How One Mother's Battle Is Changing Police Training On Disabilities

教育

一位母親的戰鬥，如何改變警察應對殘疾人的培訓

2019年4月13日美國東部時間上午5點


梅格安德森




Patti Saylor說，在她的兒子Ethan於2013年去世後，她意識到警察需要更多的培訓，與有智力障礙和發育障礙的人一起工作。梅格安德森/ NPR

與患有智力障礙和發育障礙的人（如唐氏綜合症或孤獨症）一起工作，即使對於接受過多年培訓的人來說也很複雜且具有挑戰性。但是一個群體 - 執法部門 - 經常在高壓力情況下遇到有這些條件的人，很少或根本沒有接受過培訓。

Patti Saylor非常了解這可能帶來的後果。

患有唐氏綜合症的兒子伊桑在26歲時與執法部門相遇後去世。這是她認為可以預防的悲劇。

2013年1月，Ethan去了馬里蘭州弗雷德里克縣的一家商場看電影Zero Dark Thirty。之後，當他的助手去拿車時，Ethan回到裡面試圖第二次看電影，但他沒有買新票。

擔任保安人員的三名下班的治安官代表與他對峙。

“當然，他沒有合作，”Patti Saylor說。“他不想離開。在那一點上，我相信，他不會知道發生了什麼。”
根據Ethan的父母提起的民事訴訟，代表們“試圖將他從劇院拖走”，Ethan“最終在場上至少有一名副手。” 代表們說，Ethan被要求離開，然後才把他抱起來。他們否認了案件的任何不當行為，去年達成了和解協議。

在電影院的地板上，Ethan停止了呼吸。他後來在當地一家醫院被宣布死亡。他因窒息死亡被判為凶殺案。弗雷德里克縣的大陪審團清除了刑事指控的代表。

從那以後，Patti Saylor一直在努力改變執法人員遇到像Ethan這樣的人時的訓練方式。她說像她這樣的家庭 - 擁有第一手資料 - 具有獨特的視角。

“我們知道警察不知道的事情，”Patti Saylor說。“我覺得我們需要教他們，然後讓他們負起責任。”


Ethan Saylor的照片顯示在他母親的廚房桌子上。梅格安德森/ NPR

“這並不總是阻力”

Ethan Saylor的去世凸顯了許多執法人員在智力或發育障礙患者方面缺乏培訓。


相反，他們的大部分培訓都圍繞著如何獲得併保持對局勢的控制。根據司法部的最新統計數據，全國警察培訓計劃平均花費168小時教學人員使用武力，武器和防禦戰術。例如，相比之下，精神疾病只花了10個小時。對於該報告，政府沒有跟踪用於智力和發育障礙的培訓時間。

警察培訓常常會產生這樣的心態：“我是老闆。你做我告訴你要做的事情，”塞思斯托頓說，他是一名前警官，現在是南卡羅來納大學法學教授，研究警察監管。“如果有人不做我告訴他們做的事情，那就表明存在潛在的威脅。”

專家表示，智障人士可能無法處理這些訂單。他們可能很難按照指示或管理情緒。

“它並不總是不合規。它並不總是阻力。有時它無能為力，”斯托頓解釋說。“這位官員經常會認為無能為力。”

一些警察培訓在所謂的危機干預培訓中處理智力和發育障礙，該培訓主要側重於精神疾病和藥物濫用。根據全國州立法委員會的報告，至少有27個州和哥倫比亞特區要求教官如何回應有心理健康或藥物濫用問題的人。

斯托頓說，在回應有智力或發育障礙的人時，這些類型的培訓所教授的技能 - 良好的溝通技巧，練習耐心和賺取人的合作 - 可能適用。

但是，他說，心理健康危機的跡象並不總是適用於患有此類殘疾的人。他說，如果沒有針對這些殘疾的具體培訓，官員可能不會認識到他們應該調整自己的行為。

“在街上使用不同的工具”

