Getting arrested: police custody, PACE and support

Understand why the police are involved

You may contact police because a crime happened, because you saw something, or because police suspect you of an offence. Ask which situation applies and whether you are under arrest. The safeguards and advice needed are not identical. Having a learning disability does not mean you did something wrong or cannot give useful information. Ask for words and explanations you understand.

If you are arrested

Ask the officer to explain that you are under arrest, the suspected offence and why arrest is needed. At the station, ask why you are being detained. Arrest is not a finding of guilt. Ask for the custody officer, a solicitor and any communication or health support you need. You have a right to have someone told where you are, subject to limited legal exceptions. Ask for a rights notice and help to understand it.

PACE: the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

PACE is a law about police powers and safeguards. Its Codes of Practice explain how those powers must be used. Code C covers detention, care, legal advice and interviews; Code D covers identification, including fingerprints, photographs and DNA samples. Code G concerns arrest. Ask to read the codes and for an explanation you understand. A rights notice should be provided and explained. Ask for Easy Read information or an interpreter if needed. This guide concerns ordinary criminal arrest in England; terrorism and national security cases have additional rules.

The custody officer and your custody record

At the station, a custody officer decides whether detention is authorised and records what happens. Tell them about your disability, communication, health and safety needs. Ask for these needs, requests for support and any problems to be recorded. Ask for help with food, drinks, toilet access, rest, personal care, religious needs and sensory difficulties. Do not sign something you cannot understand; ask for an explanation and legal advice. Ask your solicitor about seeing the custody record and obtaining a copy.

Reporting a crime or immediate danger

Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger or a crime is happening now. For a non-emergency, contact police on 101 or through the official online reporting route. Explain your preferred communication method and any safe way to contact you. Give what information you can; you do not have to investigate the incident yourself. Ask for a reference number and how you will receive updates.

Explain your communication needs

Tell officers if you need one question at a time, plain language, pictures, a communication aid, an interpreter or more processing time. Explain if you tend to agree when confused or find unfamiliar situations difficult. A communication passport can help, but staff still need to check current needs. Say if you do not understand or cannot remember; do not guess simply to please the questioner.

Free legal advice before an interview

If police suspect you of an offence, ask for free independent legal advice. Police-station advice through the legal aid arrangements is not based on your income or savings. Ask police to arrange the duty solicitor or a solicitor you know who provides this work. A privately chosen solicitor outside those arrangements may charge. You can change your mind if you first refused advice. Asking for a solicitor is not an admission of guilt.

Understand the caution and get advice about answering

The police caution explains that you do not have to answer questions about the suspected offence. However, in some circumstances, not mentioning something you later rely on in court can harm your defence. Things you say may be used in evidence. Ask your solicitor to explain what this means for you before deciding how to respond. Once legal advice is requested, questioning should normally wait until you have received it; narrowly defined exceptions exist. Do not rely on a general instruction from another person to answer everything or say nothing.

When an appropriate adult is needed

Police must arrange an appropriate adult for a person under 18 and for an adult who is vulnerable under the police rules, when the relevant detention or interview safeguards apply. This includes a voluntary interview under caution. Police must take reasonable steps to identify vulnerability. If they have reason to suspect vulnerability, they must treat the person as vulnerable unless clear evidence removes that suspicion. Difficulty understanding, communicating or resisting pressure can be relevant. A formal diagnosis or a visible disability is not required.

What an appropriate adult does

The appropriate adult helps safeguard rights, welfare and communication. They should actively check understanding, raise unfair treatment and ask for explanations or breaks where needed. They do not answer factual questions for you, tell you what account to give, or replace a solicitor. Many procedures require their presence, with limited exceptions. They can request a solicitor even if you initially declined legal advice. Ask both professionals to explain their different roles.

Getting an appropriate adult service

A suitable parent, relative, carer or other independent adult may be able to act. Suitability matters: someone involved in the alleged offence, or with a conflict, may be inappropriate. If no suitable person can attend, police must request an independent appropriate adult, usually through a local scheme. You do not need to find or book the scheme yourself. Tell the custody or interviewing officer about missing support and ask the solicitor to help ensure safeguards are followed while waiting. A family member can say they cannot properly carry out the role.

