Officers will learn the following:

1) The importance of learning to effectively interact and communicate with people with disabilities, dementia, and mental health conditions.

a. Officer survival (Physical, Emotional, Legal).

b. Increase quality of case investigations when people with disabilities are victimized.

c. Reduce unwarranted use of force.

d. Increase safety for both officers and suspects when taking a person with disabilities into custody.

2) Examine and become aware of assumptions, perceptions, and bias that exists for both first responders and people with disabilities.

3) Identify indicators and characteristics of people with various disabilities, dementia, and mental health conditions.

a. Discuss physical and behavioral indicators

b. Describe issues with transitions, overwhelm/ overstimulation

4) Identify tools and tactics officers can employ to avoid escalating encounters (anti-escalation techniques) with people with disabilities to ensure the safety of people with disabilities and increase officer safety.

5) Identify tools and tactics to peacefully de-escalate individuals with disabilities who are in a behavioral crisis or overwhelm to avoid use of force.

6) Discuss procedures and reasonable accommodations officers should use to ensure compliance with the ADA when interacting with a person with disabilities

7) Identify indicators of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of at-risk adults and provide instruction on investigation techniques and procedures for these types of crimes.

Dispatchers will learn the following:

1) Identify indicators and characteristics of people with various disabilities, dementia, and mental health conditions.

a. Discuss communication and behavioral indicators

b. Describe issues with transitions, overwhelm/ overstimulation

2) Identify tools and tactics dispatchers can employ to avoid escalating encounters (anti-escalation techniques) with people with disabilities to ensure communication and information can be gathered during the initial 911 or non-emergency call

3) Discuss specific questions and information to gather (emergency and non-emergency) to discern disability and possible information that can help officers have a more successful encounter as well as imperative information to include in call notes and to provide officers enroute.

4) Understand procedures and reasonable accommodations needed to ensure compliance with the ADA when interacting with a person with disabilities

Learning Objectives

1) Understand the importance of learning to effectively interact and communicate with people with disabilities, dementia, and mental health conditions.

2) Examine and become aware of assumptions, perceptions, and bias that exists for both first responders and people with disabilities.

3) Identify indicators and characteristics of people with various disabilities, dementia, and mental health conditions.

a. Discuss physical and behavioral indicators

b. Describe issues with transitions, overwhelm/ overstimulation

4) Identify tools and tactics firefighters and EMS can employ to avoid escalating encounters (anti-escalation techniques) with people with disabilities to ensure the safety of people with disabilities as well as fire/ EMS personnel.

5) Identify tools and tactics to peacefully de-escalate individuals with disabilities who are in a behavioral crisis or overwhelm to avoid use of sedatives.

6) Discuss procedures and reasonable accommodations needed to ensure compliance with the ADA when interacting with a person with disabilities

Law Enforcement and Adult Protective Services are frequently tasked with interacting, communicating with, and investigating crimes against some of society’s most vulnerable victims. The vulnerability of these people often comes from their disabilities; some are non‐verbal, intellectually disabled, or diagnosed with dementia. No matter what their challenges are, unless a person is comatose, they have some ability to communicate. It is our responsibility to figure out how our victims communicate and document their abilities to try to bring them justice.

Specific communication tools will be presented to aid investigators and attorneys with gathering information from at‐risk persons along with guidance on how best to use the information to help prove a case.

We will dive deeper into specific advanced techniques to interview people who have communication and cognitive challenges including techniques to interview “non-verbal” subjects. We will look at specific ways to corroborate statements and put together solid criminal cases to bring our at-risk victims justice.

Is it an accidental drowning or is it a criminally negligent homicide? More and more crimes committed against the elderly and developmentally disabled are being overlooked because investigators simply haven’t been trained on what to look for or what questions to ask.

This presentation will provide valuable information into the intricacies of death investigations of elder and dependent adults both in facilities and in private resident care situations. We will explore specific records and unique evidence to gather to strengthen and prove cases to allow investigators to stop relying on statements solely from caregivers, who many times are the suspects in what are actually cases of neglect or homicide. This knowledge will lead to more confident and complete death investigations.

Our elder and dependent adults are often very isolated and sometimes their main contact with people outside their home are with medical technicians and therapists. As medical technicians and therapists and others come into contact with these elders and dependent adults, they are in a unique position to observe red flags of abuse or neglect. This course will teach how to recognize physical and behavioral “red flags” that are signs and symptoms of elder and dependent adult abuse and neglect.

Domestic Violence investigations are some of the most difficult cases to work and maintain officer and victim safety. We will go beyond what officers learn in the academy and FTO and give them tools to help interview, investigate, and develop solid cases to send for prosecution. This class includes specific techniques to investigated suspected strangulation cases.

Domestic Violence call outs are some of the most difficult responses for advocates. This course teaches the dynamics of domestic violence, helps illustrate some reasons why victims recant or refuse to leave abusive situations, physical and emotional signs of abuse, and how best to help both victims and officers in the field when cases to work and maintain officer and victim safety

For teachers, medical personnel, and others- Can be customized

No matter what people’s challenges are, unless a person is comatose, they have some ability to communicate. When people have disabilities that make communication difficult, we must work that much harder to understand them and open a line of communication. This course will offer overviews of varying disabilities and discuss tools and strategies to open the paths of communication to ensure everyone has meaningful integration into society.