在Ethan Saylor去世六年後，馬里蘭州成為各州的領導者，要求警方培訓如何應對智力和發育障礙的人。

馬里蘭州警察和懲教培訓委員會於2014年在全州範圍內通過了新的要求。第二年，該州建立了Ethan Saylor聯盟，該聯盟有助於確保這些殘疾人在培訓中發揮核心作用。

馬里蘭州洛約拉大學的兩位教授Lisa Schoenbrodt和Leah Saal開設了這樣的培訓。通過國家補助金，他們僱用了10名殘疾成年人，與警察一起角色扮演常見情景。去年秋天，他們在喬治王子社區學院開設了這個班級。

Patti Saylor在喬治王子社區學院的培訓課程中坐在警察旁邊。梅格安德森/ NPR

“如果我們能夠提供不同的視角並給他們在街上使用不同的工具，我認為這很好，”該學院公共安全與安全研究所所長Percy Alston說。

Alston負責培訓新的和經驗豐富的警察，了解如何應對這些殘疾人可能與官員習慣的不同。他列舉了一個非常基本的例子：許多警察不喜歡被觸動。

“一旦我穿上製服，我就像超人一樣;你無法觸摸我的斗篷。但有些殘障人士喜歡觸摸，”Alston解釋道。“所以他們感動你不會是一次攻擊。”

在警察學院的一個星期五早上，阿爾斯通帶領大約十幾名軍官上半場，然後是洛約拉訓練員與一些軍官一起角色扮演。在一個場景中，患有自閉症的訓練師Elaina Camacho扮演一個威脅她媽媽的女兒。與喬治王子縣公立學校合作的警官約瑟夫鮑威爾通過做一些與眾不同的事情讓卡馬喬平靜下來：他在談話時要求玩她的電子遊戲。

阿爾斯通說，那個時刻是這個課程的核心所在。他知道警察必須快速思考並迅速作出反應，他們必須保護自己的安全。但是當他們遇到有智力或發育障礙的人時，他們可能需要放慢速度並以不同的方式處理事情。

Patti Saylor認為，這可能會給Ethan帶來不同。

“很多警察都問過我，他們應該做些什麼？我說，'好吧，你必須使用你的技巧，'”她說。在Ethan的案例中，“如果你真的想讓他離開，你可能會說，'讓我們一起去這裡吃點小吃，等我媽媽。' “

“沒有神奇的小精靈塵埃，”她補充道。“這是關係。”




https://www.npr.org/2019/04/13/705887493/how-one-mothers-battle-is-changing-police-training-on-disabilities
EDUCATION

How One Mother's Battle Is Changing Police Training On Disabilities

April 13, 20195:00 AM ET


MEG ANDERSON




Patti Saylor says that after her son Ethan's death in 2013, she realized that police officers need more training in working with people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.Meg Anderson/NPR

Working with people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, like Down syndrome or autism, can be complex and challenging even for those with years of training. But one group — law enforcement — often encounters people with these conditions in high-stress situations, with little or no training at all.

Patti Saylor knows all too well what the consequences of that can be.

Her son Ethan, who had Down syndrome, died after an encounter with law enforcement when he was 26. It's a tragedy she believes could have been prevented.

In January 2013, Ethan went to see the movie Zero Dark Thirty at a mall in Frederick County, Md. Afterward, when his support aide went to get the car, Ethan went back inside to try to see the movie a second time, but he didn't buy a new ticket.

Three off-duty sheriff's deputies, who were working as security guards, confronted him.

"He didn't cooperate, of course," Patti Saylor says. "He didn't want to leave. At that point, I believe, he wouldn't know what was going on."
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According to a civil lawsuit filed by Ethan's parents, the deputies "tried to drag him from the theater," and Ethan "ended up on the floor with at least one deputy on top of him." The deputies said Ethan was asked to leave before they took him by the arms. They denied any wrongdoing in the case, which reached a settlement last year.

There on the floor of the movie theater, Ethan stopped breathing. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. His death, from asphyxia, was ruled a homicide. A Frederick County grand jury cleared the deputies of criminal charges.

