Annexes
Drammen police custody
• The police should establish procedures to record the
results of supervisory actions and observations involving high-risk detainees, focusing on their respiratory
rate and body position.
• Consideration should be given to expanding the local
custody instruction guide to include practical guidelines for carrying out body searches, including the
removal of clothing in two stages.
• The police, in cooperation with the correctional
services, should further strengthen efforts to comply
with the two-day deadline for transfer to prison. The
police should ensure in particular that the deadline is
observed for minors in all cases.
• The police should find a suitable room where minors
can wait in the company of a child welfare officer
before being driven home or returned to the relevant
institution.
• The police should strengthen efforts to mitigate the
adverse effects of isolation, in particular by considering
the possibility of visits from outside for persons held in
custody for more than two days.
• The police should ensure that detainees are permitted
to speak directly with health personnel at the accident
and emergency care unit, and that phone calls can take
place without police and custody officers overhearing.
• The police should not be able to hear conversations
in the patient room at the accident and emergency
care unit. Nor should the police be able to see into the
patient room, unless requested by health personnel in
special instances.
• The police should establish a procedure asking all
detainees to sign an affirmation that they have been
informed of their rights in a language they understand.
• The police should ensure that all detainees are
informed of their right to have relatives or third parties
informed of their admission into custody; the police
should also ensure that detainees are asked whether
such notification is desired.
• The police should ensure that notification or attempted
notification of defence counsel is always carried out
without undue delay, regardless of time of day.
• The police should ensure that informational materials on the rights of persons arrested or detained are
updated to clarify this right of notification.
• The police should remove the metal rods attached to
the wall of the intake room.
• The police are advised to consider upgrading one or
more custody cells to give them a more humane design.
• A better lighting-control system should be created for
all the cells, and it should include an option to dim the
lights at night without compromising the opportunity to
observe persons in detention; all cells should also have
clocks installed.
• Detainees should be assured of sufficient access to
fresh air. At a minimum, persons detained should be
able to breathe fresh air and see daylight on a daily
basis, and be given a genuine opportunity for movement and the feeling of being outdoors.
• The police should ensure that all detainees are offered
written and verbal information, as soon as possible
and in a language they understand, about the rights of
persons detained or arrested.
Norway’s National Preventive Mechanism – Annual Report 2014
49
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents