fundamental and human rights �.� national preventive mechanism against torture equal access to outdoor exercise requires such a measure. However, a clear majority of persons deprived of their liberty are regular smokers. Particular attention has been paid to the daily cleaning of cigarette butts from the exercise area. The police prison’s exercise area was not fit for purpose. The area had next to no ventilation and was poorly cleaned (4391/2018). Distribution of medicines The intention was to provide training in the distribution of medicines to all police department guards during 2018. This has not happened, however. The training programme was begun in November 2018, with the objective that all guards should have passed the course and examination by June 2019. Storage of medication at the Joensuu Police Prison. Separation of investigation and detention responsibilities In the context of the oversight of legality, it has frequently been noted that the responsibilities for investigating an offence and holding a suspect should be kept separate, administratively and in practice. If investigation and detention are left ”in the same hands”, there is a risk of detention conditions and the treatment of remand prison- 80 ers becoming dependent on the progress of the investigation and the remand prisoner’s attitude towards it. Even though no such cases have been observed, the mere possibility gives cause for criticism. In this regard, practices such as the investigating officer managing the prisoner’s meetings with family members are problematic. The police department should conduct a thorough assessment of the separation of investigation and detention responsibilities. This observation and opinion applied to nearly all visited police prisons. According to the Deputy-Ombudsman, police prisons should have clear and uniform rules for obtaining a television, which should not be left to the decision of the investigating officer. Rather, the decision should be made by police prison staff according to these predefined criteria (849/2018). According to the Helsinki Police Department, the police prison is equipped with 20 televisions, and access to them is subject to the discretion of the police prison staff. A specific guideline has been drawn up on the remand prisoners’ right to obtain a television. If no restrictions on communication have been imposed on a person, neither can the investigating officer impose such restrictions. In general, the interviews of remand prisoners indicated that the handling of the affairs of persons deprived of their liberty could be much delayed when they were referred to the investigating officer (849/2018). According to the Helsinki Police Department, the intention was not to create artificial restrictions on communication, and the cases mainly involved the practical arrangements of meetings. The Act on the Treatment of Persons in Police Custody entering into force at the beginning of 2019 will change the visitation practices of all police prisons so that the practical arrangements will fall under the responsibility of police prison staff. Partly due to the increased resource need caused by this, the police department is recruiting new guards. Upon the entry into force of the Act on the Treatment of Persons in Police Custody at the latest, the police department will change its visitation practices so that police prison staff will be responsible for all practical arrangements of visits.