Volunteer monitoring of police and prison detention: Independent custody visitors and independent monitoring boards in England and Wales

Volunteer monitoring occupies an important yet under-researched role in detention regulation. This article examines volunteer detention monitoring using original empirical data about prison Independent Monitoring Boards and police Independent Custody Visitors. Using a novel cross-institutional and cross-scale approach to data analysis, we draw on 129 semi-structured interviews with detainees, custody staff and monitors, alongside 41 days of non-participant observation in three prisons and three police custody suites. We find that volunteer monitors: (a) are inconsistently accessible to detainees, (b) face barriers observing and evaluating detention, (c) are viewed as low-status, low-impact actors and focus on individual bureaucratic failings rather than systemic issues and (d) face difficulties navigating inherent institutional power dynamics that challenge the independence of monitoring, exert pressure on monitors to be unobtrusive and deferential, and assimilate monitoring into processes of custodial control.