VISITS BY THE JOINT COMMISSION ers, especially to prepare them for stressful situations. The aim is thereby to prevent them over-reacting in certain situations. The Joint Commission therefore welcomes the Ministry of the Interior’s strategy and asks that a list of available training measures and materials be forwarded. custody record book). Searches can currently only be made of standard information such as time intervals, name and legal basis. Searches of general and case-specific information about self-harm incidents are time-consuming because they necessitate a manual search of all cases which have been entered in the system. However, such searches are not required in the fulfilment of police tasks, which is why this function was not programmed in the system. According to the police station, the reason for this “cluster” of cases of self-injury was linked to the fact that it was responsible for a reception centre for asylum seekers located in the district of Ebersdorf. Due to the high turnover of asylum seekers in Chemnitz, the space available in the reception centre and the resulting mood of some of the asylum seekers, including on account of what they had gone through in their home countries, meant that the same number of people from the aforementioned group are taken into custody as German nationals, although refugees make up only a share of 4.45% of the total population in Chemnitz. According to officers’ estimates, some of the asylum seekers do not recognise the authority of the state (as represented by uniformed police officers) or have strong misgivings against intervention measures. This attitude was often particularly marked in the case of refugees from northern Africa and was then reflected in their behaviour, officers reported. This conduct was aimed at evading the police measure, even if it meant attempting self-harm and being taken to hospital. The Joint Commission recommends procuring protective headgear which is suitable for preventing head injuries. In addition, it should be examined how this particular problem could be tackled in the medium term, given that, in the officers’ analysis, it notably occurs in one specific group of people. Response: The use of protective headgear appears necessary to prevent self-injury on the part of those taken into custody and those at risk of self-harm. It is suggested that standard protective headgear (such as that used by boxers) be used. The suitability of such protective headgear and its procurement is being reviewed. Attention is drawn to the fact that in cases in which the use of protective headgear is supposed to prevent self-injury, additional surveillance or fettering of the person concerned is also necessary. The police station justified the incidents by, amongst other things, quoting cultural specifics and detainees’ fundamentally negative attitude towards state authority. The Joint Commission notes that other circumstances might also explain this escalation, specifically in this group of people. Communication problems, for example, can lead to misunderstandings with police officers. Account must also be taken of the fact that these people are in an especially unstable and difficult situation and that they may, in some 4.2.3 – Chemnitz North East Police Station, 30 September 2014 A delegation of the Joint Commission visited Chemnitz North East Police Station on 30 September 2014. The Joint Commission notified the State Ministry of the Interior of Saxony the day before of its intention to visit the facility. In an initial meeting the delegation discussed the course of the visit with the head of patrol duty and also asked for various documents relevant to the visit to be made available. The delegation then visited the eight custody cells, including two multi-occupancy cells, and inspected the custody record books. No-one was being detained in custody at the time of the visit. Recommendations and response During its visit the delegation’s attention was drawn to a police helmet which was lying on the floor of the anteroom to the custody area. The delegation was told that there had been an increasing number of incidents in which people taken into custody had begun hitting their head against the wall intent on injuring themselves. To stop detainees hurting themselves, officers had begun getting them to wear a police helmet. This was not the best solution, they said. That is why the officers had recommended procuring a more suitable item, for example the kind of protective headgear used in martial arts. However, the procurement department had refused to follow up on the recommendation. When asked, the police officers reported that the incidents frequently involved people of African origin. In the context of the information which has to be provided on the occasion of a visit, the police station initially informed the National Agency that it was not possible to say how many incidents there had been in which someone had injured themselves or how many other special incidents there had been. Cases of selfharm are not recorded in the system, it was informed. The Joint Commission feels that it is necessary to record self-harm and other special incidents in the digital system or – if this is not possible – separately. Systematically documenting such incidents is the only way in which the grounds for self-harm can be evaluated and analysed and thus suitable and timely countermeasures taken. Response: All special incidents which occur in police custody are recorded in detail in the existing system (electronic 52