Operation Safeguard (United Kingdom)

{{Short description|2006 prison overcrowding contingency plan}}

Operation Safeguard is a contingency plan to deal with prison overcrowding in the United Kingdom; it involves using cells at police stations as accommodation for prisoners when the number of cells in prisons becomes critically low.[http://www.mpa.gov.uk/committees/cop/2006/060303/08.htm Metropolitan Police Authority, Operation Safeguard, 3 Mar 2006, (accessed 10 Oct 2006)] On 9 October 2006, the Home Secretary John Reid announced the implementation of Operation Safeguard as the prison population had reached 79,843 leaving only 125 spaces.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6032515.stm BBC News Website, Cells plan to ease prisons crisis, 9 Oct 2006, (accessed 10 Oct 2006)]

The policy is supported by the Association of Chief Police Officers, it outlined a list of criteria for prisoners who should not be held in police station cells under Safeguard, including among others: women, juveniles and those with mental health problems or those involved in a Crown Court trial.