Surrey Police Board asks chief to investigate ‘dirty’ holding cells
Published 2:30 pm Thursday, June 18, 2026
The Surrey Police Board has asked the chief constable to look into a complaint concerning allegedly filthy conditions in the holding cells at Newton police headquarters after someone who was detained there for 12 hours in May claimed to get seriously ill as a result.
The board voted to do this at its June 17 meeting.
The complainant, whose name was redacted out of a letter to the board, claimed to have been “perfectly healthy” when put in an “unsanitary” cell but within 24 hours became “violently infected and bedridden” and subsequently had to be prescribed antibiotics for lung and sinus problems.
“There is something serious unsanitary and dirty inside the cells,” the individual claimed. “Upon leaving cells, I became bed ridden for at least five days as the infection from inside cells spread thru my bones.”
The complainant also claimed to have been denied a blanket. “You forced me to remove my socks and walk barefoot on those dirt floors,” the complaint reads. “If I had a knock or cut on my foot, you increased my risk of disease. Some of your practices are inhumane. Please stop making people sick.”
Hanne Madsen, chairwoman of the board’s governance committee, asked her colleagues to request the chief constable to investigate records related to the conditions of the cells on that date, “including general conditions, standards set out in policy for regular care and maintenance of the facility, and whether any changes to the policy and practices are required.”