Detention circumstances in police stations: Towards setting the standards

Abstract

In 1992 the two police ministers in The Netherlands instated an advisory committee to formulate standards for the quality of detention circumstances in police stations. In 1992 and 1993 extensive and unique research was carried out in 60 Dutch police stations. This article describes the 126 standards that were formulated for detention circumstances in police stations and the degree to what these standards were met by the police stations. The majority of the standards proved to be feasible to meet, but were not unanimously met. In the Dutch police stations the quality of housing and facilities provided were better arranged than the quality of interaction and differentiation of treatment towards special groups of detained persons. The article deals with the value of the standards for police stations and other organisations in other countries and with possibilities for improving detention circumstances in police stations’ cellblocks.