Independent custody visiting scheme in Devon and Cornwall wins national award

L to R, Katie and Erica from the OPCC collecting the silver quality assurance award by ICVA

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has been recognised nationally for the high quality of its independent custody visiting scheme.

Under this national scheme, trained volunteers from the local community called Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) make regular unannounced visits to police custody suites to check on the rights, entitlements, wellbeing and dignity of the detainees held there. 

Their findings are reported to the Police and Crime Commissioners who holds the Chief Constable to account.  Devon and Cornwall has 24 ICVs who are recruited by the OPCC.

In the last financial year from April 2025 to March 2026, ICVs conducted a total of 128 visits at custody centres throughout Devon and Cornwall, including Exeter, Torquay, Plymouth, Barnstaple, Newquay, and Camborne. 

Encouragingly, reports for most of those visits were consistently positive and ICVs often received positive feedback directly from detainees regarding how they had been treated.  

However, issues raised included concerns over the maintenance of the custody estate, such as broken CCTV in a custody suite which has since been fixed, gaps in healthcare provision on some occasions and staff shortages.  

No significant issues have been raised following ICV visits so far this year.   

The Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA) - the national membership organisation that supports, leads and represents the scheme - has developed a quality assurance framework to assess how well schemes comply with the code of practice that governs custody visiting.

This is the third year that schemes have been assessed under the framework and have been able to gain quality assurance awards to recognise the value of their work.

The Devon and Cornwall scheme was presented with a silver quality assurance award by ICVA this Wednesday, July 8, at a ceremony in London. 

Welcoming the award, Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: "I am extremely pleased to hear that my office’s ICV scheme has received a silver quality assurance award from ICVA. It is my statutory responsibility to run an ICV scheme and I am grateful for my office in providing a good standard of volunteer management and custody visiting to ensure that detainees’ rights and entitlements are upheld. 

“Custody is a challenging environment that police officers and detention officers  work within, whether dealing with people who are unwell through substance misuse, violence or are scared. So this is also a recognition that these officers and staff work well with my scheme and welcome short notice scrutiny of their efforts.

"I would also like to thank our volunteer ICVs because without their dedication to the scheme, it would not have been possible for my office to achieve this award. A further thank you goes out to ICVA, who provide essential support to schemes throughout the country.”

Sherry Ralph, chief executive at ICVA said: "I congratulate schemes on their accomplishments and thank them for their continued dedication and commitment."