Kirk's Masters Thesis Chapter 3: Surveys Results
I decided to survey criminal justice professionals for this capstone document to investigate how much training and experience they have had regarding people who have disabilities. Therefore, I will discuss the following items in this chapter: the actual survey, the detailed survey results, a percentage breakdown of the results, and I will include some of the unique participant responses regarding their training and experiences with people who have disabilities. Furthermore, the readers of this capstone document should be aware that in the instructions for the survey participants; I stated that a person has a disability when their physical or mental abilities are challenged in effort to make the survey standard and clear.
The Survey:
Please specify the type of criminal justice professional you are such as a city police officer, state trooper, county deputy, probation officer etc.
How long have you been a criminal justice professional and if you are current, former, or retired?
What type of areas have you worked in such as major city, suburb, small town etc.?
Approximately how much formal training have you had regarding people with disabilities? Please put a capital X on the right side of your chosen answer for all of the multiple choice questions.
· None
· 1 to 5 Hours
· 6 to 10 Hours
· 11 or More Hours
Rate the quality of the formal training that you have received regarding people who have disabilities.
· Excellent
· Good
· Adequate
· Poor
Approximately how many professional interactions / contacts have you had with people who have disabilities as criminals?
· None
· 1 to 5
· 6 to 10
· 11 to 20
· 21 or More
Approximately how many professional interactions / contacts have you had with peoplewho have disabilities as crime victims?
· None
· 1 to 5
· 6 to 10
· 11 to 20
· 21 or More
Approximately how many professional interactions / contacts have you had with people who have disabilities as crime witnesses?
· None
· 1 to 5
· 6 to 10
· 11 to 20
· 21 or more
Do you believe that you have received enough formal training regarding people who have disabilities or would you like more?
· Enough Training
· More Training
Optional: if you selected More Training regarding people who have disabilities, please briefly specify the training that you would like to receive such as the particular topics and regarding which category of client: criminals, victims, witnesses, or all?
As a criminal justice professional, do you feel comfortable with interacting with people who have disabilities in general?
· Yes
· No
Do you believe that criminals who have disabilities can be life threatening to you?
· Yes
· No
Is your jail facility willing to admit / hold people who must use a wheelchair?
· Yes Always
· No Never
· Yes but only in some cases
· Don’t Know
Optional: briefly describe some occurrences that you have had as a criminal justice professional where you interacted with a person with a significant disability such as wheelchair bound, blind, deaf, nonverbal, or mentally challenged.
The Results:
Approximately 110 criminal justice professionals were asked to fill out the survey via email or fax. Out of the 42 criminal justice professionals who responded to the survey: one participant was a county deputy 1 participant was a state trooper, 2 participants were correctional officers, 1 participant was a probation officer and 37 participants were city police officers. Three participants were retired criminal justice professionals and 39 participants were current criminal justice professionals ranging from 3 to 34 years of professional experience. Some of the participants had experience of working in different areas such as rural and suburban but most were in large cities in the metro. Five participants had no formal training, 18 participants had 1 to 5, four had 6 to 10, and 15 had 11 or more hours. Five participants rated their formal training as poor, five excellent, 11 adequate, and 18 good. Eight participants reported having interactions with six to 10 criminals with disabilities, three participants reported 11 to 20, 15 participants reported 21 or more, and 16 participants reported five or less. Eight participants reported having interactions with six to 10 victims with disabilities, eight participants reported 11 to 20, 14 participants reported 21 or more, and 12 participants reported five or less. Eight participants reported having interactions with six to 10 witnesses with disabilities, three participants reported 11 to 20, seven participants reported 21 or more, and 24 participants reported five or less. Twenty participants believed that they received enough training regarding people who have disabilities but 22 participants wanted more training. Thirty-eight participants reported that they were comfortable with people who have disabilities in general (two of those participants stated that they felt comfortable because of working with I, Kirk Wetzlich) but four other participants reported that they were not comfortable in general. All 42 participants reported that they believe that people with disabilities can be life threatening to criminal justice professionals! Furthermore, when participants responded to the question regarding if their jail facilities were willing to admit and/or hold criminals who use wheelchairs, their responses were the following: 21 reported yes always, 1 reported no never, 5 reported yes but only in some cases, and 15 reported that they didn’t know. Also when responding to this question, one criminal justice professional stated, “they are mandated by Federal law to do so, but with many disabilities, they will determine on a case by case basis if they have the appropriate capacity to maintain the individual approximately, or make arrangement for a more appropriate facility to detain.”
