IN-PERSON TRAINING
Just Policing: Disability Awareness Training for Law Enforcement
Just Policing: Disability Awareness Training for Law Enforcement, an in-person and online training, provides tolerance, anti-bias, and diversity education through a disability and intersectional lens to support community policing. The Just Policing training educates officers by helping them understand the culture of the disability community, increases awareness of invisible disabilities, and highlights an officer’s legal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Course Description
The Just Policing project addresses the need to make the criminal justice system more accessible to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who are multiply marginalized. The goal of Just Policing is not only to address biases and increase tolerance, but to build trust between the disability and law enforcement communities. The training uses an intersectional approach that considers all identities of a person when discussing criminal justice matters. In doing so, Just Policing accounts for a person’s disability and how disability also intersects with a person’s race, gender, or sexuality, allowing law enforcement to consider how those identities and cultural attributes can interact and influence a person’s approach and comfort with law enforcement officers.
The Just Policing training will help officers understand the culture of the disability community, increase their awareness of invisible disabilities, and highlight legal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Importantly, Just Policing is comprehensive in its approach and provides information on the various types of diagnoses related to IDD other than autism only. For example, the training mentions Down syndrome, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and Fragile X syndrome. The training was created in collaboration with people with IDD, disability advocates, and police departments in Oregon, New Mexico, Indiana and Northern Virginia.
Target Audience
Law enforcement
Cooperative Partners
This project was developed by The Arc of the United States and is supported by cooperative agreement 15JCOPS-23-GK-02038-PPSE by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
About Course Provider
The Arc of the United States is the oldest and largest community-based nonprofit in the United States, supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through The Arc’s network of nearly 600 chapters, it reaches millions of people annually and has more than 131,000 employees. Learn more at https://thearc.org.
The Arc’s National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (NCCJD) provides subject matter expertise (SME) on supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who become involved in the criminal justice system. NCCJD advocates at the intersection of criminal justice reform and the advancement of disability rights, breaking down communication barriers between the disability and policing professions, and gives a voice to individuals with IDD. Addressing timely issues in the field and engaging in federal and foundation-supported projects, including leadership involvement in an international knowledge hub, is why NCCJD is a leader in addressing community policing through a disability lens. Learn more at https://thearc.org/our-initiatives/criminal-justice.
Schedule & Registration
To learn more about Just Policing training, please contact Joshua Branch at [email protected].