Prisoners to be asked to rate experience in police cells
Prisoners will be asked about their experience in police cells via a text survey
- Published
Prisoners who spend the night in Scottish police cells are to be asked how they rated their stay, it has been revealed.
The "custody user experience survey" will be sent out by text message to those who have been in police custody.
According to the Daily Record, external, officers were told about the survey via the Police Scotland intranet.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said the survey would help the service understand whether people were provided appropriate support and referrals.
The Police Federation, which represents 98% of all police officers in Scotland, said the police service had independent visitors who checked on conditions in custody.
General Secretary David Kennedy told BBC Scotland News: "I find it all rather bizarre.
David Kennedy, general secretary of the Police Federation said independent custody visitors already checked conditions
"There are independent custody visitors who I would have thought would be more appropriate for checks to be done.
"If you've spent the night in a police cell you're not exactly going to say 'thanks very much, I enjoyed my stay'.
"I have heard that some officers have likened it to a Trip Advisor review.
"Prisoners have human rights but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out how comfortable it is or how bad the food is."
He added that he could imagine prisoners just using the survey to complain about their arrest and what happened to them, which could end up taking up police time.
"People have a right to complain but they way they are going about this just seems very strange," he said.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We continuously listen to feedback from people and communities about service delivery as part of our evidence-led policing approach.
"We have a duty to ensure the care and welfare of people in police custody and as part of our continuous improvement programme, we are in the process of developing a user experience survey.
"The survey will also help the service understand whether people were provided appropriate support and referrals to partner agencies in terms of any healthcare needs or underlying causes of offending in order to reduce re-offending."