When the police arrest a person for intoxication and put the person in a cell, a foreman must check whether the measure is reasonable, something called foreman review.

It could be that a police officer in external service intervenes against a person in the city or at the pub.

Then the station commander must continuously make an examination of whether the person should continue to be in custody and document his decision.

Almost never happened

When JO made an inspection in the local police area Uppsala Knivsta in November 2019, major deficiencies were discovered in how this handling takes place.

Of the 40 cases examined, some form of documentation of foreman review had only been made in two cases.

But even in these two cases, it was a test done at a distance, by telephone.

The text written on the distance foreman examination form was also the same as on the protocol for the intervention.

The Ombudsman states that there was therefore no documentation in a single case.

The Ombudsman also asked the Uppsala Police to take part in the last ten incidents where a foreman trial led to the detention being revoked.

But no such cases existed in the last 1.5 years.

Only one of the cases contained a different assessment and then it was about a person in care who played drunk.

- One would have expected that this foreman from time to time would make a different assessment than this policeman, purely statistically speaking.

But it basically never happened in Uppsala and that was what aroused our interest in the issue, says JO Per Lennerbrant

Legal security aspect

The Ombudsman is now initiating an investigation of 21 local police areas across the country.

The police are requested to review intoxication for intoxication that took place during the period July 2019 – June 2020.

- I dare not say anything about the outcome, but to investigate how it is, I take this initiative.

It is a fairly comprehensive initiative, so it will be like a survey of virtually the entire country.

Per Lennerbrant says that it is a matter of custody according to LOB, which cannot be tried in court, taking place in a legally secure manner.

- It is a legal assessment if there are conditions for a care, the law sets certain conditions for it, for example that you can harm yourself or others.

You must not be taken care of in your home or where someone has their home, so there are regulations here that must be followed.

The police must submit a response no later than 15 April 2021. Depending on the outcome, the Ombudsman can then direct criticism that makes the authority need to change its routines, or in unusual cases issue sanctions.

- I expect the authority to rectify if shortcomings are pointed out, says Per Lennerbrant.