3. Taken to a police station
If I’m taken to a police station, the police must organise for an appropriate adult to come and support me.
The appropriate adult could be your parent, carer, a social worker or a trained adult from an appropriate adult scheme, but they must be independent from the police.
The appropriate adult’s job is to protect your interests, rights and welfare. This includes helping you communicate, making sure you understand your rights, and checking that the police are acting fairly and respecting your rights. They can’t give you legal advice or answer questions on your behalf.
You have the right to ask to speak privately to your appropriate adult at any time.
Your appropriate adult must be with you during many police procedures, including:
- interviews
- fingerprinting
- taking samples (such as hair, blood or urine)
- non-urgent strip searches
- giving you a youth caution or youth conditional caution
- charging you with an offence – this means you’ll have to go to court, and the court will decide what happens next
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