Here are the percentage breakdowns of the survey results:
88% of the 42 participants were current city police officers, and the other 12% were county deputies, correctional / probation officers, and one state trooper. Also 92% of the participants were current criminal justice professionals and the rest were retired.Regarding the participants receiving formal training: 55% received five or under hours (five of those received no training), 9% received 6 to 10 hours, and 36% received 11 or more hours.Regarding how the participants rated the quality of their formal training: 12% rated it as excellent, another 12% rated it as poor, 43% rated it as good, 26% rated it as adequate, and 7% stated not applicable because they didn’t receive any.Regarding the participants having professional interactions with criminals who have disabilities: 38% had interactions with 1 to 5 or none, 19% had interactions with 6 to 10, 7% had interactions with 11 to 20, and 36% had interactions with 21 or more.Regarding the participants having professional interactions with victims who have disabilities: 29% had interactions with 1 to 5 or none, 19% had interactions with 6 to 10, 19% had interactions with 11 to 20, and 33% had interactions with 21 or more.Regarding the participants having professional interactions with witnesses who have disabilities: 58% had interactions with 1 to 5 or none, 19% had interactions with 6 to 10, 7% had interactions with 11 to 20, and 16% had interactions with 21 or more.Regarding the participants wanting more training or not was that 53% did and 47% did not.Regarding the participants feeling comfortable with people who have disabilities in general: 91% did feel comfortable and 9% did not. However, 100% of the participants felt that people who have disabilities can be life threatening to criminal justice professionals.Furthermore, regarding if the participants’ jail facilities were willing to admit and/or hold criminals who use wheelchairs: 50% reported yes always, 2% reported no never, 12% reported yes but only in some cases, and 36% reported that they didn’t know.Furthermore, in the below single-spaced paragraphs are some of the participants’ unique responses regarding training and their actual professional interactions with people who have disabilities.
The Participants’ Responses Regarding Further Training:
More training, especially for new officers, in areas of how officers are perceived by persons with disabilities-what not to do and signs to watch for that you may be entering into uncomfortable or threatening territory for the disabled person. This could be for any type of client. A Small town police officer of 23 years.
Our department hosts in house training monthly. I feel that our department covers the topic well. A county deputy of three years.
I think it would be helpful to have more training to help understand persons with communication, mobility, and cognitive disabilities. A suburban Officer of 10 years.
Training on how to interact for efficiently with deaf people. A state trooper of 22 years.
I believe that there needs to be more training for all employees in this arena - not only how to respond - but the specific unique approaches to specific disabilities - that officers should be taught to "sign" for hearing impaired - how to work with the mental health community, etc. Greater collaboration between these communities and the MPD is greatly desired to share information, developing a more inclusive community, etc. A large city police officer of 30 years.
Any additional training would be nice. P.O.S.T. mandates all kinds of training why not this subject. A large city police officer of 23 years.Anything to better understand how to effectively provide service and increase understanding. A retired police chief of 28 years and now an educator.
Since I work with the criminals, just better understanding on different disabilities and how we can better these individuals such as contacts, resources, referrals, support.... in regards to their well being; sometimes I feel a bit set back as to the best approach in working with managing behavior and treating all people fairly. A juvenile correctional officer of three years.
