Managing Diabetes During Encounters with Law Enforcement

If you're detained or in custody, your health concerns might feel secondary to your immediate situation. But your diabetes care matters – and you have rights to ensure you get it.  

Whether it’s an arrest, an inspection at the airport, or long-term incarceration, people with diabetes have the right to adequate healthcare in the U.S.

Knowing more about diabetes care in detention settings might not make the situation that led to your encounter with law enforcement any less stressful, but it could help you get the healthcare you need.

Concerning law enforcement situations for people with diabetes

Law enforcement officials should be adequately trained to recognize the symptoms of severe hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). However, someone who is unfamiliar with diabetes may think that a person who’s disoriented and confused is being willfully uncooperative. 

Perhaps even more concerning, this person may misinterpret the symptoms of a diabetes-related emergency as intoxication. On top of behavioral symptoms, both DKA and hypoglycemia can cause your body to produce acetone, which makes your breath smell like nail polish remover and can cause a breathalyzer test to give a false positive. Drivers with diabetes have been arrested and charged with DUIs, which can quickly escalate to a felony if everything goes wrong.

That’s why people who manage diabetes with insulin should take precautions, such as carrying medical alert cards, to decrease the likelihood of life-threatening misunderstandings that could occur during temporary detainment or short-term custody.

In addition, people who are incarcerated depend on the detention facility for food, medical care, and other necessities. If they are not getting what they need, people with diabetes could be more likely to develop diabetes-related complications like eye disease, kidney failure, and peripheral neuropathy.

While incarcerated, people with diabetes have to communicate with healthcare providers and other staff about their health and advocate for themselves to ensure they get the attention, equipment, and medication that they need.

Still, even when people clearly state their needs, they don’t always receive adequate healthcare – Amnesty International pointed out a recent case where a man who was detained was not given access to his insulin pump, which he relies on to manage his type 1 diabetes.

How prevalent is diabetes in detention facilities?

In 2025, the Prison Policy Initiative estimated that nearly two million people in the U.S. were being held in state and federal prisons, local jails, detention centers, and other institutions. 

This past January, the American Immigration Council reported that the number of people in immigration detention had risen from the Prison Policy Initiative’s estimate of 40,000 to a record 73,000. Many people in these settings have chronic health conditions, including diabetes. Using data collected between 2015 and 2016, researchers estimated that nearly 10% of people held in detention facilities during that timeframe had diabetes. 

The prevalence of diabetes has likely increased since then, as jails, prisons, and detention centers are holding more older people and more young people are being diagnosed with diabetes.

Do people in the U.S. have a right to diabetes care in detention?

No matter what type of scenario involving law enforcement, all people in the U.S. have a constitutional right to basic healthcare.

Jennifer Sherman, an attorney with the American Diabetes Association (ADA), explained that the Eighth Amendment, which protects people from cruel and unusual punishment, gives everyone who’s been convicted of a crime the right to adequate medical care while incarcerated. Meanwhile, the Fifth and 14th Amendments extend this right to people who are awaiting trial or being held for any other reason. These constitutional protections apply to citizens and non-citizens of the United States, alike. 

Furthermore, the Americans with Disabilities Act protects people with diabetes and requires equal access to services, programs, and activities. 

“It may be a violation of this law if a jail, prison, or other detention facility’s policies or practices cause a person with a disability to be denied access to programs, services, or activities,” Sherman said. 

Do people in the U.S. actually get diabetes care in detention facilities?

For a variety of reasons, people with diabetes have not always received adequate care while in custody or being detained. In many of these cases, law enforcement officials simply haven’t received adequate training and resources to provide for the medical needs of the people being held.

Some departments and agencies have more detailed guidance concerning diabetes than others. For instance, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has a classification system that distinguishes people who can manage their diabetes with diet and exercise from people who need medication. The goal is to ensure that the limited resources of a remote prison are distributed fairly based on need.

In contrast, the ICE National Detention Standards contain no explicit mention of diabetes in its medical care section. However, the document states that people in detention should receive a medical evaluation within 12 hours and describes how medications should be distributed.

In an effort to ensure that all people with diabetes get adequate care, the ADA released a statement in 2024 outlining best practices for managing diabetes in detention facilities. However, progress towards implementing these practices remains uneven.

