The OPCC is recruiting Independent Custody Visitors and Punchline-Gloucester.com has been given an exclusive tour of the custody suite.

Are you someone who has justice at heart? With an interest in the law and intrigued by what goes on behind the scenes in police custody?

Gloucestershire's Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner is after dedicated people to become Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) at Gloucestershire Police's HQ at Quedgeley.

These volunteers are made up of members of the community and will drop into police custody unannounced to observe and make sure detainees' rights are being maintained.

ICVs play a crucial role in safeguarding detained people by making sure they have received their legal entitlements, such as solicitors, access to food and menstrual products, as well as checking on their welfare.

Volunteers work in pairs and make unannounced visits to the custody suit every 10 days on a rota basis.

Annie White, Independent Custody Visitor Scheme manager, said: "This is a fantastic volunteer role for anyone looking to gain experience in the criminal justice system. You will see a side of policing and the law that very few people get to experience.

"If you have a passion for justice and a caring nature this role would suit you.

"You will make sure that some of society's most vulnerable people are kept safe and treated with dignity while in police custody.

"The scheme also provides the people of Gloucestershire a voice on the way their county is policed.

"And I am proud to say Gloucestershire's Independent Custody Visiting scheme recently was awarded a platinum grading - the highest possible grading of recognition.

"The work of our ICVs is not easy, and they can see some difficult sights, but they are diligent and their work is invaluable."

Annie added that the ICVs were independent from the police and the detainees.

"They go into the custody suite and talk to the detainees and make sure their wellbeing and dignity is being held up.Another question which ICVs will ask when they go into the cells and speak to the detainees is have your religious requirements been met?

"Being in a cell like this which is quite threadbare can be quite a scary place and ICVs come in to make sure their wellbeing is being looked after and that's their mental wellbeing as well."

Religious texts are given out to the detainees. They are all in separate plastic bags and they are also on the same level.

Annie said: "It's really important that we don't show any hierarchical advantage to different religions. A big part of the ICVs' role is making sure that the cultures and the religions of the detainees are being looked after. We have Koran, Buddhist books, Sikh books, Mormon, Jewish, Christian and we also have some prayer mats."

Training to become an ICV doesn't take too long.

"It's a very informal process where you have an informal interview and you have to go through vetting," said Annie. "Then there will be a day's training and you will be shadowing other ICVs.

"At the end of the day you are doing us a huge service and doing a service to the community. We are so focussed on volunteer wellbeing. We are so flexible that we can work around childcare or anything else. It can be as few or as many visits as you want it to be."

The recruitment window for the role opens on Monday, April 22, and closes on Monday, May 20.

To find out more about the role of an ICV please visit Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (gloucestershire-pcc.gov.uk) 

To apply or for an informal conversation about the role you can email engagement.officer@gloucestershire-pcc.gov.uk