The participants' Responses Regarding Their Experiences:
We have a large number of group homes in our city for those with disabilities and consequently we do have contact with people with disabilities quite often. We have had those with violence issues at these group homes. We have had instances of crimes being committed, such as theft. We have had reported sexual assaults. We have runaway or missing person reports. I guess we have had pretty much the same types of calls from those with disabilities as we have from those without but not as many. Interacting with those who are deaf has been a difficult challenge but one that we overcome by writing things out with them and getting an interpreter if necessary. We had a lot of issues with a family at one point where the parents were deaf and the children were hearing. In those cases, we often relied on the children to help us figure out what had happened, unless they were part of the problem. A large town police officer of 20 years.
We have numerous private, public and corporate facilities that house a wide variety of persons with disabilities from eating disorders to full care for mentally disabled persons. Also I dealt with a very large man who could not hear or speak at a hospital ER. His family member had been taken by ambulance to the hospital and he was highly agitated. I communicated for over 30 minutes by pen and paper in an attempt to calm him down. I believe that he may have caused the injury to the other family member, but I cannot recall for certain. He eventually had to be taken into custody after he took a swing at a deputy. There were at least 6 officers that had to hold him down and he received 3 hypos to calm him down. These took over 30 minutes to kick in fully. He was eventually taken to a secure hospital facility. Furthermore, I have stopped several drivers over the years that could not speak or hear. Communication via pen and paper worked well. We also hand out informational brochures with our citations that aid in understanding the ticket and the court processes. Also patience is the most important thing that I can think of that has helped me in this type of situation. A small town police officer of 23 years.
Deaf victim and deaf driver on traffic stop. A large city police officer.
I have dealt with people who use wheelchairs who had warrants or have been sent to detox. We also have several people in our community who are deaf. Because of a facility in our city, a large number of people in this city are mentally challenged. We have several who are placed by the county into group homes that are monitored in which the clients don't like each other and cannot get along. A large city police officer of 17 years.
I have dealt with inmates who are wheelchair bound. The inmates that I have felt threatened by are the inmates who are mentally challenged and diagnosed with various mental illnesses. Those who are assaultive due to their disabilities, and those who are on psychotropic drugs just to maintain a somewhat normal existence. We do not have access to the medical records and as a result it can be quite scary dealing with some who are more than unpredictable. I had some formal training when I worked at the detox center, but not in the jail facility. A correctional officer.
Recently we dealt with a person who is wheel chair bound and has significant breathing issues. We had a warrant to serve for the person. We did not have immediate capabilities to transport the party due to the need to bring his electric wheelchair and oxygen supplies. Mostly the issue was transporting him safely due to extreme obesity. We made arrangements to pick him up with a county owned bus used to transport those with disabilities. We did not feel he was a flight risk, and postponed making the arrest until Monday when the bus was available. A county deputy of three years.
I deal with mentally challenged adults quite often. Some area domestic situations, some are medical calls. I have issued citations a deaf driver on two occasions. A suburban police officer of 10 years.
I have had the following interactions: deaf mute parents involved in domestic incident, one parent at another location and communicated via a 4 year old child to translate. Also I have dealt with domestic issues i.e. custody related with deaf mute suspect being arrested (on more than one occasion) as well as traffic violation contacts. Also mentally challenged foster resident involved in assault and lewd behavior events. A suburban police officer of 24 years.
I have had interactions with a guy who was a crack dealer and pimp. He ended up getting shot in the back and was wheelchair bound and continued with his life of crime, and he was repeatedly arrested in the wheelchair which never slowed him down in his life of crime. Pioneer Press did a story on him which was slanted and painted him as a victim. People can probably find this through their archives. His nick name is "Fast Freddie." He is probably the most notable wheel chair bound criminal I can think of. A large city police sergeant of 20 years.Two of my employees are handicapped, one has a hearing loss and one is confined to a wheelchair. I have numerous contacts with mentally handicapped parties. A state trooper of 22 years.
The mother of one of our most frequent thief in town is deaf. When he was a juvenile, it was always a challenge to work with her. She could read lips fairly well but most of us only knew some very basic sign language. We have had several times where we would have to do search warrants of her house or arrest her son and it was always a challenge because she was extremely hard to communicate with her when she got excited. Also we have a wheelchair bound elderly gentleman who likes to verbally abuse the other residents of an assisted living home he is in. He also likes to attack or corner people, including cops, with his wheelchair. A small town police officer of four years.
