Information about the role of a custody sergeant, including the role purpose, key responsibilities and the skills required.
About the role
A custody sergeant is a custody position within the operational support sector of policing. It's a team leader role in the policing professional profiles.
Role purpose
The role of the custody sergeant is to manage the custody suite, including the care and welfare of detained persons. They take the decision to authorise or refuse the detention of any persons presented before them.
The custody sergeant ensures that while detainees are at the custody suite, police officers and police staff adhere to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1983 (PACE) Codes of Practice regarding the rights and treatment of persons arrested.
Key responsibilities
Key responsibility statements show the accountabilities for someone in this role. They focus on what is done, not how it is done.
- Implementing all relevant legislation and applying policies and procedures to ensure high standards of security and health and safety are maintained within the custody suite.
- Maintaining and supervising accurate and prompt recording of information on custody records, ensuring the integrity of data held, and compliance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), the PACE Codes of Practice and other applicable legislation and local and national guidance.
- Reviewing all factors relating to the dignity, well-being and vulnerabilities of detainees, ensuring any issues are given consideration at all stages of their detention, release, or transfer.
- Overseeing the process of completing all biometric samples from detained persons, ensuring compliance with all relevant legislation and local and national guidance.
- Overseeing the process of searching each cell before and after use to detect and arrange the repair of any damage caused, reporting and following correct procedures to maintain a safe custody facility.
- Overseeing the process of physical searching of detainees, retaining and recording personal possessions and ensuring compliance with legislation and national and local policies and procedures.
- Reviewing the necessity for detention regularly, by monitoring the progress of investigations, ensuring that detainees are being detained in line with legislation.
- Supervising visits by official representatives or agencies, ensuring visits by relatives are continuously monitored, to maintain security in the custody facility in compliance with policy.
- Conducting initial, ongoing and pre-release risk assessments of all detainees to mitigate threat, risk and harm to detainees, staff, other custody users and members of the public.
- Managing the well-being, welfare, and development of custody staff to encourage high levels of motivation and ensure the effective running of a custody suite.
- Leading the briefing of staff during handover and other appropriate times, ensuring key information is relayed to maintain the safety and welfare of detainees and all custody users.
- Supervising the condition of the custody environment to ensure the welfare and safety of detainees, staff and visitors in compliance with legislative requirements.
Competencies, values and core skills
The competency and values framework (CVF) provides clear expectations for everyone working in policing. It describes the behaviours required by police officers and staff to be effective in their roles and uphold the Code of Ethics for policing.
Competencies
The CVF has six competencies, which are split into levels. These levels can be used flexibly to allow for a better fit with frontline and non-frontline policing roles, and at different levels of seniority. This ensures that there is consistency throughout all the policing professional profiles. Some roles may contain different CVF levels due to the specialist nature of the role. Those working at higher levels should also fulfil the requirements of the lower levels.
This role should be operating at or working towards the following competencies.
- We are emotionally aware – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
- We take ownership – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
- We collaborate – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
- We support and inspire – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
- We analyse critically – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
- We are innovative and open-minded – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
Values
The CVF has three values that apply to everyone in policing, regardless of their role or seniority.
Core skills
All roles in policing have nine core skills in common. These are split into levels that represent the different levels of policing. This role should be operating at or working towards the following core skills.
Education, qualifications and experience
To achieve effective performance in the role, the following standards, training and qualifications should be met.
Previous education, qualifications and experience
- Substantive sergeant or have met the force requirements for temporary promotion.
Continuing professional development
Continuing professional development (CPD) enables everyone in policing to develop and gain recognition for their professional skills, knowledge and competence. CPD ensures that we continue to provide high-quality policing to keep the public safe and help to drive career aspirations. Discussion of CPD is usually included as part of professional development review (PDR) conversations.
Learning and accreditation
- Complete all core training and learning required by the force.
- Any exemptions to learning and accreditation requirements are at chief constable discretion, in line with the local force policy.
Professional development
This role should consider the following CPD:
- maintaining knowledge and understanding of police regulations and College of Policing guidance, good practice and any local policy applicable to the operational police context and leading and managing teams
- maintaining and updating knowledge, understanding and skills relating to legislation policy and practice across all functional policing areas of operational responsibility
- maintaining knowledge and understanding of new approaches identified by evidence-based policing research, problem solving and teamwork and merging these into working practice
- maintaining a working knowledge and understanding of new and evolving crime threats and priorities and current good practice to tackle these to enable a proactive and preventative approach
- maintaining knowledge and understanding of the performance management process and ensuring it is implemented effectively when managing teams
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