To: Michael Gove, Justice Minister
End the detention of children in custody cells for longer than 4 hours
Allocate extra funding to local authorities specifically to provide more secure accomodation for children.
Why is this important?
Last year more than 3000 children spent 24 hour to 48 hours in a police cell due to the inadequate amount of secure accommodation currently provided by local authorities in London in particular .
Some have been arrested for very minor offences indeed. The psychological impact on a child of such lengthy detention can be very damaging.
It is not acceptable in a civilized society to imprison children for such lengthy periods , it goes against the agreed guidelines which recommend children be released from Police custody and be transferred to secure accommodation within 4 hours after arrest , if there is no responsible adult to collect them .
Some have been arrested for very minor offences indeed. The psychological impact on a child of such lengthy detention can be very damaging.
It is not acceptable in a civilized society to imprison children for such lengthy periods , it goes against the agreed guidelines which recommend children be released from Police custody and be transferred to secure accommodation within 4 hours after arrest , if there is no responsible adult to collect them .
