There are 16 volunteers who form the South Panel of Independent Custody Visitors, who all come from the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan area.
The South Panel covers police station custody suite at Cardiff Bay, which has 60 cells. The station is visited twice each week.
The visitors are supported by a Police Authority Member – Moawia Bin-Sufyan – who is the Chair of the Panel, and Sue Poole, who is the Panel Co-Ordinator.
Volunteers
Below shows how long visitors have been involved with the scheme:
0 – 3 years – 11
3 – 6 years – 1
6 – 9 years – 2
9 – 12 years - 1
Over 12 years - 1
As a Police Authority, we are grateful to all our dedicated volunteers who are part of this scheme.
Visit Record
Between April 2008 and March 2009, the visitors completed 199 visits in the South Panel, with a breakdown as follows:
Barry - 50
Cardiff Central - 45
Fairwater - 48
Rumney - 45
Llanishen - 5
Roath - 6
The visitors saw a total of 503 detainees, including 433 adults and 76 juveniles.
Visitor Profiles
Adrian Clark
Adrian Clark joined the scheme in June 2008.
“I became a custody visitor because I really wanted to do voluntary work. Due to family commitments I needed to find something that was fairly flexible, but that would also allow me to meet different people on a regular basis.
“Our role is important because the public can see that we are impartial and there to ensure that individuals rights are adhered to. I would hope the public see us as some kind of reassurance that if they or a family member were being held in custody, they could be confidence that a process is already in place to ensure detainees welfare is of the utmost importance.
Panel Profile
The document below gives a profile of the custody visitors, based on gender, ethnicity, disability and language ability.