Report: Town Hall on Public Safety: People with Disabilities & Policing

Town Hall on Public Safety:
People with Disabilities and Policing
OF AUSTIN
OFFICE OF
FOUNDEL
POLICE OVERSIGHT
September 23, 2021
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
Background
On July 10, 2020, the Office of Police Oversight (OPO) attended the Mayor's
Committee for People with Disabilities' monthly meeting. At this meeting, several
committee members expressed concerns about OPO's efforts to address the
negative experiences people with disabilities have with law enforcement.
In response, OPO collaborated with the Mayor's Office, the Mayor's Committee
for People with Disabilities, and the Equity Office to organize a community event to
understand better the experiences people with disabilities have with law
enforcement. The goal of the town hall was to create a space for people with lived
experiences to share their feedback and stories related to their interactions with
the Austin Police Department.
The event planning committee included
representatives from the Mayor's
Office, the Mayor's Committee for
People with Disabilities, and the Equity
Office, with support from the City of
Austin's Communications and Public
Information Office and ADA staff.
STP
The planning committee focused on
ensuring accessibility in the virtual
environment to facilitate meaningful
participation with community members.
OPO engaged with several community
groups to learn how to support diverse
accessibility needs virtually, including
the Governor's Committee on People
with Disabilities, St. Edwards University
Department of Social Work, and Art
Spark Texas.
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Town Hall on Public Safety: People with Disabilities and
Policing
The Office of Police Oversight hosted the Town Hall on Public Safety: People with
Disabilities and Policing event on May 21, 2021, virtually via Zoom. The event
offered interpretation in American Sign Language, Spanish, Vietnamese and
provided closed captioning.
Forty-two community members attended the event. Austin Mayor Steve Adler and
City Manager Spencer Cronk welcomed community members before attendees
were separated into breakout rooms. Each breakout room had a City staff member
serving as facilitators and notetakers to record community responses.
In the breakout rooms, facilitators asked community members to respond to the
following questions:
Who are you, what motivated you to come to this event, and what do you
need to best communicate in this space?
What is your experience with Austin police or law enforcement?
What would it look like for you to feel safe when interacting with law
enforcement?
Can you identify ways that APD can improve your experience with police?
What would you like to see discussed at the next town hall meeting?
Also in attendance were 21 members of city staff, the Office of Police Oversight
Director Farah Muscadin, the Office of Civil Rights Director Carol Johnson, and the
Austin Police Department (APD) Assistant Chief Jerry Bauzon.
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Data Synthesis
During the event, City staff served as notetakers in each breakout room.
Notetakers recorded responses from community members. During this event, OPO
collected 196 responses from community members for analysis. The responses
were aggregated and anonymized as qualitative data for analysis. OPO staff
conducted a data synthesis of the community feedback from the event with staff
from the City of Austin's Center for Excellence and Innovation.
Data synthesis combines separate elements or components, identifies
commonalities between the individual pieces, and draws conclusions from these
common themes.
OPO will provide the findings in this report to the Mayor and City Council.
Additionally, the findings will inform the planning of the next event as part of the
series, Town Hall on Public Safety: People with Disabilities and Policing.
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Insight #1:
Current law enforcement policies and practices are not designed for people
with disabilities. Individuals with physical or psychological disabilities are
often seen as a threat or viewed as dangerous by law enforcement. This
perception by police officers often leads to people with disabilities having a
negative interaction with law enforcement, resulting in misunderstanding,
injury, or death.
Some community members at the event said having a disability can
cause individuals to be perceived as non-compliant when interacting
with law enforcement.
Other individuals said the lack of understanding of disabilities by law
enforcement, coupled with aggression and the use of tools like guns,
cause people with disabilities to become fearful. This sense of fear
can lead to negative police outcomes such as injury or death.
Quotes from community members that helped form this insight
include:
"There is a significant amount of distrust within the deaf community with law
enforcement, several negative interactions were mentioned, cases where
officers were either not responsive or had to really be pushed to provide
service or support."
"For visually impaired individuals, no eye contact can be misinterpreted by
police."
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Insight #2:
APD needs to utilize more training resources, improve communication, and
increase engagement with people with disabilities. With improved
community relations, the burden of ensuring that law enforcement
understands the unique needs of community members with disabilities does
not fall on these individuals, their families, or their caretakers.
Some participants said it is essential to have access to
communication tools and technology that fit specific and unique
needs SO that people with disabilities can communicate directly
with officers and not burden partners or other support systems.