Speaking privately and understanding confidentiality

You can ask to speak privately with your appropriate adult. Their own conversations with you are confidential but do not have the same legal professional privilege as legal advice. You can choose whether the appropriate adult joins a consultation with your solicitor. Their presence during an otherwise privileged legal consultation does not remove that privilege. Ask the solicitor to explain confidentiality and how your communication support will work.

A voluntary interview still matters

A voluntary interview under caution can be used as evidence. You are not under arrest and can generally leave unless arrested. Ask the solicitor about attending and your rights; do not assume that the interview is an informal chat. Free police-interview legal advice and required appropriate-adult safeguards still apply. Ask police to arrange support in advance. Explain promptly if the proposed time, location or format prevents you understanding or participating.

Health and welfare in custody

Tell the custody officer about illness, injury, epilepsy, diabetes, allergies, medicines and when doses are due. Explain eating, drinking, toileting and communication needs. Ask to see a healthcare professional if unwell. Staff must arrange clinical attention when needed, including where you have not asked for it; urgent illness needs an immediate response. Medicines should be checked and provided through custody healthcare arrangements. Tell staff about alcohol or drug use and possible withdrawal. Do not assume someone who appears intoxicated is simply drunk: illness, injury or withdrawal may need urgent treatment.

Ask for the Liaison and Diversion service

Liaison and Diversion, often called L&D, is an NHS service for people coming into contact with police or courts. Ask the custody officer or solicitor to contact the local team. You, a family member or a social worker can also request help. The service identifies learning disability, autism, mental health, substance use and other support needs, makes referrals and can help people reach services. It can be involved at a voluntary interview as well as after arrest. Availability and arrangements vary locally.

What Liaison and Diversion can and cannot decide

The team can help explain support needs to police and courts. A screening result is not a diagnosis. It does not replace a solicitor, an appropriate adult or urgent custody healthcare. Custody healthcare assesses matters such as fitness for detention or interview. Ask what L&D information will be shared, with whom and why: consent is normally sought, with lawful exceptions. L&D can support a suitable route into health or social care, but it does not decide whether police charge or release someone, or guarantee that a case ends.

Fingerprints

Police can record the patterns on your fingers and palms, often using an electronic scanner. Under PACE section 61, fingerprints may be taken without consent where a legal power applies, including certain arrests for a recordable offence. A recordable offence is one police can record on the national criminal database. Ask which power applies, why prints are needed and how they will be used.

Being photographed

Police may take a custody photograph to help identify you. PACE section 64A permits photographs without consent in specified circumstances. Ask what will happen, why the photograph is needed and how it may be used. Tell staff about difficulty with lights, touch, positioning or face coverings so they can consider suitable arrangements. A custody photograph does not mean you have been found guilty.

DNA and cheek swabs

DNA is information in your body that can help identify you. A swab inside your cheek can collect cells for a DNA profile. This is legally a non-intimate sample, different from a blood sample. Under PACE section 63, police can take a non-intimate sample without consent where the legal conditions apply. Ask them to explain the purpose: a swab for DNA identification is different from a swab for a drug test.

Consent, support and force for identification procedures

Under Code D, a child or vulnerable suspect must have an appropriate adult present when participating in identification procedures, including fingerprints, photographs and body samples. Consent by a vulnerable adult under that code is valid only when given in the appropriate adult’s presence. Police may use reasonable force for certain identification procedures lawfully authorised without consent. This does not remove the support safeguards. Tell officers about pain, distress or access needs and ask your solicitor to raise any concern. Different rules apply to the drug and alcohol tests described below.

Blood, urine and other intimate identification samples

For identification or evidence gathering under PACE section 62, intimate samples such as blood, urine or dental impressions need written consent and appropriate police authorisation. A suitably qualified professional takes samples where the rules require this. Ask your solicitor about the request: refusing without good cause can affect a later trial. These rules must not be confused with the separate powers for custody drug screening or drink and drug-driving tests.

