Key Services:

• Custody management
• Medical services
• Identification parades
• DNA and fingerprinting
• Interpreting
• Facilities Management

“As a result of our partnership with Reliance, Sussex Police is benefitting from a leading edge professional custody service that has become a beacon of excellence for the other 42 Police Authorities across the UK. By expertly combining the right security technologies with the right mix of custody services, Reliance is helping us to deliver a first class custody service that we can be justifiably proud of.”
Chief Inspector Paul Smith

• Reliance detainee management responsibility means that Sussex Police can focus on core policing
• Detention numbers of 41,000 detainees a year
• Average booking-in time has been reduced from 30 minutes to 9 minutes.
• A top police force for Livescan fingerprint processing

Our challenge
With custody provision based at 24 locally managed and ageing police stations at the turn of the century; Sussex Police realised that their detainee care and security was not of the standard they demanded. The force recognised that the care and administration of detainees did not need the skills of fully trained constables, and that efficient professional management would transform processes around booking-in detainees, freeing up frontline officers to focus on core policing.

Innovation that delivers
The Partnership has gone from strength to strength with Reliance officers becoming experts at taking compliant detainees fingerprints on the electronic Livescan system. This has undoubtedly played a major part in Sussex Police being acknowledged as Lead Force in the country in relation to fingerprint quality. The Reliance team has clearly excelled at operating the IDHC, delivering a truly modernised, streamlined service. Going further, we have created the new role of Detention Supervisor, an initiative that further liberates warranted officers from the burden
of administration. Our high quality team training and robust management plan convinced them that this new resource was a credible, reliable innovation.

Essentially the Detention Supervisor works as a custody officer, a role piloted at our Brighton facility, where it quickly demonstrated a positive impact on reception and detainee handling, allowing warranted officers to concentrate on core policing. Reliance now provides trained Detention Supervisors in other IDHCs throughout Sussex.

Further innovation has come about by Reliance taking over responsibility of the interpreters for foreign language speaking detainees at the IDHCs. Since 2002 Reliance has been able to reduce the average cost per interpreter
call out through effective management on behalf of Sussex Police.

Efficient, accessible medical services
Through Reliance Medical Services, the IDHC’s now benefit from greater levels of accessibility to Forensic Medical Examiners (FMEs) and Forensic Nurse Practitioners (FNPs). This efficient management of qualified medical professionals who can visit detainees at short notice, around the clock, has boosted demand for medical examinations.

In at least 80% of cases, the more readily available FNPs can be deployed, which reduces both costs and waiting times. Now some 40% of all detainees receive a medical examination, significantly more than forecasted and the whole custody process is safer and more efficient as a result.

Reliance Medical Services also provides an independent 24 hour rota for the regional Sexual Offence Referral Centre (SARC) at Crawley Hospital. They have four dedicated , specially trained female Sexual Offence Examiners (SOE’s) who provide the majority of that rota, with three other appropriately trained FME’s who do occasional SOE shifts. Around 300 victims of sexual assaults attend the SARC each year , and this service has greatly improved both victim care and the evidence gathering process.

Leading the way with Video Film Identification procedures
The Identification Unit has greatly reduced the turnaround times for VFI procedures from an average of 14 days to as little as 6 days with the use of innovative Digital Imaging Booths at every IDHC. This enables custody staff to film suspects whilst they are still in custody thereby speeding up the whole process significantly. Filming in custody also negates the need to transport detainees for critical procedures thereby greatly reducing the demand on police officers time and the associated security risks.

Inspirational training
A combination of excellent professional training and experience working in IDHCs inspires many of our people to forge a career in frontline policing. We are very proud of the fact that to date more than 25 Reliance people have joined the Police Service from our team, in roles from warranted officers to administration. This ‘launch pad’ effect has benefited Sussex Police and other constabularies across the country.