Probably the most significant case I can remember was a long and frustrating investigation into a series of arson fires in Minneapolis park buildings. We identified two suspects (young adults) who were both hearing and speech impaired [the old term was 'deaf mute'] interrogating them was a significant challenge. In addition, most of the evidence was in the form of admissions they had made to other people, none of whom were experts at ASL, but seemed to be able to understand the suspects' sign language. We felt we had the right parties, but the county attorney never charged the case as they did not feel they would be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. A retired large city park police officer of 29 years and now an educator.I have been on domestics when the husband and wife are deaf. I have dealt with criminals/drug dealers in a wheelchair. Also medicals when a person is wheelchair bound. Plus I have dealt with people who are mentally challenged on check the welfare/medical type issues. Furthermore, my department had a guy who was disabled by being in a wheelchair. He would provide drugs to girls for sexual favors in exchange. We received information from an informant that he carries a gun underneath his one of his legs. If we had not received this info, I can almost guarantee that we would have not checked him right away and we would have thought he was not a threat to us because he was in a wheel chair. When we finally arrested him, we were very cautious and it may have saved one of our lives. A suburban police officer of eight years.
I arrested an adult female who was wheelchair bound and shoplifted. Also my other interactions include the following: dealing with mentally challenged all the time, having disturbance calls at residences or group homes, assisting a deaf person, issuing traffic ticket to a deaf person, taking sexual assault reports from mentally challenged persons, responding to medicals involving all types of persons with disabilities, and responding to domestic assaults and assaults involving person with disabilities as the victim and suspect. A suburban police officer of 9 years.
I have had students with various disabilities, which I've worked at learning to become a better educator with, and I have interacted with people with various disabilities at school and the field and all of the above in fact. A retired police chief of 21 years and now an educator.
Although I am currently in the traffic unit, my contact is not as regular with persons with disabilities. I have had limited contact in arresting persons that are limited by wheelchair (only one that comes to mind) but multiple calls (I would say weekly) dealing with persons that are mentally challenged. The other department I had worked for, had calls regarding wheelchair persons in traffic, stalled on walkways, at the shopping center, etc. on a regular basis and implemented a policy on that because of the volume of calls. I have had few calls in dealing with persons that are deaf, one being a domestic, and that is always difficult to communicate due to the fact that it takes longer to write out questions and waiting for responses. A suburban police officer of 21 years.
A person reported to be wheelchair bound was known to use the wheel chair as a cover for his criminal behavior. He was known to carry a large knife or gun under the pad of his chair. As a police paramedic I also had occasion to come in contact with people of disabilities that needed medical assistance. With experience I found that a couple of key questions or observations dictated my response. I learned more as an investigator or medic than I ever did as a regular patrol street cop. Also Kirk, there is never enough training in dealing with this subject, with new ideas always coming up on how to respond. A retired suburban police officer of 25 years.
I have worked with a hearing impaired couple following a crash they were involved in. I have worked with mentally challenged in a serious criminal sexual conduct case. Also we had a local guy who was dealing dope to kids and everyone else. He was frequently in a wheelchair, although when pressed he could walk. On at least one occasion he was searched and found to have gun concealed on/under him as he sat in his wheelchair. From that point on any search warrants done at his house, and there were a few, were all done with the help of a SWAT team entry. A suburban police officer of 16 years.I have come across many juveniles who are mentally challenged and deaf. Yes, I feel challenged because my approach is new, and I have no formal training as a correctional officer. My job is to enforce safety of all juveniles and staff, i do believe more training should me mandatory for all staff so we can better work with people of all situations. During the school year, we have a school staff that works with kids with severe behavioral problems or specific needs such as hard of hearing, mentally challenged etc., but I think everyone should have some knowledge when working with people with disabilities. A juvenile correctional officer of three years.
