AIBU to expect the police not to lock me up because I have severe claustrophobia.

[jojojoeyjojo]

I haven’t actually committed any crimes ..but just watching one of my favourite TV shows …’24 hours in Police Custody’ and idly musing about what would happen if I ever did get arrested. I am severely claustrophobic and if I was locked in a police cell…or ..shudder…the back of a police van I would be a hyperventilating, hysterical wreck. I am normally very calm in a crisis but my irrational phobia of enclosed spaces or being locked in would be my undoing. What would the police do
in this situation. I guess they would still have to lock you up? Or would they be able to make reasonable adjustments..I’m genuinely curious..

There are cases of people with mental health conditions who cannot be calm with the police so they end up being restrained but in such a way that it restricts their breathing and they have died. Just to pop some cheer on the thread.

I've worked in a prison and I know from meeting prisoners they still lock you up op

😂😂

@Toetouchingtitties a hood? And handcuffs…I hadn’t even thought about handcuffs. That’s it..I’m never leaving the house again just in case I get inadvertently arrested due to mistaken identity or something.i just can’t take the chance …

You just get put in the cell. In very extreme cases you'd be on a constant and have an officer/CDO sat at your door (open) but you'd have to threaten to bang your head/self harm for that to happen. There's no special treatment. If your prescribed a benzo the HCP might give you some after about 4 hours but depends on their workload 🫤

I used to be a custody nurse. Zero chance myself or my colleagues would request it in these kind of circumstances. The threshold for sectioning is high after all

Would it not depend on her reaction? If she's so claustrophobic that she was self harming for example? Or struggling to breathe?

Is it bad that I can’t decide if this is a piss take or the woke society we live in today?

Do you know how many times a day a custody sergeant hears that?
If you were deemed to be a risk to yourself you'd be out on close obs, the nurse would come and visit and if you were on verified prescription meds you'd get them if you were in for 6 hours.
Most people don't commit crime because they can't stand the thought of the consequences to others and themselves.... Incarceration included

🤣🤣🤣🤣

You don't get sectioned for a panic attack and she wouldn't be able to harm herself because everything would be taken off her including clothing that could be used for that purpose if needed, she'd be assessed and monitored/ observed if necessary.

I have severe migraines and major claustrophobia - new fear unlocked!!! 😱

I too worry about being incarcerated. I’m disabled and I function reasonably well in my own home, but the wrong mattress can destroy me. I’d end up in huge amounts of pain and would struggle to walk at all. I hope they would be able to put me in a secure hospital setting or something. I should look into that before I start my drug dealing business.

I cant go to jail i have issues is probably something they hear every day do you think they will go 'sure it's fine you killed someone/robbed a bank/embezzlement funds but you have issues so all good you are free to go'

I was put in a detention room not a cell and it was much bigger then a cell, it was over a warm room (maybe a boiler room? I don’t remember) so there was heat coming up through the floor and it was very cosy.

I was also given decent magazines, they let my boyfriend at the time bring me a McDonald’s and when they brought the landline for me to speak to the duty solicitor they left it with me. I didn’t want to leave by the time I was taken to be interviewed 😂.
I also remember being in fits of giggles along with the lady trying to take my fingerprints because my fingers are tiny and she was struggling. Just to give you an idea of how small, my ring size is H now or 46mm and my fingers were smaller then.

However… I was accused of a ridiculous crime that I hadn’t done and the police were fully aware of it, they were even struggling not to laugh when they interviewed me and there was no further action taken. It was a very long time ago so I don’t remember all the details but I wasn’t handcuffed I just got in the car, they came to arrest me at work but I said I needed to finish my shift so they left then came back!

I imagine things would have been different if I was being arrested for something serious and there was real reason to believe I’d committed the crime, I’m surprised I was even arrested but I think it was something they had to proceed with because of the nature of the accusation.

Police do not have to make reasonable accommodations() but they are legally required to take your mental health into consideration (just as they do your physical health) so it would depend on how you react to being locked up. Being a bit stressed by it, you'll just have to suck it up. If you have a panic attack they will call a medical professional to assess you (one panic attack is not really physically dangerous, but the symptoms mimic and could be hiding more serious issues and it's not as though they're going to be able to interview you while you're having a panic attack).

Something in between might be relieved by, for instance, being put in the cellblock yard if they have one, or by having an officer with you at all times. Some cell blocks have larger areas that someone can be kept in if the cells aren't full, etc. Or not. And you'll just have to put up with feeling claustrophobic.

Police aren't supposed to arrest you if there are other reasonable ways to handle the investigation, so they are unlikely to simply say "it's okay, you go home and we'll follow up when you're feeling better", unless they've been playing a little fast and loose with the arrest anyway. But it's something that might be done if the charges aren't too serious and no evidence will be compromised.

Im bipolar 99% of my life I am very normal, hold a very respectable job and mange life great. 1% of the time I'm absolutely bonkers. I have been arrested 3 times and can tell you that you will get zero better treatment for being mentally ill. In fact likely to be worse. Especially if you are a person of colour.
I have been beaten black and blue when I've been obviously very ill. Once I was abroad and the police stole all of my money and beat me.
A bit of hyperventilating will be completely ignored.
Don't do anything illegal if you can help it. 😁

Not sure about transporting you but it’s likely they will leave the cell door open and have an officer stationed at the door

Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time.

I once asked a police officer how they'd handcuff dd, because she only has one hand.
They got back to me a couple of weeks later and said with triumph that they have a specific set of handcuffs where they handcuff the hand to the body.

Only issue is that not all police stations have them, so they'd need 24 hours notice. 😂

🤣🤣

Are you contemplating something that might necessitate you being arrested?

Otherwise, this seems pretty pointless.

I think your intrusive thoughts are trumping your claustrophobia right now.

Yep they’d just lock you up. A friend of mine who is very claustrophobic was arrested for doing something incredibly stupid whilst drunk a couple of years back. He got taken to the station and put in a cell where he promptly passed out through drunkenness. When he woke up (still quite drunk but not as bad), he had a severe panic attack because he realised he was shut in a small space. The police were worried he was having a heart attack or something and called an ambulance, he was taken to the hospital where they checked him out and when satisfied it was just a panic attack he was taken back to the station…and put back in a cell.

So many people die in police custody. A lot for very minor offences. If the attitudes on here are main stream, then no wonder the police are so out of touch! Not every crime deserves police brutality from numb skulls!