Rules or policy on treating people who are old and infirm

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.038208

I note you seek access to the following information:

Have the UK Police any rules or policy on how they are expected to treat and deal with those people who are old or infirm, in fact old people are also infirm.

Could you please advise me and supply useful information on this subject..It can be difficult for a constable to understand age and medical problems, for instance the problems of injury, pain and lack of available movement to be handcuffed ext.

Many older people have no experience dealing in a policing situation and can suffer high levels of Trauma. At 75 years old I have no intention of becoming a police auditor or acting in any Political manner. My only concern is the level of the average officers understanding of these problems at least in The Northumbria Police area.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

There is no specific policy or lesson around the use of handcuffs on elderly people as a distinct population group. However, there are two elements within policy and training that would accommodate this population.

1. Learning objective 1 of recruits first day of Public and Police Safety Training (PPST) in relation to handcuffing is ensuring on justification of use of handcuffs as a use of force, and therefore must be justified and accounted for according to the situation faced. This is reflected in the handcuff policy. There is not an exhaustive list of factors that could influence that decision whether or not to apply handcuffs but will be down to the specific context and justification from the officer’s present at scene.

2. Medical implications of handcuffing, including the risk of fractures, are also taught on recruit PPST day 1, and referred to in the specific handcuffing lessons.

The combination of the above two factors mean that officers are taught to understand the impact of handcuffs and must be able to justify their use and would incorporate the physical capability (or otherwise) of the person involved. We would therefore reasonably expect that someone clearly infirm and weak would not normally meet that threshold for use of handcuffs, but it is not solely the threat of harm to officers and public that officers must consider but the threat of self-harm and preservation of evidence.

This initial recruit training provided to all officers is then supplemented annually by mandatory attendance at refresher PPST sessions.