Use of Force

Session Description: Even with the decline of juvenile crime and incarceration over the past ten years, youth with disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), are being incarcerated at higher rates. One study reports that 65-70 percent of justice-involved youth have a disability—that is three times higher the rate compared to youth without disabilities. Rules and laws that work for the majority of the population often blatantly fail people with I/DD, which can lead to injury, trauma and other harmful consequences.

NCCJD co-created agenda, facilitated and presented at this one-day meeting that took place at The Arc's national convention. The international meeting was convened by Inclusion International and The Arc of the United States' National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability to focus on making justice systems responsive to people with intellectual disabilities. Too often the criminal justice system fails to respond effectively in cases where the victim or the suspect/offender is a person with intellectual disability.

People with I/DD face grave disadvantages when it comes to criminal justice involvement, as both victims and suspects/offenders. While they encounter discrimination as crime victims (testimony viewed as not credible as one example), they also experience indifference or discrimination as suspects/offenders (for example, when persuaded to confess to crimes resulting in needless, often traumatizing, arrests and confinement).

NCCJD presented at The Arc's NCE Summer Leadership Training event in Palm Springs, CA on July 18, 2016 with 47 attendees. NCCJD Director Leigh Ann Davis co-presented with Attorney and The Arc of New Jersey's Jessica Oppenheim on the topic of Pathways to Justice program and how to use Personalized Justice Planning as a way to divert non-violent people with disabilities away from the criminal justice system.

NCCJD staff provided responses to 110 I&R requests from July-Dec of 2016 totaling 4,672 minutes (or 78 hours).

This training examined safety in search, seizure, and arrest.

New Hampshire is being funded as a Blue Courage immersion state. The purpose is to train leaders in the various New Hampshire agencies and police departments to become self sustaining to facilitate the Blue Courage Course. The Blue Courage Train the Trainer is foundational to creating the skill set for New Hampshire to drive BC throughout it's police academies and agencies for statewide penetration. This is a 4-day certification course that trains participants to effectively teach the Blue Courage to their organizations.

Final Blue Courage Train-the-Trainer towards full state immersion. The Blue Courage Train the Trainer is the foundational skill set for Nebraska to drive BC throughout it's police academies and agencies for statewide penetration. Its purpose is to train leaders in the various Nebraska Agencies and Police departments to become self sustaining to facilitate the Blue Courage Course. This is a 4-day certification course that trains participants to effectively teach the Blue Courage to their organizations.

The Colorado Springs, Colorado Police Department (PD), requested technical assistance for improvements to its internal affairs division, specifically in the areas of citizen complaint processes and officer early-warning systems. The request for assistance was referred to the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Diagnostic Center on 4/19/2017.

The Chicago, Illinois Police Department requested assistance from the University of Chicago Crime Lab to build and test an Early Intervention System (EIS). The Crime Lab developed and tested an EIS model to detect poor police conduct and identify superior policy activity, and developed recommendations for EIS implementation. The Crime Lab also hosted two meetings with subject matter experts to share knowledge of officer wellness and training, and develop a process for learning about EIS best practices. The Crime Lab will deliver a recommendations report to BJA NTTAC by August 30, 2017.