1 Answers
The term "place of safety" is used in the Mental Health Act 1983, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that forms part of the mental health law of England and Wales.
Section 136 of the Act gives police officers the power to remove an apparently mentally disordered person who is in a public place and is apparently a danger to himself or to other people, to a "place of safety" where they may be assessed by a doctor.
Section 135 of the Act gives police powers to remove a person who is not in a public place to a place of safety after the issue of a warrant by a Justice of the Peace.
According to a unilateral statement by the Home Office, places of safety should typically be hospitals, other medical facilities, residential care homes or the home of a relative or friend of the person; police stations should only be used as a "place of safety" as a last resort.