Police stations are well known to be incredibly unpleasant sensory environments. They often contain bright overhead lighting, constant loud noise, uncomfortable furnishings and unpleasant odours. Clients who present as resistant to these kinds of environments, or the arrest procedure which has brought them there, can often be perceived by the police as being deliberately disruptive, aggressive or obstructive.
Many neurodivergent people have different sensory and communication needs to their neurotypical peers. This can impact the way that they may respond to a police station environment.
At Reeds, we recognise that it is important to consider that if a neurodivergent person has been exposed to this kind of environment for a significant period of time before their solicitor attends, they may be in a state of dysregulation which makes it even harder for them to intake information, communicate or make effective decisions.
With this in mind, we attend the police station prepared with a toolkit aimed at reducing the negative impact these kinds of environments can have on neurodivergent clients. We are prepared to educate the police officers engaging with our clients about the potential reasons behind behaviour and to ask for any necessary adjustments to the environment and procedure for a client’s interview. By doing these things, our hope is that our clients’ differences will not hinder them from being able to effectively participate in their cases.
Differences in Sensory Needs
Neurodivergent people can often experience both hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity to sensory stimuli.
Hypersensitivity is when a person’s experience of their senses is heightened. This may mean they can become overwhelmed when exposed to a lot of sensory stimuli such as loud noises, bright lights, strong scents and unpleasant textures.
Hyposensitivity is when a person’s experience of their senses is muted. A person with hyposensitivity may present as clumsy, prone to fidgeting or unable to respect personal space. They may also actively seek out stimulation of their senses by listening to loud music, preferring foods with strong flavours or aromas, or needing tactile stimulation like tight hugs or a weighted blanket.
Some neurodivergent people operate using mono-processing. This is where in order to focus on one sense, they have to effectively tune out their other senses. In practice, this could involve deliberately avoiding looking at someone whilst they are talking so they only have to process the sensory information of what they are hearing rather than also having to pick up on any visual stimuli. To police officers, this can come across as disinterested or suspicious behaviour, which could harm the client’s case.
Overstimulation
“A person who finds it difficult to process everyday sensory information can experience sensory overload, or information overload. Too much information can cause stress, anxiety, and possibly physical pain. This can result in withdrawal, distressed behaviour or meltdowns.” – The National Autistic Society
One of the most important things we can do for our neurodivergent clients is to help prevent distress and overstimulation leading to a “meltdown”. A “meltdown” is often characterised as being an intense response to an overwhelming situation. It can include a person losing behavioural control in the form of shouting, screaming, crying or physically lashing out, or completely withdrawing from what is happening around them.
Our staff are aware of the common warning signs that a person may exhibit before experiencing a “meltdown” and some of the potential strategies that can be utilised to help calm a person down in those circumstances. We will actively try to engage with clients and their families before attending a police station to check if clients have any particular coping mechanisms which help them self-regulate when they feel overwhelmed or distressed. We will then try to help accommodate these coping mechanisms where possible within a police station.
Different Communication Needs
We recognise that is also important to consider how neurodivergent clients attending a police station may have specific communication needs.
Some autistic people for instance may find it difficult to filter out less important information and so it may assist to provide information and advice to them in concise specific nuggets. It may also assist to avoid asking open-ended questions, for instance asking a client, “did you go to this place yesterday?” rather than, “what did you do yesterday?”. Our team is also mindful to avoid using irony, sarcasm, figurative language, rhetorical questions, idioms or exaggeration with autistic clients.
We understand that clients with ADHD or those who are feeling extremely stressed/overwhelmed may struggle to recall information, especially if they are angry about their circumstances in custody or what happened to them as part of their arrest. We have learnt that to combat this it can sometimes help to work backwards, discussing a client’s arrest first and then asking the client about what happened immediately before this occurred and about each event that may have proceeded this. This way we hope to obtain the fullest picture of our client’s instructions and circumstances before we advise them.
Sometimes we may use visual supports to help a person to understand the timeline in relation to an allegation or the different options for interview/outcomes which may apply to them. However, we will always be guided by what assists each individual client to understand and participate in their case.
What Can We Do To Try and Support Neurodivergent Clients in the Police Station?
Most neurodivergent clients will be required by law to have an Appropriate Adult present during their police interview. An Appropriate Adult is someone who supports a person throughout their time in police custody to ensure they are treated fairly by the police and that they understand the procedures that are taking place and the questions they may be asked. An Appropriate Adult can be someone known to the client such as a family member or support worker or they can be a professional with training in supporting vulnerable people.
We will work closely with our clients’ Appropriate Adult at the police station.
Additionally, some of the practical steps our staff can take to helps clients in the police station are:
- To request access to a room where lighting can be dimmed/adjusted to conduct the pre-interview consultation and the interview itself. We may also carry sunglasses as an emergency supportive item if lighting cannot be adjusted.
- To offer to provide the client with headphones, ear defenders or noise cancellation devices (such as Loops) to help cut down the impact of auditory stimuli. If at all possible, we will aim to contact the client’s family/support network prior to interview to obtain any equipment the client owns for this purpose, as this will be suited to their individual needs and preferences.
- To provide the client with stim toys such as a fidget spinner or tangle toy.
- To request that regular breaks are taken in interview to allow the client to self-regulate.
- To request that minimal physical contact is used with the client while they are in custody if they struggle with being touched.
- If a client informs us that they have particular needs relating to food, we will see if it can be arranged for these needs to be accommodated as much as possible while they are in custody. We will speak to our clients about their “safe foods” and if necessary, speak to the Custody Sergeant about what food is available in custody and if family members/someone from their support network can drop off food for client if there is no way their needs can be accommodated.
- Before voluntary interviews, we will prepare clients by warning them about the environment they will be exposed to. We will also speak with the Officer handling their case to see if adjustments can be made to the interview environment to accommodate any sensory needs. We are aware that sometimes being able to anticipate and prepare for certain unpleasant conditions within an environment can help prevent a person from becoming overwhelmed when exposed to it.
At Reeds, we understand that attending a police station is an inherently stressful experience for all of our clients and this can stress can be especially heightened for our neurodivergent clients. However, we aspire to ensure that no matter our clients’ differences in sensory and communication needs, each and every person has the support they need to get through the police station process with as little distress as possible.
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