As this chapter has indicated, many criminal justice professionals have training ideas regarding people who have disabilities. This chapter also showed that many criminal justice professionals have multiple interactions with people who have disabilities. Therefore, hopefully this capstone document will assist criminal justice professionals to effectively and appropriately interact with people who have disabilities by offering tools and resources to guide them.
The Survey:
Please specify the type of criminal justice professional you are such as a city police officer, state trooper, county deputy, probation officer etc.
How long have you been a criminal justice professional and if you are current, former, or retired?
What type of areas have you worked in such as major city, suburb, small town etc.?
Approximately how much formal training have you had regarding people with disabilities? Please put a capital X on the right side of your chosen answer for all of the multiple choice questions.
· None
· 1 to 5 Hours
· 6 to 10 Hours
· 11 or More Hours
Rate the quality of the formal training that you have received regarding people who have disabilities.
· Excellent
· Good
· Adequate
· Poor
Approximately how many professional interactions / contacts have you had with people who have disabilities as criminals?
· None
· 1 to 5
· 6 to 10
· 11 to 20
· 21 or More
Approximately how many professional interactions / contacts have you had with peoplewho have disabilities as crime victims?
· None
· 1 to 5
· 6 to 10
· 11 to 20
· 21 or More
Approximately how many professional interactions / contacts have you had with people who have disabilities as crime witnesses?
· None
· 1 to 5
· 6 to 10
· 11 to 20
· 21 or more
Do you believe that you have received enough formal training regarding people who have disabilities or would you like more?
· Enough Training
· More Training
Optional: if you selected More Training regarding people who have disabilities, please briefly specify the training that you would like to receive such as the particular topics and regarding which category of client: criminals, victims, witnesses, or all?
As a criminal justice professional, do you feel comfortable with interacting with people who have disabilities in general?
· Yes
· No
Do you believe that criminals who have disabilities can be life threatening to you?
· Yes
· No
Is your jail facility willing to admit / hold people who must use a wheelchair?
· Yes Always
· No Never
· Yes but only in some cases
· Don’t Know
Optional: briefly describe some occurrences that you have had as a criminal justice professional where you interacted with a person with a significant disability such as wheelchair bound, blind, deaf, nonverbal, or mentally challenged.
The Results:
Approximately 110 criminal justice professionals were asked to fill out the survey via email or fax. Out of the 42 criminal justice professionals who responded to the survey: one participant was a county deputy 1 participant was a state trooper, 2 participants were correctional officers, 1 participant was a probation officer and 37 participants were city police officers. Three participants were retired criminal justice professionals and 39 participants were current criminal justice professionals ranging from 3 to 34 years of professional experience. Some of the participants had experience of working in different areas such as rural and suburban but most were in large cities in the metro. Five participants had no formal training, 18 participants had 1 to 5, four had 6 to 10, and 15 had 11 or more hours. Five participants rated their formal training as poor, five excellent, 11 adequate, and 18 good. Eight participants reported having interactions with six to 10 criminals with disabilities, three participants reported 11 to 20, 15 participants reported 21 or more, and 16 participants reported five or less. Eight participants reported having interactions with six to 10 victims with disabilities, eight participants reported 11 to 20, 14 participants reported 21 or more, and 12 participants reported five or less. Eight participants reported having interactions with six to 10 witnesses with disabilities, three participants reported 11 to 20, seven participants reported 21 or more, and 24 participants reported five or less. Twenty participants believed that they received enough training regarding people who have disabilities but 22 participants wanted more training. Thirty-eight participants reported that they were comfortable with people who have disabilities in general (two of those participants stated that they felt comfortable because of working with I, Kirk Wetzlich) but four other participants reported that they were not comfortable in general. All 42 participants reported that they believe that people with disabilities can be life threatening to criminal justice professionals! Furthermore, when participants responded to the question regarding if their jail facilities were willing to admit and/or hold criminals who use wheelchairs, their responses were the following: 21 reported yes always, 1 reported no never, 5 reported yes but only in some cases, and 15 reported that they didn’t know. Also when responding to this question, one criminal justice professional stated, “they are mandated by Federal law to do so, but with many disabilities, they will determine on a case by case basis if they have the appropriate capacity to maintain the individual approximately, or make arrangement for a more appropriate facility to detain.”
