NEWS
Fed refutes Royal College of
Psychiatrists’ claims over ABD The Royal College of Psychiatrists has criticised the police service over its use of Acute Behavioural Disturbance (ABD) to describe those in a behavioural crisis. Police forces consider it more
appropriate to treat such individuals as patients undergoing a medical emergency rather than as criminal suspects. However, in an inflammatory article on its website, the college said it “does not support the use of terminology, which has no empirical evidential basis”. It also appeared to call into question the impartiality of coroners, arguing that ABD is applied “disproportionately” to black people and is therefore racial discrimination. The Federation’s National Vice-
Chair, Ché Donald, warned: “By casting doubt on the existence of ABD as a recognised condition, police officers
would have to treat any situation involving a behaviourally disturbed person in the same way as any other. “This would mean we would have to
treat individuals in a medical emergency in the same way as a suspected criminal. There would be no clear guidelines over the use of force on highly agitated individuals who were unwell, and this could put members in an invidious position where they faced unfair criticism for simply doing their jobs.” He added that police officers could
face inquests without the protection of long-established guidelines which permit them to legally treat incidents involving ABD as medical emergencies. The college claims that ABD has been used by coroners to “to limit the responsibility” of authorities involved in the deaths of those in custody, citing the high-profile cases of Kevin Clarke and Leon Briggs. However, in both
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32 I POLICE I AUGUST 2021 Ché Donald
cases ABD was not used to explain why they had died but to describe the condition, and the accountability of the police and health service were explored. To suggest that coroners are not independent or able to discern the facts at an inquest, as the college’s article implies, is “extremely concerning”, the Federation said. Ché concluded: “The college is
a charity and should focus on areas in which it has expertise rather than issuing factually incorrect, politicised statements. Our members are owed an apology for this, and we will be referring the matter to the Charity Commission for England and Wales.”
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