All Acts
Mental Health· 1983
MHA 1983
Mental Health Act 1983
Police powers under ss.135 and 136 to remove people experiencing a mental-health crisis to a place of safety. Detention period reduced to 24 hours by the Policing and Crime Act 2017.
Self-test
Sections
Section 136 — Removal from a place to a place of safety
If a constable thinks a person in a place (other than a private dwelling) appears to be suffering from a mental disorder and is in immediate need of care or control, they may remove them to a place of safety (or keep them there).
Key points
- MUST consult, where practicable, a mental-health professional (nurse, AMHP, registered medical practitioner, paramedic) before exercising the power.
- Maximum detention: 24 hours (extendable by 12 hrs on doctor's authority).
- NOT exercisable in any house, flat, room, yard, garden or garage occupied as a dwelling.
- Place of safety should be a hospital — police custody only in exceptional circumstances and never for under-18s.
Section 135 — Warrant to search for and remove patients
Magistrate can issue a warrant authorising a constable to enter (by force if needed) specified premises and remove a person believed to have a mental disorder, taking them to a place of safety.
Key points
- s.135(1) warrant — applied for by an AMHP; constable must be accompanied by an AMHP and a doctor.
- s.135(2) warrant — to remove a patient already liable to be detained.
- Same 24-hour place-of-safety limit as s.136.