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Justice Department Launches Law Enforcement Disability Awareness Initiative
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 5, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC--The U.S. Department of Justice this week launched a new disability awareness initiative directed at law enforcement agencies.

According to a DOJ press statement: the initiative has three parts. One is the release of several new publications focusing on agencies' responsibilities under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, along with communication with people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and hiring practices regarding officers with disabilities. Those documents are available on the Department's ADA website.

Second, DOJ has conducted an outreach mailing to 25,000 police departments, sheriff's offices, highway patrols, and other state and local law enforcement agencies and training academies across the country.

Third, the Department has developed an eight-part law enforcement video, entitled "Police Response to People with Disabilities", which addresses law enforcement situations involving people who have physical or mental disabilities. The training video, which is available through streaming video format from the website, is designed to be used during roll calls, with each segment ranging from 5 1/2 to 10 1/2 minutes in length.

In recent years, Inclusion Daily Express has reported on a number of instances where people with disabilities have been incarcerated, injured or killed when law enforcement officers mistook their behaviors for criminal conduct.

Items from the Department of Justice website:
"Communicating with People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing"

http://www.ada.gov/lawenfcomm.htm
"Model Policy For Law Enforcement On Communicating With People Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing"
http://www.ada.gov/lawenfmodpolicy.htm
"Commonly Asked Questions About The Americans With Disabilities Act And Law Enforcement"
http://www.ada.gov/q%26a_law.htm
"Questions And Answers: The Americans With Disabilities Act And Hiring Police Officers"
http://www.ada.gov/copsq7a.htm
"Video series: Police Response to People with Disabilities, Eight-Part Series"
http://www.ada.gov/videogallery.htm#Anchor-Dial-47492
Related:
"Criminal Justice Systems" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)

http://www.inclusiondaily.com/updates/justice.htm

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