Trauma and Police Custody

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of human rights in recent years, most legal systems are currently “trauma-blind.”1 This has grave implications for “unrecovered trauma survivors”2 who are arrested, detained, charged, prosecuted, and punished for offending behaviour, often in the context of mental illness,3 addiction, and homelessness. There are many kind, compassionate, heart-centred frontline criminal justice professionals, including police officers, in Ireland and beyond. However, in discharging their duties professionals can also be their own worst enemy.4 They can (un)intentionally inflame tense situations with individuals who have a nervous system “in a chronic state of defence”5 because they lack training on the prevalence and impact of trauma on human functioning and behaviour.