The hard work and dedication of a group of volunteers who check on the welfare of people in custody in Surrey was celebrated this week at an annual event at Surrey Police HQ.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey David Munro was joined by Surrey Chief Constable Gavin Stephens together with the dozens of Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) who work across Surrey’s three custody suites in Guildford, Staines and Salfords and their families.
The ICVs provide a vital service by giving up their time to visit detainees held in custody to ensure police processes are transparent and open to independent scrutiny.
They come from a variety of backgrounds and sections of the community and there are currently 39 volunteers in Surrey. Over the last year they carried out 187 unannounced visits to custody suites volunteering 622 hours of their time.
This year the effort the volunteers put was recognised in the first ever Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA) Quality Assurance awards in which the Surrey scheme was awarded Gold.
They gathered on Wednesday evening (October 23) at the Force’s Mount Browne HQ in Guildford where the PCC and Chief Constable thanked the volunteers and their families for their hard work over the past year.
The guest speaker was Gamal Turawa, a retired police officer from the Metropolitan Police Service who shared his inspirational story about the personal challenges he overcame growing up and becoming the first openly gay black police officer to come out in the UK.
The PCC’s office is responsible for the oversight of the scheme through the ICV manager Erika Dallinger who the volunteers report back to with their findings after each visit.
The hard work and dedication of a group of volunteers who check on the welfare of people in custody in Surrey was celebrated this week at an annual event at Surrey Police HQ.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey David Munro was joined by Surrey Chief Constable Gavin Stephens together with the dozens of Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) who work across Surrey’s three custody suites in Guildford, Staines and Salfords and their families.
The ICVs provide a vital service by giving up their time to visit detainees held in custody to ensure police processes are transparent and open to independent scrutiny.
They come from a variety of backgrounds and sections of the community and there are currently 39 volunteers in Surrey. Over the last year they carried out 187 unannounced visits to custody suites volunteering 622 hours of their time.
This year the effort the volunteers put was recognised in the first ever Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA) Quality Assurance awards in which the Surrey scheme was awarded Gold.
They gathered on Wednesday evening (October 23) at the Force’s Mount Browne HQ in Guildford where the PCC and Chief Constable thanked the volunteers and their families for their hard work over the past year.
The guest speaker was Gamal Turawa, a retired police officer from the Metropolitan Police Service who shared his inspirational story about the personal challenges he overcame growing up and becoming the first openly gay black police officer to come out in the UK.
The PCC’s office is responsible for the oversight of the scheme through the ICV manager Erika Dallinger who the volunteers report back to with their findings after each visit.