“It’s difficult to discuss how care has changed in the U.S. overall,” Sherman said. “We are now seeing, however, some settings create policies that allow detained and incarcerated individuals to use diabetes management technology, like CGMs or insulin pumps, to manage their diabetes as they did before detainment or incarceration.”

What to expect if you’re held by law enforcement

As soon as you are able, you should tell law enforcement officials that you have diabetes, which is a serious medical issue. You should clearly say what you need in terms of medications and monitoring equipment. If you use a phone to monitor your diabetes technology, you should say so. 

Telling law enforcement officials that you need your phone, your equipment, and medication doesn’t ensure that these items won’t be confiscated. “There isn’t a policy across all detention facilities,” Sherman said. 

However, law enforcement officials are still required to ensure that you receive adequate medical care while in custody, and saying what you use to manage your diabetes makes it more likely that you will maintain continuity in your care while in detention.

What preparations can people with diabetes make?

It’s hard to anticipate what circumstances might lead to the possibility of being arrested or detained. However, there are a few things you can do to make it more likely that you will receive appropriate and timely care for diabetes should the situation ever arise:

1. Carry a medical alert card to ensure that emergency responders know that you have diabetes, even if you are incapable of communicating.
2. Carry emergency supplies, such as glucagon, that someone could use to revive you in case you are incapacitated. 
3. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of your needs, including the exact name and dose of any medications you take, so that you can communicate these needs. Consider keeping pictures of your prescriptions on your phone.
4. Have an emergency contact list that contains contact information for family, friends, and your healthcare provider.

If you are the parent or caregiver of a child with diabetes, it’s important to create an emergency preparedness plan with your child and make sure they have the supplies and knowledge that they need when they leave the house.

Taking some time to practice stress management techniques could also give you some tools to  help keep blood sugar levels stable and center yourself in high-stress situations:

1. Practice deep breathing by inhaling slowly through your nose, holding, and then exhaling through your mouth.
2. Focus on experiencing each of your senses, such as smell, sound, and touch, to ground yourself in the moment.
3. Tense and relax your muscle groups one at a time, starting from your toes and moving all the way up to your neck and head.

Advocating for change if care is not adequate

What people with diabetes can do

If you’re being held by law enforcement and your needs aren’t being met, you should start by making explicit requests to the healthcare staff. Put it in writing, and always explain exactly what you need and why you need it. You’ll also have to explain why the treatment you are receiving is inadequate.

If you still don’t get what you need, then you can file a grievance, following the procedures of the facility in which you are being held. Finally, you can escalate to a lawsuit if nothing comes of the grievance process.

What family, friends, and caregivers can do

If a child with diabetes is being held by law enforcement, parents and caregivers should make sure that officials know about their child’s medical condition. They should insist that their child receives access to supplies and that medical staff provide adequate care. It is a good idea to document all of your actions and the facility’s actions and contact a lawyer as soon as possible.

Family and friends can seek out more detailed information about the rights of people with diabetes and request legal help if needed. They can also call 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) or email askada@diabetes.org to discuss options with the ADA, which can provide free legal research. 

If you want to make a complaint about a local, state, or federal prison, USA.gov provides information about where to start and how to escalate. 

What the rest of the community can do

Organizations like the ADA educate law enforcement officials on recognizing diabetes emergencies and how to care for people in custody. You can volunteer or donate to help support their mission.

Family members of wronged people with diabetes have even taken it upon themselves to call their local lawmakers and advocate for change. In 2015, Florida state legislators passed a law requiring online diabetes training for law enforcement officials after Lena Young Green, a community activist, campaigned for it. Green’s husband, Arthur, had died after being detained by a police officer who did not recognize the symptoms of severe hypoglycemia.

The bottom line

Every department and agency that can detain people in the U.S. needs to be able to provide adequate medical care for those who need it. However, sometimes people with diabetes will have to assert their rights if they’re worried about or don’t feel like they’re getting adequate medical care.

If you are ever detained or in custody, make sure to clearly communicate that you have diabetes and that you have specific needs for your serious medical condition. Continue to communicate your needs until you receive the treatment that you are owed. Every conversation you have with detention staff about your diabetes care pushes this system toward better practices for you and everyone who comes after.

Learn more about advocacy and managing diabetes in emergency situations here:

• Low Blood Sugar? Avoid the Emergency Room
• Be Prepared: Surviving Natural Disasters with Diabetes
• 7 Strategies for Self-Advocacy in Diabetes Care