Drug testing at the police station

Testing under PACE section 63B is separate from collecting DNA. It can use a non-intimate sample, such as saliva, or urine. The offence or inspector authorisation, age and authorised local testing arrangements must meet the legal conditions. It is not automatic after every arrest. Police must explain the test, warn about refusal and remind you about legal advice. Force must not be used to obtain this drug-test sample, but failing to provide it without good cause can be an offence. Tell staff about prescribed medicines and any difficulty providing a sample. Ask your solicitor to check the applicable power and support safeguards.

After a custody drug test

A positive result may lead to a requirement to attend an assessment with a drug worker. Ask for the result, any assessment requirement and the consequences of not attending to be explained and given in writing. Ask for help to attend. If you dispute the result, tell your solicitor promptly and explain any relevant medicines. The assessment arrangements and testing powers depend on the law and local arrangements applying to your case.

Alcohol tests and drink or drug-driving investigations

A breath test can measure alcohol. In a driving investigation, police may lawfully require breath, blood or urine samples under road traffic legislation; the specified drug-limit offence uses blood testing. These powers are separate from DNA sampling and PACE custody drug screening. Refusing a lawful requirement without a reasonable excuse can be a separate offence. Explain immediately if a health condition or disability makes the procedure difficult, and ask for healthcare and legal advice. Do not assume testing must wait for a solicitor or appropriate adult: necessary road traffic sampling need not be unreasonably delayed.

How long can police keep you?

In ordinary criminal cases, the usual maximum before charge is 24 hours, calculated under the legal custody-clock rules. Longer detention needs specific authority and conditions; for certain offences it can extend to 36 hours, and with court authority up to 96 hours. Detention must also be reviewed and end when it is no longer justified. Ask your solicitor when your detention must be reviewed and which limit applies. Different rules apply after charge and in terrorism or national security cases.

What happens to fingerprints, DNA and photographs?

Ask what information will be kept, why and for how long. A physical DNA sample, a DNA profile, fingerprints, custody photographs and other police records have different retention rules. Release, no charge or an acquittal does not necessarily mean every record is erased immediately. Your solicitor can explain eligibility for a record-deletion application through ACRO and requests about custody images to the police force.

Before leaving the station

Ask the solicitor to explain the outcome: release without further action, release while enquiries continue, bail, or charge. These are different. Get any conditions, return dates and court details in a format you understand. Ask for help to plan attendance and contact the solicitor promptly if a condition is unclear or impossible to follow. Do not assume being released means the case has ended. Police custody has legal time limits and review requirements; the solicitor can explain the limits applying to your detention.

If you are a victim or witness

Ask police to assess your needs and explain support under the Victims’ Code where it applies. A registered intermediary can help eligible victims or witnesses with communication; the person’s needs and the effect on evidence must be assessed. Possible special measures at court can include ways of giving evidence that reduce difficulty, subject to the legal criteria and court decision. These are different from the appropriate-adult role for a suspect.

How friends and families can help

With appropriate agreement, explain how the person communicates and what support usually helps. Keep the person’s account separate from what you saw or believe. Do not rehearse a preferred story or answer factual questions for them. A supporter, interpreter, intermediary, appropriate adult and solicitor have different roles. Ask which help is being arranged, who is responsible and how the person will participate.

If treatment or support is wrong

Tell the custody officer, interviewing officer or solicitor about an immediate problem. Ask for the concern and response to be recorded. Afterwards, you can complain to the relevant police force or use the IOPC complaint form, which normally forwards the complaint to that force initially. Ask for an accessible process. A complaint does not replace legal advice about a charge, bail requirement, court date or other legal deadline. Keep documents and seek the right help promptly.

If police arrest you

Ask for a solicitor

Ask for an appropriate adult

PACE: the rules police must follow

At the police station

Help to understand and communicate

Your health and care

Ask for Liaison and Diversion

Fingerprints

Being photographed

DNA samples

Your rights during these procedures

Other samples

Drug tests at the police station

Alcohol and drug-driving tests

How long you stay

Before you leave

What police keep about you

If you are not under arrest

If something is wrong

What you can do next

More useful links