Jan 10, 2020, Nottingham Post: New cells for autistic prisoners to be built in £17m Radford Road custody suite https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/new-cells-autistic-prisoners-built-3725279 Training is also being provided to officers to help detainees in alarming situation New cells for autistic prisoners will be built at a new £17 [$22M US] million police custody suite in Radford Road - which is the first of its kind in the country. Major concerns have been raised that people with autism can find custody "so stressful" they sign an admission of guilt just to leave the facility. They are also alarmed by the harsh lighting and noisy surroundings, making it difficult for officers to interact with them. The University of Nottingham has been working with the police in creating a toolkit to deal with autistic detainees, which includes building new cells for them. Dr Chloe Holloway, from the University of Nottingham’s School of Law, carried out the research…. Dr Holloway added: "My in-depth interviews with autistic people who had been taken into police custody found they were confused about what was happening to them during their arrest due to difficulties with communication and a lack of accessible information…. "So, the NAPP has been a great success pairing up autistic people and police officers to raise the importance of autism awareness in police custody."… The new 50-cell custody suite in Radford Road will replace the current facility at the Bridewell, which opened in Canal Street next to the city's magistrates’ court in the mid-90s. It is expected building work will be completed for Christmas 2020.
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