Year: 2012

4WardEverUK

Cops pledge CCTV in police vans after campaign

CCTV VAN DRIVERLondon’s Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has announced his intention to install CCTV cameras in all police cars and vans. 

This has been a demand of the families of those who have died in police custody for many years.

Hogan-Howe told the LBC radio station, “If we misbehave it will capture it, but, equally, for the people who misbehave or make false allegations, it will capture it.” But he added, “We have got to have a conversation with our staff because they may feel threatened by that.”

A number of custody deaths are believed to have taken place in police vehicles. And campaigners believe the cameras will help provide evidence in future cases. One such death was Sean Rigg at Brixton police station in 2008.

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4WardEverUK

UFFC discuss custody deaths on BBC radio show

Tippa Naphtali - Trafalgar SquareTippa Naphtali of the United Families & Friends Campaign spoke on behalf of families all over the country when he was invited onto the Joe Aldred Show.

You can listen to the show again (or if you missed it live) for a limited period. Click here to listen to the programme   (Forward to 1.hr 11.min 24secs).

Tippa is also the founder of 4WardEver UK and a cousin of Mikey Powell who was killed in the custody of West Midlands police in September 2003.

The United Families & Friends Campaign (UFFC) is a coalition of families and friends of those that have died in the custody of police and prison officers as well as those who died in psychiatric and immigration detention. It also has members and supporters from campaign groups and advocacy organisations from across the UK.

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Larry Fedja

Unproven science used to ‘explain’ custody deaths

Doctor in the labA controversial unproven syndrome with roots in the US is being used in British coroners’ courts to explain why people die after police restraint. 

‘Excited delirium’ or ‘sudden-in-custody-death-syndrome’ is a niche diagnosis not yet recognised by the World Health Organisation or any international authority.

A number of leading pathologists have expressed concern about the use of the term in inquests. Listen to Programme >

Individuals in the throes of ‘excited delirium’ are described as aggressive, agitated, displaying bizarre behaviour, insensitive to pain and with superhuman strength until they collapse and die

But research by the Bureau has found that the ‘condition’ has been used by coroners to explain 10 restraint-related deaths that occurred in police custody in England and Wales since the late 1990s. 

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