Here are the percentage breakdowns of the survey results:
88% of the 42 participants were current city police officers, and the other 12% were county deputies, correctional / probation officers, and one state trooper. Also 92% of the participants were current criminal justice professionals and the rest were retired.Regarding the participants receiving formal training: 55% received five or under hours (five of those received no training), 9% received 6 to 10 hours, and 36% received 11 or more hours.Regarding how the participants rated the quality of their formal training: 12% rated it as excellent, another 12% rated it as poor, 43% rated it as good, 26% rated it as adequate, and 7% stated not applicable because they didn’t receive any.Regarding the participants having professional interactions with criminals who have disabilities: 38% had interactions with 1 to 5 or none, 19% had interactions with 6 to 10, 7% had interactions with 11 to 20, and 36% had interactions with 21 or more.Regarding the participants having professional interactions with victims who have disabilities: 29% had interactions with 1 to 5 or none, 19% had interactions with 6 to 10, 19% had interactions with 11 to 20, and 33% had interactions with 21 or more.Regarding the participants having professional interactions with witnesses who have disabilities: 58% had interactions with 1 to 5 or none, 19% had interactions with 6 to 10, 7% had interactions with 11 to 20, and 16% had interactions with 21 or more.Regarding the participants wanting more training or not was that 53% did and 47% did not.Regarding the participants feeling comfortable with people who have disabilities in general: 91% did feel comfortable and 9% did not. However, 100% of the participants felt that people who have disabilities can be life threatening to criminal justice professionals.Furthermore, regarding if the participants’ jail facilities were willing to admit and/or hold criminals who use wheelchairs: 50% reported yes always, 2% reported no never, 12% reported yes but only in some cases, and 36% reported that they didn’t know.Furthermore, in the below single-spaced paragraphs are some of the participants’ unique responses regarding training and their actual professional interactions with people who have disabilities.
The Participants’ Responses Regarding Further Training:
More training, especially for new officers, in areas of how officers are perceived by persons with disabilities-what not to do and signs to watch for that you may be entering into uncomfortable or threatening territory for the disabled person. This could be for any type of client. A Small town police officer of 23 years.
Our department hosts in house training monthly. I feel that our department covers the topic well. A county deputy of three years.
I think it would be helpful to have more training to help understand persons with communication, mobility, and cognitive disabilities. A suburban Officer of 10 years.
Training on how to interact for efficiently with deaf people. A state trooper of 22 years.
I believe that there needs to be more training for all employees in this arena - not only how to respond - but the specific unique approaches to specific disabilities - that officers should be taught to "sign" for hearing impaired - how to work with the mental health community, etc. Greater collaboration between these communities and the MPD is greatly desired to share information, developing a more inclusive community, etc. A large city police officer of 30 years.
Any additional training would be nice. P.O.S.T. mandates all kinds of training why not this subject. A large city police officer of 23 years.Anything to better understand how to effectively provide service and increase understanding. A retired police chief of 28 years and now an educator.
Since I work with the criminals, just better understanding on different disabilities and how we can better these individuals such as contacts, resources, referrals, support.... in regards to their well being; sometimes I feel a bit set back as to the best approach in working with managing behavior and treating all people fairly. A juvenile correctional officer of three years.
The participants' Responses Regarding Their Experiences:
We have a large number of group homes in our city for those with disabilities and consequently we do have contact with people with disabilities quite often. We have had those with violence issues at these group homes. We have had instances of crimes being committed, such as theft. We have had reported sexual assaults. We have runaway or missing person reports. I guess we have had pretty much the same types of calls from those with disabilities as we have from those without but not as many. Interacting with those who are deaf has been a difficult challenge but one that we overcome by writing things out with them and getting an interpreter if necessary. We had a lot of issues with a family at one point where the parents were deaf and the children were hearing. In those cases, we often relied on the children to help us figure out what had happened, unless they were part of the problem. A large town police officer of 20 years.
