Volunteering

As part of its monitoring role, the Police Authority operates two Lay Visitor Schemes and an Independent Advisory Group:

Independent Custody Visitor Scheme

Independent Custody Visiting is a scheme whereby members of the public, who are appointed and trained by the Police Authority visit police stations unannounced to check on the welfare of people detained in police stations. The scheme is completely independent of the police and helps to enhance accountability and public confidence in policing.

Visits are unannounced with the aim that each of the custody stations in Dyfed Powys are visited at least once a month.

Independent Custody Visiting became a statutory responsibility for police authorities on 1st April 2003 under Section 51 of the Police Reform Act 2002. Placing independent custody visiting on a statutory basis immediately raised the status of custody visiting and a supporting code of practice has provided for consistent standards across England and Wales.

Dyfed-Powys Police Authority administers an Independent Custody Visitors scheme and currently has vacancies in Llanelli, Aberystwyth (Ceredigion), Haverfordwest (Pembrokeshire), Llandrindod Wells and Newtown (Powys).

For application forms, please see: Becoming an Independent Custody Volunteer

Animal Welfare Lay Visitor Scheme 

The death of a police dog in training and the subsequent prosecution of police officers resulted in a loss of public confidence in police dog training methods. As a result, a review was undertaken and the Association of Chief Police Officers launched a Police Dog Strategy.

This strategy was aimed at restoring public confidence and ensuring that the welfare of police dogs is given high priority attention so that their handling is effective, humane, ethical and transparent.

In order to respond to this Strategy, Dyfed Powys Police Authority has established a Lay Visitors Animal Welfare Scheme. A rota of visits has been drawn up to ensure that each dog handler receives a visit from the Independent Animal Welfare Lay Visitor at least once a year.

Objectives of the Scheme

• To enable appointed members of the local community accompanied by professionals from animal welfare organisations e.g. RSPCA, National Canine Defence League, Animal Health Inspectors from Unitary Authorities etc. to observe and report upon the condition under which police dogs are housed, trained, transported and deployed.
• To provide a mechanism for an independent check on the way handlers carry out their responsibilities with regard to animals in their care.
• To make the content of the General Purpose Police Dog Training and Care Manual publicly available.
• To make available for inspection by Lay Visitors detailed accounts of the dogs' medical history.

Lay Visitors Animal Welfare Scheme (PDF, 258kB)

Independent Advisory Group (IAG)

An Independent Advisory Group (IAG) provides the valuable role of critical friend to the Police and Police Authority. It is a forum where independent advisors can give independent advice about specific issues identified by the police and police authority. These issues can be policies, procedures, practices, or equality and diversity issues – in short, anything which has an impact or potential impact on the communities of the policing area.

The role of the IAG is not one of scrutiny, but provides a safeguard against disadvantaging any section of our communities through lack of understanding, ignorance or mistaken belief.

The IAG provides an ideal forum for representatives from the Police and Police Authority to engage in open dialogue with individuals, and receive a range of diverse views, providing a broad spectrum of community perspectives in relation to policies, procedures, or practices.

The IAG consists of a cross-representation of the area’s diverse communities of interest, in terms of age, gender, gender reassignment, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, and Welsh language. 

Recruitment to the IAG follows a fair and transparent process, and asks applicants to take part in a group discussion in order to assess their suitability to the role. Applicants are vetted to Non Police Personnel Vetting (NPPV) ‘Level 2’, in line with the National ACPO Vetting Policy.

The IAG will meet 3 times annually and will work to an agreed work plan, with priorities being set by both Dyfed Powys Police and Dyfed Powys Police Authority.  To view the Terms of Reference of the IAG, click here.  For an application pack, click here.

The first meeting of the Dyfed-Powys Police and Police Authority Independent Advisory Group took place in September 2011.  To view the notes of the meeting click here (PDF, 92KB).

The second meeting took place in January 2012. To view the notes of the meeting, click here (PDF, 196KB).

Further Information

If you wish to know more about the schemes, contact :

The Scheme Co-ordinator on 01267 226440
e-mail: police.authority@dyfed-powys.pnn.police.uk

Independent Custody Visitor and Animal Welfare Annual Reports

It has been another successful year in terms of the operation of the custody visiting scheme. New visitors have been welcomed into the scheme which we hope will serve for many years to come. The Authority is continually reviewing its processes in order to improve the effectiveness of the custody visiting scheme and to increase the support given to its valued team of volunteers.