Police trial new video justice system to speed up cases and keep criminals off the street
Police are gunning for "rapid justice" by trialling virtual remand hearings between the Perry Barr custody block and Birmingham Magistrates Court.
West Midlands Police has established a direct video-link into the court to speed up cases and ensure dangerous prisoners are kept off the streets.
It forms part of a month-long pilot throughout June with a view to rolling out a similar system across all force-wide custody blocks in future.
During the first two weeks officers staged 37 video remand hearings from the Perry Barr block with offences ranging from assaults, domestic abuse, theft, robbery to money laundering. These resulted in 16 people being remanded into prison.
The simple but secure system involves a video link into the court room where a suspect gets a clear view of the settings and advocates.
The computer connection is set up from a free interview room at the custody block and has reduced the need to transfer people into the court building – particularly during Covid-19 restrictions.
Superintendent Jane Bailey, from Criminal Justice Services, said: “We’ve been working on using this more advanced video-link approach for some time, and it’s proven a timely introduction.
“Rather than transporting a prisoner to court the case can be heard quicker, and means justice can still be delivered in our communities even during these unprecedented times.
“It’s an approach some other forces have trialled and we’ve taken on board their findings, and worked with the court, ahead of introducing this pilot. We’ll assess its success following this trial with a view to rolling out across the region.”