Other participants mentioned a need for more opportunities for
individuals with lived experience to communicate with officers and
APD at all levels about their experiences.
Quotes from community members that helped form this insight
include:
"More Community engagement between APD and deaf community -
regular opportunities or events where each side can get to know more of
the other and what they each go through - Police would also be better
served in having better access to interpreters."
"Is there an event called coffee with a cop that APD used to host? There is
a need for asking the questions that need to be asked, and building the
trust with the community.
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Insight #3:
The outcome of police interactions for someone with a disability depends
on whether an officer is aware of an individual's disability and need. This
creates a disadvantage for people who don't have visible disabilities.
Some participants said when police officers are respectful and
empathetic of an individual, the outcomes are positive. However,
when police officers are disrespectful and don't accommodate
people with disabilities, the outcomes are negative and result in
harmful experiences.
Quotes from community members that helped form this insight
include:
"Members of the deaf community would like more members of the public
and representatives of it to better understand the challenges and adversity
that they face."
"Some people have disabilities that are not physical and visible but still
existent, and law enforcement may not understand that."
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Insight #4:
There is an intersection of other identities among people with disabilities.
Therefore, when making policy, consideration must be given to people
uniquely impacted by various social categorizations such as race, class,
and gender identities.
Many participants called for a need to focus on the intersectionality
between race and disability.
Quotes from community members that helped form this insight
include:
"As a Black parent of a child with disabilities, it's very difficult to even
consider calling the police in an emergency."
"I don't call the cops. I am a rather large black man with a son with a
disability, and it is not safe to do SO for me. We've all seen the videos. It is a
lot of risk that I am unwilling to take."
Insight #5:
When police are called to school systems, it disproportionally affects
students of color with disabilities, creates an environment that may harm
students of color with disabilities, and plays a role in the bigger picture of
systemic racism in the criminal justice system. Moreover, this can lead to
long-lasting effects of trauma for students of color with disabilities.
Some participants said parents and educators are afraid of
contacting the police because of the socioeconomic effects of
realities like the school-to-prison pipeline.
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Quotes from community members that helped form this insight
include:
"We need to break these conversations down by age groups, and also
know what is being discussed in other groups with all types of disabilities.
Police are playing a role in generational trauma like with ACES."
"I currently home school my child. My child with a disability can be arrested
at the age of 10 years old."
Insight #6:
The lack of understanding, resources, and training for officers has
negatively impacted individuals experiencing mental health crises. APD
should provide more mental health resources for officers to improve
interactions between law enforcement and people with mental health
issues.
Some participants said current APD practices are unsafe for people
with disabilities, which can be corrected with training around mental
health and disabilities.
Quotes from community members that helped form this insight
include:
"The police aren't necessarily who we should be calling for such a broad
range of responses, and it might be more helpful and beneficial for the
community, especially those experiencing a mental health crisis to create
or to support and fund creative and innovative ways of helping people that
are in crisis."
"Community members would feel safer if officers were receiving more
training in de-escalation and mental health."
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Office of Police Oversight
Recommendations for
2022 Event
Townhall on Public Safety: People with
Disabilities and Policing
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
Recommendation #1:
The next event should focus on building a greater sense of empathy and
understanding for people with disabilities. The impact a disability has on an
individual's life should be part of the event planning and conversations at
the event.
More time should be given to individuals with lived experiences to
share their stories.
More individuals with lived experiences need to be a part of the
planning committee.
Professionals and caregivers should have space at the event to
educate others.
There should be increased participation from Austin Police
Department's (APD) at the next event.
Recommendation #2:
When promoting the event, City staff should encourage and accommodate
people with disabilities, especially those whose experiences also intersect
with race, gender, class, and other social identities.
Conversations held at the event should consider how
intersectionality plays a role in an individual's life.
Recommendation #3:
Conversations held at the event should include ideas for community
engagement between law enforcement and people with disabilities.
Questions asked at the event should focus on how we can
collectively work together to improve community-police relations
between individuals with lived experiences and law enforcement.
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Recommendation #4:
Conversations held should also focus on the unique experiences that
students with disabilities have in the education system.
The questions asked at the event should focus on improving the
education system for students with disabilities.
Education professionals and teachers should be a part of the
planning committee for the next Town Hall.
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Contact Information
The Office of Police Oversight
Phone Number: 512-974-9090
Website: atxpoliceoversight.org
Email: Opo.outreach@asutintexas.gov
Twitter: @atx_opo
Facebook: atxpoliceoversight
on Public Safety: People with Disabilities and Policing