choice about the detention and contact a lawyer. Designated officers have been trained to ask appropriate questions as well as to determine and record symptoms which may indicate the need to ensure special support and care to the detained. This is clearly a good practice63. 62 63 Cf. Order no. 130 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Police dated 7 August 2012 on the methods of performing work in the room for detained persons or intoxicated persons who are placed there for the purpose of sobering up (Dz. U. KGP of 2012, item 42, as amended), Art. 2(2). Cf. CPT 28th General Report, CPT/Inf (2019) 9, Art. 83-85. Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2019 35