Recommendation - National Police Chiefs' Council, June 2026

The IOPC recommends that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) communicate with all force custody leads, asking them to review, and where appropriate update, their custody and CCTV policies to ensure that: 

• Strip searches are not to be routinely recorded on CCTV without justification. Any justification or rationale should be made on a case-by-case basis taking into account the full circumstances of each case.
• Custody and CCTV policies clearly reflect, and custody staff understand, the measures that should be used to prevent the routine visual recording of strip searches on CCTV.
• Custody staff are aware that, where available, they can use Body Worn Video (BWV), ensuring the camera is turned away, to capture the audio of a strip search if necessary; documented, and a rationale for the recording is provided on the custody record by the authorising officer.
• Routine CCTV recording of strip searches in case of future Professional Standards Department (PSD) or IOPC investigations is not given as a justification.
• In circumstances where a strip search is recorded on CCTV, custody and CCTV policies are clear on the processes to be followed for the retention and handling of any footage. 

This follows a recent IOPC review and a separate IOPC investigation, involving different police forces, where strip searches were conducted in cells with CCTV without justification. The review of a complaint handled otherwise than by investigation involved the strip search of a woman in a CCTV cell while in police custody. 

Our review established that, while the force’s CCTV system enables officers to override and blank the monitoring screens of cameras during strip searches, preventing anyone outside of the cell from being able to witness the strip search, a recording is still produced. The force in question automatically retains this footage for 90 days. 

The independent investigation involved the strip search of a child in a cell with CCTV. The force’s policy stated that custody officers must use a designated search room with CCTV for the purposes of a strip search. While the relevant policy outlines that officers should ensure there is no external monitoring of the search, the policy states that strip search procedures must be recorded onto the custody CCTV/audio system so that it can be used in the event of a PSD or IOPC investigation. 

The IOPC has consistently issued both national and local learning explaining that strip searches should not be routinely recorded on CCTV without justification. This position is supported by the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP). PACE Code C states that searches ‘shall take place in an area where the detainee cannot be seen by anyone who does not need to be present, nor by a member of the opposite sex except an appropriate adult who has been specifically requested by the detainee.’ 

The APP on CCTV states that forces ‘should not generally use cells equipped with CCTV to conduct strip searches.’ While there may be occasions when recording a strip search via CCTV is desirable for the protection of staff, officers must consider the above provisions outlined in PACE Code C. Any recording of a search must be shown to be ‘necessary and proportionate in the circumstances.’

Accepted

The NPCC fully accepts this recommendation, and has written to all force custody leads in England and Wales. The NPCC has also shared the recommendation with colleagues from other UK jurisdictions for continual improvement and collaborative learning.