'I'm a Detainee; Get Me Out of Here': Predictors of Access to Custodial Legal Advice in Public and Privatized Police Custody Areas in England and Wales

Abstract

This article examines anew the factors that predict whether detainees in police custody request legal advice, a due process right, and whether those requests are met. It is primarily based on quantitative data collected from custody records, in one public and one privatized custody area in England and Wales, which are analysed using logistic regression. By comparing these two types of custody area, I was able to develop new insights into a neglected area of research. I conclude that privatized custody areas have unexpected consequences for procedural justice. The newer and less austere conditions may facilitate a higher proportion of requests for legal advice, which, in turn, results in higher absolute numbers of legal consultations, although a similar proportion of unmet requests. And, surprisingly, given the wider context of a more vigorous form of managerialism, this suggests that there has not been a deepening of the tendency for due process values to be trumped by crime control values.

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