Police detention centres X The staffing level in the police detention centres should correspond to the anticipated target situation. Understaffing shall be avoided in order to prevent work overload. X Detainees awaiting forced detention shall be housed in open detention within 48 hours of admission to the police detention centre or detention centre. X The exclusion of detainees awaiting forced return from open detention in the police detention centre should only be for the reasons agreed with the NPM. 2.6.8 Detenion of mentally impaired persons who can harm others The fitness to undergo detention in terms of health is the condition for detention in police detention centres (Section 7 of the Detention Regulation (Anhalteordnung)). If a detainee displays behaviour that can be self-harming or a risk to others, Section 5b of the Detention Regulation stipulates special security measures. The most intrusive measure is the placement in specially secured cell. Pursuant to Section 1 (4) of Federal Constitutional Law on the Protection of Personal Freedom (Bundesverfassungsgesetz über den Schutz der persönlichen Freiheit), detainees shall always be treated with respect for their dignity and in the gentlest way possible. On the monitoring visit to Roßauer Lände police detention centre in October 2020, the commission learned of the case of a detainee awaiting forced return who was severely mentally impaired, was at risk of harming others but did not accept that he was ill and was not willing to receive treatment. The detainee had already been in different, specially secured cells for three months at that time. No alternative to three months detention in isolation In the view of the commission, the detention in isolation exacerbated the poor state of health of the detainee. As the detainee was not at an acute risk of self-harm according to a psychiatric specialist from the DIALOG association, forced placement in the psychiatric department of a hospital did not seem possible. In view of the classification of the detainee as a danger to public safety, however, his release was out of the question. Due to the situation of the detainee, the commission saw a possible structural deficit in the detention of mentally ill persons who can harm others but are not willing to receive treatment. The commission considered a dedicated concept for their care to be necessary, which would include a more friendly design of specially secured cells amongst others. The NPM will carry out additional examinations in this area. 147