By Susannah Hickie
Police officers experience elevated rates of psychological ill-health relative to the general population (Syed et al. 2020). While operational trauma is an established risk, qualitative research on organizational stress, institutional support, and help-seeking remains limited. This qualitative study contributes to a growing body of research which identifies organizational stressors as possibly more corrosive than operational trauma (Newell et al. 2022). Drawing on 60 interviews with officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, this study examines how organizational stress, institutional support, help-seeking behaviours, and moral injury intersect. Five organizationally rooted themes emerged— fear of repercussions, stigma, performative wellbeing initiatives, inaccessibility, and a culture of mistrust—all of which acted as barriers to help-seeking and were described as more harmful than operational trauma. The article concludes by outlining context-specific reforms, including confidential, one-to-one follow-ups after traumatic events, annual psychological check-ins, clearer separation between wellbeing provision and operational risk management, and leadership accountability for fostering psychological safety.
By Yvonne Daly
Police Custody in Ireland brings together experts from policing studies, law, criminology, and psychology, to critically examine contemporary police custody in Ireland, what we know about it, how it operates, how it is experienced, and how it might be improved. This first-of-its-kind collection focuses exclusively on detention in Garda Síochána stations, critically examining it from human rights and best practice perspectives. It examines the physical environment of custody, police interview techniques, existing protections, rights, and entitlements, and experiences of specific communities in custody, such as children, ethnic minorities, non-English speakers, the Mincéir/Traveller community, and those with intellectual disabilities or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Police Custody in Ireland gives a snapshot of garda custody as it is now and makes important recommendations for necessary future improvements.