POLICE COMMUNICATION TIPS

Communication Tips For Police Departments Working With

People with Disabilities

Did you know?

• People with disabilities are 4 times more likely to be victimized, and are MORE likely to be REPEATEDLY victimized.

• Children with any kind of disability are more than twice as likely as children without disabilities to be physically abused and almost twice as likely to be sexually abused.

Dealing with Abuse

Like any crime victim, a person with a disability who is a victim of physical assault or other crime may feel especially powerless, vulnerable and afraid. Their disability may complicate their ability to reveal the abuse in that their abuser could very well be a caregiver or family member, or they may not even have the mental capability to recognize that they have been abused. It is up to the first response team to help them feel more comfortable.

The purpose of this guide is to provide some communication tips and resource information to first response personnel so they can best help people with disabilities who have been the victims of crime.
 

Setting the Stage for Good Communication

People with disabilities are people first. Cultural stereotypes of persons with disabilities need to be put aside because they will interfere with your efforts to make the victim comfortable. Victims with disabilities should be treated in an age appropriate manner and with dignity. Not all disabilities are mental, nor does a disability necessarily indicate an inability to communicate. Victims with disabilities are uncomfortable with a patronizing or condescending attitude, or even unasked for assistance, but will respond well if they are asked first if there is any assistance that would make communication easier. To conduct an effective interview, you should find out the nature of the victim’s disability first, and how that might compromise his or her ability to respond. Victims with disabilities may try to hide the abuse or they may not even be aware that they have been victimized. Many factors increase the vulnerability of this population, for example limited mobility, fear of authority or communication difficulties. Therefore, it is important that you prepare mentally for the interview beforehand, including the questions you need to ask.

Other specific communication tips include:
 

• Always remind the victim that it was not their fault.

• Ask for the victim to show you how they communicate. Get to know the communicating abilities of your victim.

• Draw on your own verbal and nonverbal skills for engaging the victim. Be aware of your own and other’s body language cues.

• Speak directly to the person with a disability instead of through a third party.

• Maintain eye contact at all times. Never talk about the person as if he/she is not there.

• Speak in a normal tone of voice unless the person is hard of hearing. (Speaking louder may or may not be more effective.)

• Be patient and through. It may take extra time for someone with a disability to say, do, or show you something.

• Clarify if you don’t understand. Have the person repeat him or herself. A clear concise statement with all of the facts is better than having multiple statements.

• Establish EARLY in the interview that the victim knows what “telling the truth” means.

• If this is a victim of sexual assault, establish a clear understanding of how the individual understands sexuality. In addition, be aware of your own attitudes about sexuality and disability. A person with a disability can, and may have a sex life.

Also, as a police officer you understand that making a victim aware of victims services is required by law. This is especially important when interacting with a victim who has a disability. Remember to discuss victim’s services with the person, and seriously consider having a victim’s advocate present during an interview.

Emergency Resources

Network of Victim Assistance--Offers a victim advocate trained to assist with people with disabilities, crisis counseling, short term counseling, and personal empowerment training for people with disabilities. 1-800-675-6900—24 hour hotline TTY: 215-348-2963

Pennsylvania Client Assistance Program--CAP is an advocacy program for people with disabilities administered by the Center for Disability Law & Policy. CAP helps people who are seeking services from the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Blindness and Visual Services, Centers for Independent Living and other programs funded under federal law. Voice/TDD-215-557-7112 Toll Free- 1-888-745-CDLP

Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy-- Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy, Inc. is a federally funded, nonprofit agency responsible for providing protection and advocacy services to people with disabilities.800-692-7443 Voice 877-375-7139 TTY

Deaf-Hearing Communication Center-- Offers legal advocacy, systems advocacy, 24-hour emergency interpreter services. 610-604-0452/610-604-0450

Lenape Valley Crisis Center –Offers crisis counseling for mental health consumers who are a harm to themselves or someone else in Central Bucks County 215-345-5327 /215-785-9765 24 Hour Counseling

The American Red Cross—Offers emergency shelter services. Lower Bucks County 215-949-1727 Homeless Hotline 1-800-810-4434 Upper Bucks County 215-348-8161

Freedom Valley Disability Center—Offers individual and systems advocacy, referral on housing and employment, peer counseling and independent living skills training. 1-800-427-4754

Bucks County Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation—Responsible for monitoring the services provided by social service agencies in Bucks County. 215-442-0760

Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22- Offers assistance with facilitated communication. 215-348-2940

Penndel Mental Health Center—Provides outpatient services, partial hospitalization, residential rehabilitation services, and intensive case management to Mental Health and Mental retardation consumers. 215-752-1541 Lower Bucks County

Penn Foundation, Inc.—Offers mental, emotional and chemical dependency services including individual and family counseling, psychiatric evaluation and medication monitoring, social rehabilitation, case management, residential services, and partial hospitalization. 215-257-6551 Upper Bucks County

Emergency Food

Doylestown Area Fish—Crisis organization supplying food, lodging and transportation to those in need on a temporary basis.215-348-7172. 24 hours

Bucks Montgomery Center for Human Services—Emergency food assistance and case management services are provided for housing, financial and employment related problems. 215-323-9935