theme for 2017: supervision of those deprived of their liberty 58 Supervision of those deprived of their liberty Supervision of individuals deprived of their liberty is handled in different ways by the authorities. In the police’s custody facility, people arrested and held are supervised once an hour as a general rule. In the case of people taken into custody due to intoxication, supervision occurs every 15 minutes, as a general rule. The supervision aims to safeguard persons from dying as a result of intoxication or illness. As a general rule, there is no regular supervision of persons admitted to the Prison and Probation Service’s remand prisons. The contact the staff have with detainees regularly during the day, for example, in connection with serving food and spending time outdoors, is regarded as part of the basis for assessing how well detainees feel. In all activities where there are individuals deprived of their liberty, procedures are applied for detecting if there is a risk of a detainee being involved in self harm. If there is a suspicion of such a risk, a decision is taken to supervise the detainee at special intervals or constant. The decision that a detainee is to be placed under supervision is therefore of great significance for the individual’s safety. A decision on supervision and the supervision performed must also be put on record, in the correct manner. Police custody facilities The inspections during 2015–2017 show that there has been a tangible improvement in this area. During several of the inspections, it was noted that previous opinions voiced by the Parliamentary Ombudsmen have been responded to and that the majority of the police custody facilities nowadays have procedures for regular supervision of the detainees. Even from the outset of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s OPCAT unit, supervision of those deprived of their liberty in police custody facilities has been a priority matter. During 2011–2014, deficiencies were noted in that there were no procedures for regular supervision. It was noted that there are relatively frequent deficiencies in how supervision is put on record. The Parliamentary Ombudsmen has previously emphasised that it is important that detailed notes of the detainee’s status be kept, in connection with supervision. It is not sufficient to state in a routine fashion on each occasion of supervision that the detainee is, for example, “lying down”. The inspections during 2015–2017 show that there has been a tangible improvement in this area. During several of the inspections, it was noted that previous opinions expressed by the Parliamentary Ombudsmen have been taken into account and that the majority of the police custody facilities nowadays have procedures for regular supervision of the inmates. In 2016, an inspection was carried out at a newly-opened police custody facility. In connection with the inspection, it was established that the police custody facility – unlike the majority of the other police custody facilities in the country – had no procedures for regular supervision. During an unannounced follow-up inspection