We have numerous private, public and corporate facilities that house a wide variety of persons with disabilities from eating disorders to full care for mentally disabled persons. Also I dealt with a very large man who could not hear or speak at a hospital ER. His family member had been taken by ambulance to the hospital and he was highly agitated. I communicated for over 30 minutes by pen and paper in an attempt to calm him down. I believe that he may have caused the injury to the other family member, but I cannot recall for certain. He eventually had to be taken into custody after he took a swing at a deputy. There were at least 6 officers that had to hold him down and he received 3 hypos to calm him down. These took over 30 minutes to kick in fully. He was eventually taken to a secure hospital facility. Furthermore, I have stopped several drivers over the years that could not speak or hear. Communication via pen and paper worked well. We also hand out informational brochures with our citations that aid in understanding the ticket and the court processes. Also patience is the most important thing that I can think of that has helped me in this type of situation. A small town police officer of 23 years.
Deaf victim and deaf driver on traffic stop. A large city police officer.
I have dealt with people who use wheelchairs who had warrants or have been sent to detox. We also have several people in our community who are deaf. Because of a facility in our city, a large number of people in this city are mentally challenged. We have several who are placed by the county into group homes that are monitored in which the clients don't like each other and cannot get along. A large city police officer of 17 years.
I have dealt with inmates who are wheelchair bound. The inmates that I have felt threatened by are the inmates who are mentally challenged and diagnosed with various mental illnesses. Those who are assaultive due to their disabilities, and those who are on psychotropic drugs just to maintain a somewhat normal existence. We do not have access to the medical records and as a result it can be quite scary dealing with some who are more than unpredictable. I had some formal training when I worked at the detox center, but not in the jail facility. A correctional officer.
Recently we dealt with a person who is wheel chair bound and has significant breathing issues. We had a warrant to serve for the person. We did not have immediate capabilities to transport the party due to the need to bring his electric wheelchair and oxygen supplies. Mostly the issue was transporting him safely due to extreme obesity. We made arrangements to pick him up with a county owned bus used to transport those with disabilities. We did not feel he was a flight risk, and postponed making the arrest until Monday when the bus was available. A county deputy of three years.
I deal with mentally challenged adults quite often. Some area domestic situations, some are medical calls. I have issued citations a deaf driver on two occasions. A suburban police officer of 10 years.
I have had the following interactions: deaf mute parents involved in domestic incident, one parent at another location and communicated via a 4 year old child to translate. Also I have dealt with domestic issues i.e. custody related with deaf mute suspect being arrested (on more than one occasion) as well as traffic violation contacts. Also mentally challenged foster resident involved in assault and lewd behavior events. A suburban police officer of 24 years.
I have had interactions with a guy who was a crack dealer and pimp. He ended up getting shot in the back and was wheelchair bound and continued with his life of crime, and he was repeatedly arrested in the wheelchair which never slowed him down in his life of crime. Pioneer Press did a story on him which was slanted and painted him as a victim. People can probably find this through their archives. His nick name is "Fast Freddie." He is probably the most notable wheel chair bound criminal I can think of. A large city police sergeant of 20 years.Two of my employees are handicapped, one has a hearing loss and one is confined to a wheelchair. I have numerous contacts with mentally handicapped parties. A state trooper of 22 years.
The mother of one of our most frequent thief in town is deaf. When he was a juvenile, it was always a challenge to work with her. She could read lips fairly well but most of us only knew some very basic sign language. We have had several times where we would have to do search warrants of her house or arrest her son and it was always a challenge because she was extremely hard to communicate with her when she got excited. Also we have a wheelchair bound elderly gentleman who likes to verbally abuse the other residents of an assisted living home he is in. He also likes to attack or corner people, including cops, with his wheelchair. A small town police officer of four years.