Ever since, Patti Saylor has been fighting to change the way law enforcement personnel are trained when encountering people like Ethan. She says families like hers — with firsthand knowledge — have a unique perspective.

"We know something the police don't know," Patti Saylor says. "I felt like we needed to teach them, and then hold them accountable."




Photos of Ethan Saylor are displayed on his mother's kitchen table.Meg Anderson/NPR

"It's not always resistance"

Ethan Saylor's death highlighted the lack of training many law enforcement officers have when it comes to people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.


Police training often creates the mindset: "I am the boss. You do what I tell you to do," says Seth Stoughton, a former police officer and now a University of South Carolina law professor who studies police regulation. "And if someone doesn't do what I tell them to do, it is indicative of a potential threat."Instead, much of their training revolves around how to gain and maintain control of a situation. Police training programs nationwide spend, on average, 168 hours teaching officers about use of force, weapons and defensive tactics, according to the most recent statistics from the Justice Department. That compares with only 10 hours spent on mental illness, for example. For that report, the government did not track the training time devoted to intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Experts say people with intellectual disabilities may have trouble processing those orders. They may struggle to follow directions or manage emotions.

"It's not always noncompliance. It's not always resistance. Sometimes it's inability," Stoughton explains. "The officer very often will perceive that inability as a refusal."

Some police training addresses intellectual and developmental disabilities within what is known as crisis intervention training, which largely focuses on mental illness and substance abuse. At least 27 states and the District of Columbia require officers to be taught how to respond to someone with mental health or substance abuse issues, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Stoughton says the skills taught in those types of training — good communication skills, practicing patience, and earning a person's cooperation — may apply when responding to a person with an intellectual or developmental disability.

But, he says, the signs of a mental health crisis don't always apply to someone with this type of disability. Without specific training on these disabilities, he says, an officer might not recognize that they should adjust their behavior.

"Different tools to use on the street"

Six years after Ethan Saylor's death, Maryland has become a leader among states in requiring police training on how to respond to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions adopted the new requirements statewide in 2014. The next year, the state established the Ethan Saylor Alliance, which helps ensure that people with these types of disabilities play a central role in the training.

Two professors at Loyola University Maryland, Lisa Schoenbrodt and Leah Saal, developed one such training. With a state grant, they hired 10 adults with a range of disabilities to role-play common scenarios with police. Last fall, they piloted the class at Prince George's Community College.




Patti Saylor sits next to police officers during a training session at Prince George's Community College.Meg Anderson/NPR

"If we can provide a different perspective and give them different tools to use on the street, I just think that's great," says Percy Alston, the director of the college's Public Safety and Security Institute.

Alston is responsible for training new and experienced police officers on how responding to people with these disabilities might be different than what officers are used to. He cites one very basic example: A lot of police officers don't like to be touched.

"Once I put my uniform on, I'm like Superman; you can't touch my cape. But there are people with certain disabilities that do like to touch," Alston explains. "So them touching you is not going to be an assault."

On a Friday morning at the police academy, Alston leads about a dozen officers through the first half of the class, and then the Loyola trainers role-play with some of the officers. In one scenario, trainer Elaina Camacho, who has autism, played a daughter who threatens her mom. Officer Joseph Powell, who works with the Prince George's County public schools, calmed Camacho down by doing something unusual: He asked to play her video game while they talked.

Alston says that moment gets at the heart of what the class is all about. He knows that officers have to think fast and respond quickly, and they must protect their own safety. But when they encounter someone who has an intellectual or developmental disability, they may need to slow down and approach things in a different way.

Patti Saylor believes that could have made the difference for Ethan.

"So many police officers have asked me, what should they have done? And I said, 'Well, you've got to use your bag of tricks,' " she says. In Ethan's case, "if you really wanted him to leave, you may have said, 'let's go on out here and get a snack while we wait for your mother.' "

"There's no magic pixie dust," she adds. "It is relationship."