The Northern Ireland Policing Board today published the annual Independent Custody Visiting Report.
An official statistics publication, covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, this statistical report details the number of visits made to custody suites in Northern Ireland by independent Custody Visitors (ICVs). ICVs cover both custody suites and serious crime suites.
The report includes matters raised by detainees or custody visitors regarding facilities, conditions of detention, treatment and welfare of detainees in both custody suites and serious crime suites.
ICVs are volunteers from across the community and are independent of the police and criminal justice system.
SUMMARY
As of the end of March 2025 there were 25 active ICVs, of which 52% were male.
There were 454 visits made by ICVs between 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
There were 443 valid visits (97.6%) and 11 invalid visits (2.4%).
980 detainees were selected for interview and 456 were visited (46.5%).
31 detainees refused to be interviewed (3.2% of the selected detainees).
The most frequent reason for detainees not being visited was that they were asleep (61.5%) or being interviewed (9.5%).
The most frequent matters of wellbeing raised during the year related to adequate food and drink (22).
There were 7 allegations of concern expressed to ICVs during the year, all claiming assault.
Issues of conditions of detentions raised by detainees or by ICVs were mainly in relation to faulty equipment and general maintenance (13 out of 28 instances).
The remaining concerns raised related to cleanliness, heating / lighting, the condition of medical rooms / health equipment, resourcing and ventilation issues.
441 custody records, 45.0% of the detainees selected for interview were checked during the year.
For any further information please contact the Policing Board’s Communications Office on 028 9040 8500.
Notes for Editors:
Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) make unannounced visits to police custody suites where they inspect and report on the rights, health and wellbeing and conditions of people being detained in custody, either by conversing with them and/or checking custody records.
ICVs are divided into three Custody Visiting Teams and cover custody suites allocated to them based on the team’s geographical remit. However, there are occasions when a team member/s may visit detainees in a custody suite outside of their regular team-area. The three teams and custody suites are as follows:
North-West: Coleraine, Strabane, Strand Road and Waterside
South-East: Antrim, which is also used as a contingency Serious Crime Suite (SCS), Banbridge, Musgrave and Musgrave SCS
Tyrone-Fermanagh: Dungannon, Lurgan and Omagh
ICVs carry out visits to check on the rights and entitlements of the detainee, their health and wellbeing and the conditions and facilities of detention.
A copy of the report can be found here: https://www.nipolicingboard.org.uk/independent-custody-visiting-reports