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New mental health guidance for police

originally published by: Black Mental Health UK
16th June 2010

Community leaders have welcomed the publication of a new guide to assist police officers when dealing with people who use mental health services, but warn a wholesale review of how this group are treated is needed if substantive progress is to be achieved. Entitled ‘Guidance on Responding to People with Mental Ill Health or Learning Disablities ‘, this new publication was produced by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in close consultation with the Department of Health.

Close to 14% of the cases officers on the beat have to deal with on a daily basis involve a service user or someone in need of mental health care. Health experts point to the need for formal training so officers are equipped with the skills to be able to deal sensitively with such incidents. Equalities experts also point out the need for culturally competency among the workforce dealing with service users.

‘We know that black people enter the mental health system via the police and criminal justice system and the high numbers of deaths of our people while in custody makes it clear this is a serious concern for us, which cannot be left unaddressed.

Read full article >

United4Justice: Affected families speak out

adapted from original article by Harmit Athwal of IRR
22nd May 2010 (see footnote)

Families and campaigners gathered in Leicester to pay tribute to those that had died in custody.

At a meeting and event organised by the 4WardEver UK Campaign in association with the Friends of Mikey Powell Campaign for Justice, Habib Ullah Campaign and the Leicester Civil Rights Movement, there was no mistaking the serious issues being addressed.

See Picture Gallery >

Banners and posters of dead loved ones adorned the walls and stage, the hall was crowded with stalls of books and DVDs and information on families and organisations campaigning on deaths in custody, films were shown and family members and campaigners gave speeches. And, in a grand finale to the evening, entertainment was provided by Yaz Alexander, Lennox Carty, The Trooperz, Genesis Elijah and The Broombusters – which went down a storm.

The day marked what would have been the forty-fifth birthday of Mikey Powell, who died in September 2003 after being detained by police in Birmingham. Mikey, who was suffering from mental health problems, was knocked down by a police car, restrained with batons and CS spray and taken to Thornhill Road police station where he was found not to be breathing. In November 2009, an inquest jury found that Mikey died as a result of the position the police officers had placed him in the van.

Read full article >

How the police killed Mikey Powell

from The Tribune
27th March 2010

A family of a black man who lost his life in police custody are campaigning to make sure that no one else has to suffer the six years of hell that they have endured trying to hold a local police authority to account.

The family of Mikey Powell have worked with the coroner to produce a list of actions they believe should be circulated to police and health authorities throughout the West Midlands and the whole country so that any restraint during arrest is appropriate, and officers give proper regard to family members and friends who may hold vital information about a person’s medical condition. They also want to ensure that people with potential mental health problems are taken to a hospital rather than a police station for the correct supervision.

Powell died after being detained by West Midlands Police on September 7 2003. He was 38, had three children and worked as a team leader in a local metal factory. At the time of his death, he was living with his mother in the Lozells area of Birmingham. He had been unwell and, while suffering a mental ill-health episode brought on by a bout of depression, he smashed a window at their home. His mother called the police for help, assuming they would take him to hospital.

Read full report >

Attend the remembrance event!
Click here >

Unite4Justice – book your tickets NOW!

Remembrance – United for Justice

Taking place: 15th May 2010
Venue: Highfields Centre – Leicester

Information, Banner Displays, Stands, Films, Live Music and Poetry to remember our lost loved ones.

4WardEver UK, The Mikey Powell & Habib Ullah Campaigns and Leicester Civil Rights Movement are jointly presenting this event.

An event to mark what would have been Mikey Powell’s 45th birthday, and to showcase other families that have suffered the loss of a loved one in police, prison or psychiatric custody. The event will also pay tribute to Tony Egbuna Ford and others facing capital punishment in the United States.

Bookings:

• Click here to book tickets >

• Click here to reserve a stall >

Please Note: All participants will need to book – Free and subsidised options are available…

Event: Remembrance – United 4 Justice

Remembrance – United for Justice

Taking place: 15th May 2010
Venue: Leicester University
(details to follow)

4WardEver UK, The Mikey Powell & Habib Ullah Campaigns and Leicester Civil Rights Movement are in the process of organising an event in May to mark what would have been Mikey’s 45th birthday, and to showcase other families cases.

The event will also showcase the stories and experiences of many other families that have suffered the loss of a loved one in police, prison or psychiatric custody in the UK; and cases from death row in the US and other countries.

This is the compilation that we have in mind for the event:

• Tribute to Mikey Powell following the recent inquest and to mark what would have been his 45th birthday
• Family spotlights (different families tell their stories
• Focus on/solidarity with those on United States death row (featuring Tony Egbuna Ford)
• Speakers from key UK/International groups: INQUEST, Prison Reform Trust, Reprieve etc
• Campaign banner exhibition (banners from family campaigns on display)
• Live music / dance / poetry
• Fundraising raffle and sign-up to the United Families & Friends Campaign
• Stands by various campaign and pressure groups

Watch here for updates:

• Mikey Powell website: Events
• United Families & Friends Campaign: ‘Make Some Noise’

Inquests fail to restrain the police

from the Friends of Mikey Powell Campaign for Justice
9th January 2010

The following is the full unedited version of an article written by Simon Hattenstone. Simon is a features writer for the Guardian, and this article has been reproduced with his consent.

See version published on The Guardian website >
(originally published: 27th December 2009)

Last Friday an inquest reached a shocking conclusion, though you’d be hard pressed to have heard about it. In a damning narrative verdict, the jury concluded that Mikey Powell had died from positional asphyxia following police restraint. An 8-2 majority at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall ruled that the sequence of events in the last few minutes of his life “made him more vulnerable to suffering death”. In short, he had been deliberately hit by a moving police car, sprayed with CS gas struck by a baton and restrained on the ground while suffering a psychotic episode.

It was September 7 2003 when Mikey Powell died. He was 38 years old, had three children and worked as a team leader in a local metal factory. Mikey, who was known as Mikey Dread because of the extravagant dreadlocks he had worn as a young man, was well loved in the Lozells area of Birmingham where he lived. Mikey also [occasionally] suffered from terrible depression, and on the night in question he [suffered a breakdown].