New Zealand Human Rights Commission Submission to the CAT in relation to NZ’s 6th periodic review 138. Police cells are intended for the short-term detention of adults awaiting bail or transfer to a remand facility. They are not suitable for long-term detention of any prisoner, and are particularly unsuitable for the detention of young people. However, data indicates that the numbers of children and young people detained in police custody are on the rise.75 139. The Joint Thematic Review of Young Persons in Police Detention,76 published by the IPCA in 2012 issued 24 recommendations aimed at improving police training and treatment of children of young people in police custody. The Commission urges the Government to continue to progress the implementation of these recommendations. Police procedures 140. The IPCA’s recent report on police conduct during the Operation 8 raids noted a lack of police policy regarding planning for and response to children and vulnerable occupants affected by the raids was undesirable.77 The IPCA recommended that the Police review and amend their policy on planning for children and vulnerable people, in order to set out steps to be taken whenever children or vulnerable people are present during the execution of a search warrant. Child, Youth and Family 141. On 1 April 2015 Social Development Minister Anne Tolley announced that “an independent panel has been established to lead a complete overhaul of Child, Youth and Family, to ensure that the agency delivers the best possible results for vulnerable children and their families in the decades ahead.”78 The Panel is due to lodge its first report on 30 July 2015. 142. The terms of reference79 are broad and include reviews of the child protections and youth justice residences and of the adequacy of current independent oversight, 75 http://www.ipca.govt.nz/Site/media/2012/2012-October-23-Joint-Thematic-Review.aspx Ibid. 77 Independent Police Conduct Authority, Operation 8: The report of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, p 60, 82. 78 http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/independent-expert-panel-lead-major-cyf-overhaul 79 http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/media-releases/2015/cyfmodernisation-tor.pdf 76 55