Why Police Still Lack Training to Effectively Respond to People with Disabilities
Ask students: How many people killed by police have disabilities? What kind of training is needed to help police officers better handle situations like Parsa's?
The percentage of people diagnosed with autism has more than quadrupled over two decades. Still, explicit training for law enforcement to respond to this population and people with other developmental or intellectual disabilities is rare. Misunderstandings between officers and people with disabilities can lead to tragic consequences. Judy Woodruff reports for our series, Disability Reframed.
View the transcript of the story. News alternative: Check out recent segments from the News Hour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.
Discussion Questions
- Who is Eric Parsa?
- What happened to Parsa?
- How many people killed by police have disabilities?
- What kind of training is needed to help police officers better handle situations like Parsa's?
- Why might the Trump administration's focus on ending DEI programs affect mental health organizations?
Focus Questions
Detective Elizabeth Reyes of the Los Angeles Police Department says police officers are not trained mental health professionals. Reyes leads the LAPD's Mental Evaluation Unit, which educates officers on the complexities of mental health crises and disabilities like autism.
Do you think that providing police officers with mental health training is enough to help prevent situations like Eric Parsa's in the future? Should trained mental health professionals be dispatched in these situations instead? Explain your response.
Media literacy: Does your school have any measures in place for helping students with disabilities? If not, who could you talk to about ensuring these students are provided the care they need at school?
Extension Activity
Watch the video below to learn about Lois Curtis and the fight for equal rights for Americans with disabilities. Then, complete this Daily News Lesson to practice what you learned.
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.
PBS News Hour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of News Hour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
Advertisement
