Children detained in French police cells

Police custody is detention in response to a suspicion of crime. In France, until the age of 13, pre-trial detention and police custody are not allowed. We aimed to evaluate the practical implementation of police detention of children aged between 10 and 12 years and describe the medical characteristics and history, perceived health status and opinion on custody of the potentially affected children.

A descriptive study was conducted in a French reference regional department of forensic medicine at the time of medical examination in police cells among arrestees younger than 13 years old examined over a 5-year period (1 January 2011-31 December 2015).

Children aged 10-12 years (n = 60; males, 48, 80%), accounting for 60 of 57 687 examined arrestees (0.1%), were examined over the study period. Six individuals (10%) were arrested twice or more times during the study period (for a total of 76 detentions analysed). The most common suspected crimes were theft or robbery (42/76, 55%) and physical assault (22/76, 29%). Arrestees had a favourable opinion of custody in 33 of 76 cases (43%). Children reported physical assault by the police in 6 of 76 cases (8%), and the physicians observed recent traumatic injuries in 7 of 76 cases (9%). Daily tobacco consumption was reported by 4 of 60 children (7%). No child was considered unfit for detention by the physician.

Children aged 10-12 years suspected of serious crimes accounted for 0.1% of detained individuals in police cells. Although infrequent, such situations are a matter of concern.