Prisoners turn over a new leaf with books

A pilot scheme making use of ex-East Riding Council stock has been considered so successful in curbing assaults on custody staff that it is being rolled out throughout the Humberside Police area.

Inspector Colin Waddington said novels and history books seemed to be doing the trick in the custody suite in Bridlington, with the number of assaults on staff down as well as the amount of incidents where people have become aggressive.

He said: “One of the requirements we have to do when people are in custody is to provide them with reading materials but that can mean ending up with dog-eared magazines and newspapers from three weeks ago. It’s quite a stressful place for people – invariably they don’t want to be there – and this is a diversionary tactic.

“Six, eight or ten hours is probably not a long time to be in custody. If you have nothing but four walls and a buzzer, it can divert people and calm them down.”

Insp Waddington said there were no copies of The Great Escape among the 150 volumes: “I don’t want to be giving anyone ideas. It’s your novels, World War history books. The beauty is if they want to take the book away they can.

“As a custody lead for Bridlington I get to know if there has been any assaults or incidents in custody and I am not getting them through.”

Following the six-month pilot, old book stocks will be donated to the force’s five other custody suites, in Hull, Goole, Grimsby and Scunthorpe.

A similar collaboration between the library service and the police in the London borough of Sutton is said to have created a calmer atmosphere and “markedly improved” behaviour in the cells.

Coun Jane Evison said: “The scheme is an excellent example of how the library service is providing wider benefits to the community.”