NCJ Number
227278
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 399-417
Date Published
May 2009
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the factors that predict whether detainees in public and privatized police custody request legal advice, a due process right, and whether those requests were met.
Abstract
Study results indicate that privatized custody areas have unexpected consequences for procedural justice. The newer and less austere conditions may facilitate a higher proportion of requests for legal advice resulting in higher absolute numbers of legal consultations, although a similar proportion of unmet requests. These results suggest that there has not been a deepening of the tendency for due process values to be trumped by crime control values. The police custody process in England and Wales is in transition in two ways. First, civilianization of key police roles has given way to privatization that is commonly referred to as workforce modernization. Secondly, police custody areas are also an increasingly multi-professional context. Given that due process rights in police stations have been a neglected area of research and in view of the modernization of the police and solicitors, the research is entering into uncharted territory. This study assessed those factors predicting requests for and receipt of legal advice. It began by outlining the methodology and describing the context of each of the two sites in the research, examining the extent of uptake of custodial legal advice in two sites in the research, and examining the factors predicting requests for legal advice and whether those requests were met. Tables, references, and appendix