Probably the most significant case I can remember was a long and frustrating investigation into a series of arson fires in Minneapolis park buildings. We identified two suspects (young adults) who were both hearing and speech impaired [the old term was 'deaf mute'] interrogating them was a significant challenge. In addition, most of the evidence was in the form of admissions they had made to other people, none of whom were experts at ASL, but seemed to be able to understand the suspects' sign language. We felt we had the right parties, but the county attorney never charged the case as they did not feel they would be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. A retired large city park police officer of 29 years and now an educator.I have been on domestics when the husband and wife are deaf. I have dealt with criminals/drug dealers in a wheelchair. Also medicals when a person is wheelchair bound. Plus I have dealt with people who are mentally challenged on check the welfare/medical type issues. Furthermore, my department had a guy who was disabled by being in a wheelchair. He would provide drugs to girls for sexual favors in exchange. We received information from an informant that he carries a gun underneath his one of his legs. If we had not received this info, I can almost guarantee that we would have not checked him right away and we would have thought he was not a threat to us because he was in a wheel chair. When we finally arrested him, we were very cautious and it may have saved one of our lives. A suburban police officer of eight years.
I arrested an adult female who was wheelchair bound and shoplifted. Also my other interactions include the following: dealing with mentally challenged all the time, having disturbance calls at residences or group homes, assisting a deaf person, issuing traffic ticket to a deaf person, taking sexual assault reports from mentally challenged persons, responding to medicals involving all types of persons with disabilities, and responding to domestic assaults and assaults involving person with disabilities as the victim and suspect. A suburban police officer of 9 years.
I have had students with various disabilities, which I've worked at learning to become a better educator with, and I have interacted with people with various disabilities at school and the field and all of the above in fact. A retired police chief of 21 years and now an educator.
Although I am currently in the traffic unit, my contact is not as regular with persons with disabilities. I have had limited contact in arresting persons that are limited by wheelchair (only one that comes to mind) but multiple calls (I would say weekly) dealing with persons that are mentally challenged. The other department I had worked for, had calls regarding wheelchair persons in traffic, stalled on walkways, at the shopping center, etc. on a regular basis and implemented a policy on that because of the volume of calls. I have had few calls in dealing with persons that are deaf, one being a domestic, and that is always difficult to communicate due to the fact that it takes longer to write out questions and waiting for responses. A suburban police officer of 21 years.
A person reported to be wheelchair bound was known to use the wheel chair as a cover for his criminal behavior. He was known to carry a large knife or gun under the pad of his chair. As a police paramedic I also had occasion to come in contact with people of disabilities that needed medical assistance. With experience I found that a couple of key questions or observations dictated my response. I learned more as an investigator or medic than I ever did as a regular patrol street cop. Also Kirk, there is never enough training in dealing with this subject, with new ideas always coming up on how to respond. A retired suburban police officer of 25 years.
I have worked with a hearing impaired couple following a crash they were involved in. I have worked with mentally challenged in a serious criminal sexual conduct case. Also we had a local guy who was dealing dope to kids and everyone else. He was frequently in a wheelchair, although when pressed he could walk. On at least one occasion he was searched and found to have gun concealed on/under him as he sat in his wheelchair. From that point on any search warrants done at his house, and there were a few, were all done with the help of a SWAT team entry. A suburban police officer of 16 years.I have come across many juveniles who are mentally challenged and deaf. Yes, I feel challenged because my approach is new, and I have no formal training as a correctional officer. My job is to enforce safety of all juveniles and staff, i do believe more training should me mandatory for all staff so we can better work with people of all situations. During the school year, we have a school staff that works with kids with severe behavioral problems or specific needs such as hard of hearing, mentally challenged etc., but I think everyone should have some knowledge when working with people with disabilities. A juvenile correctional officer of three years.
As this chapter has indicated, many criminal justice professionals have training ideas regarding people who have disabilities. This chapter also showed that many criminal justice professionals have multiple interactions with people who have disabilities. Therefore, hopefully this capstone document will assist criminal justice professionals to effectively and appropriately interact with people who have disabilities by offering tools and resources to guide them.