POLICE STATIONS X X X X X X X X X X X Access to daylight Time outside Dealing with specific groups of people X X X X X X a matter of principle be protected in a suitable manner in all places where measures depriving people of their liberty are enforced. Where CCTV monitoring is in operation this can, for instance, be achieved by pixellating images of the sanitary facilities. If need be, it may be conceivable, in carefully considered, substantiated and documented individual cases, to permit unrestricted monitoring of a custody cell where there is an acute danger of self-harm or suicide. CCTV monitoring is in operation in some of the cells in Frankfurt am Main Police Headquarters. Images of the toilet are not pixellated. The Joint Commission recommended that measures be taken to protect detainees’ privacy. Independently of the question of protecting privacy, CCTV monitoring of the cells in police stations is, as a matter of principle, only permitted when the statutory requirements are met, that is in justified and documented individual cases. Continuous monitoring is only possible after weighing up the circumstances and requires special justification. Such justified exceptional cases include, for instance, extremely drunk, aggressive or suicidal people. It therefore appears sufficient for only half of the available cells in a police station to be equipped with a CCTV camera for such cases or, if all the cells are equipped with a camera, for the cameras only to be used in justified exceptional cases. In Winnenden Police Station the Joint Commission found, for example, that constant CCTV monitoring is in operation in all three cells and that it is thus not only used in justified and documented individual cases. The explanations provided by the Ministry of 4.1 – GENERAL ISSUES In 2014 the Joint Commission visited four police stations in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Hesse. Whilst some of the visits were announced, others were not. The Joint Commission makes the following observations based on the outcome of the visits. 4.1.1 – State-wide implementation of the Joint Commission’s recommendations In order to remedy deficiencies as broadly and as effectively as possible, those recommendations which are made following visits to specific police stations should always be implemented in all stations across the Land concerned. A comparable procedure has become established at federal level. For instance, based on a recommendation made by the Federal Agency, the Federal Ministry of the Interior instructed all police stations to have washable, flame-resistant mattresses available in their custody cells. This procedure has not yet become established at Land police level, as the visits to police stations in BadenWürttemberg and Saxony, for example, showed. 4.1.2 – CCTV monitoring of custody cells In the Annual Report 2013 the Joint Commission explained its general stance in regard to video surveillance of people deprived of their liberty, especially in 40 respect of the protection of privacy. Privacy must as 40 X Night lighting Protecting privacy Mattresses X Custody documentation X Instruction about rights Chemnitz North East Police Station Frankfurt am Main Police Headquarters Leipzig Central Police Custody Winnenden Police Station Fire detectors Recommendation: 4 – POLICE STATIONS see National Agency, Annual Report 2013, p. 27–28 47