in Art. R. 434-17 of the Homeland Security Code: "Protection and respect of people deprived of liberty"20. In 2017, the CGLPL inspected 22 police custody facilities belonging to the national gendarmerie, 21 to the national police and 2 the customs authorities21. Overall, these visits confirmed the general observations made over previous years. Regarding national police facilities, the main rights violations observed bear on: - serious failings where hygiene is concerned: premises in a dire state of disrepair, blankets that are not washed at regular intervals and no facilities for the people detained to wash; - systematic application of security measures that run counter to the provisions of the code of ethics of the national police and gendarmerie (see aforementioned provisions); - notification of rights is done expeditiously to the point of being dissuasive, such that it cannot be guaranteed that they have been understood properly, as evidenced in particular by the low number of requests for assistance from a lawyer. Among the anomalies recorded during the year is a room for hearings with the lawyer, equipped with a talk-through window. 5.1 Night-time surveillance of people in gendarmerie custody facilities When it comes to gendarmerie facilities, the difficulties often stem from the small size of the units which, every year, conduct a limited number of procedures and do not therefore always handle them carefully enough. These are short-term measures in principle. Although there is generally sufficient provision for hygiene, the facilities are very spartan in design, often without heating, such that in two of the units inspected, they are unusable for part of the year. Progress has been made on the question of night-time surveillance of people in custody, highlighted on a number of occasions by the CGLPL, but not enough to make up for the absence of on-duty officers in the unit. As had been announced, call buttons have indeed been installed in nearly a third of units, but this measure is neither systematic nor sufficient as it involves calling an on-call officer who is often at home, located in a different building which is sometimes outside the perimeter in which the unit's facilities are located. In one of the units visited, the call button had been delivered but not yet installed for reasons that are not clear - but which could have something to do with the staff's reluctance. In addition to these on-call shifts, whose definition and means are not very clear-cut, rounds are carried out which are systematically inspected by the CGLPL. The findings are at odds with the pledges: instead of an officer passing through every two hours, as announced, at best this happens at the beginning and end of the night and, at worst, the absence of any check-up is put down to the poor 20 Homeland Security Code, Art. R. 434-17 Protection and respect of people deprived of liberty: "Any person arrested is placed under the protection of gendarmes or police officers and protected from any form of violence and any inhuman or degrading treatment. No one may be fully undressed, except in the cases and under the conditions stipulated in Article 63-7 of the Code of criminal procedure aimed at searching for evidence of a crime or offence. The police officer or the gendarme in charge of the person arrested is attentive to his/her physical and psychological state and takes every possible measure to preserve his/her life, health and dignity. The use of handcuffs or shackles is only justified where the person arrested is deemed dangerous to him/herself or others, or if he/she is likely try to run away." 21 The full list of facilities inspected in 2017 is given in Appendix 2 hereto. 32