Police have the power to interview children under caution without arresting or detaining them – these are often referred to as ‘voluntary interviews’, or ‘caution plus three’. However, children are not interviewed under caution outside a custody suite as often as they could be. Many children find themselves arrested and detained in police custody for longer than necessary, despite government recognition that the custody environment is designed to hold adult suspects and that prolonged exposure to such a setting can be harmful to a child.
