Section 136: The Mental Health Place of Safety Power

Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 gives a constable the power to remove a person to a place of safety if the officer finds them in a place to which the public have access and believes that the person appears to be suffering from mental disorder and is in immediate need of care or control. The purpose is not to arrest or detain in a criminal sense but to enable the person to be assessed by a doctor and an approved mental health professional (AMHP). The power was significantly amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2017.

The 2017 amendments made two important changes. First, the use of police stations as a place of safety for adults is restricted to exceptional circumstances specified by the Secretary of State in regulations (s.136A MHA 1983). For those under 18, police custody is absolutely prohibited as a place of safety. A healthcare setting, such as a hospital emergency department or a dedicated mental health crisis assessment suite, is the expected place of safety. Second, the detention period under section 136 was reduced from 72 hours to 24 hours, with a single extension of up to 12 hours available if a doctor considers it necessary to complete the assessment.

The 2017 Act also amended section 136 itself to extend its scope from places to which the public have access to any place other than a private dwelling. Previously, section 136 could only be used in public places. This amendment allows intervention in situations such as a person in crisis in a workplace, shop, or other non-dwelling premises where no other appropriate power is available. Private dwellings remain outside the scope of section 136: where entry to a private dwelling is needed, a section 135 warrant must be obtained from a magistrate.

Throughout the section 136 process, the person retains rights to legal advice, to have someone informed of their detention, and to an appropriate adult if they are a juvenile. The detaining officer must complete a record of the detention, and the person must be informed of the reason for the detention. The aim of the assessment is to determine whether formal admission to hospital is required, whether informal admission would be appropriate, or whether community support can be arranged and the person can safely return home.