§ Sir Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report a list of the police forces that have so far employed police officers below the rank of sergeant as custody officers.
§ Mr. Giles ShawSection 36(3) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provides that no officer may be appointed a custody officer at a designated police station unless he is of at least the rank of sergeant, but section 36(4) provides that an officer of any rank may perform the functions of a custody officer at a designated police station if a cutsody officer is not readily available to perform them. Section 36(7) provides that the functions of a custody officer shall be performed at a station which is not a designated station by an officer who is not involved in the investigation or, if no such officer is readily available, by the officer who took the arrested person to the station, or by any other officer. In such cases the Act does not prescribe the rank of the custody officer. Information about the identity of the officer, including his rank, performing the functions of the custody officer will be kept in individual cases on the custody record, but this is not collated and is not available centrally.