Spit Guard Pilot extended in Humberside

Humberside Police conducted a three month pilot of Spit Guards.  They have now decided to extend the pilot to include all custody suites and one team in each of their four geographical areas.

Chief Inspector Paul Butler said: “Since the beginning of our pilot in May we have had two uses of the new spit guards.

“The first use of a spit guard was captured on both CCTV and officers’ body worn cameras. It has been reviewed by a scrutiny panel including members of independent groups. The panel agreed that this was a fair and appropriate use of the guard.

“The second use is currently in the process of being recorded and reviewed and will also be scrutinised by the panel.

“We have now decided to extend the pilot to include all custody suites and one team in each of our four geographical areas: Hull, East Yorkshire, Northern Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.

“We are confident that this will give us more evidence and a better understanding of how the spit guards would work across the force to protect those involved in handling extremely difficult detainees.

“At the end of this pilot the data will be reviewed and we will carry out further consultation with the scrutiny panel. A decision will be made with regards to a further roll out of the guards.”

The new phase of the pilot will last for three months.