1. Interviewing Persons with Disabilities or Mental Illness
Chapter 9
9-1

2. Profile of the Impaired Population
Approximately 54 million Americans live with a wide variety of physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities
One out of every ten police calls nationally involves someone who is mentally ill

3. Victimization of the Impaired Population
Impaired adults are at a higher risk for being physically or sexually assaulted
Children with disabilities are also victimized more frequently than those without disability

4. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
It prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against any qualified person with a disability
An individual who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices … meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity.

5. ADA is a Legislative Mandate
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a legislative mandate to provide equal protections and access of government facilities for persons who have a disability.
It affects everything that officers and deputies do
Receiving citizen complaints
Interrogating and interviewing
Arresting, booking, and holding suspects
Enforcing laws
Incarceration

6. Interviewing Accommodations
ADA requires that government officials attempt effective communication with individuals having disabilities, but they are not required to alter the nature of the service
Examples include:
An interpreter
The use of an auxiliary aid such as note takers, transcript services, audio recordings, or large print materials

7. Examples of Auxiliary Aids
Note takers
Transcript services
Videotext displays
Closed caption decoders
Telephones compatible with hearing aids

8. Police Liability Under ADA
Sporadic claims against police departments for failure to train officers on handling persons with disabilities have surfaced in Federal Court
Police are expected to recognize a situation where a person has a disability

9. Wrongful-Arrest Claims
Jackson v. Town of Sanford (1994): A man was arrested for drunk driving but was sober. His unsteadiness and slurred speech resulted from a past stroke
Lewis v. Truitt (1997): A deaf man, who could not understand the commands of the police, was beaten and arrested by police for resisting arrest
Gohier v. Enright (1999): Arrest is being broadly interpreted to include arrests, violent confrontations not technically involving an arrest, and pre-arrest investigations

10. Techniques to Avoid Wrongful Arrest
Noticing if there is a handicapped license plate on the car
Communicating to people in a crowd to signal that a person stop running
Speaking clearly
Using breathalyzers

11. Initial Considerations
Self-confrontation!
Negative attitudes may be the largest impediment to successful interviewing
Speak directly to the person being interviewed, even if they are accompanied by another person
Their condition should not cause repulsion, sympathy, or admiration

12. Disability May Be Defined Through a Variety of Cognitive and Communication Disabilities

13. Identifying When Special Care is Needed
Communication problems can result in misleading statements or inappropriate reactions because of misunderstanding of events
Excessive apprehension or anxiety may be evident
May be incoherent not due to drug or alcohol

14. Mental Retardation — a Developmental Disability
Persons with mental retardation possess less than average ability to process information
2 percent to 10 percent of the prison population
Some may not be able to understand or answer questions
(Davis, 2000). ARC

15. Persons with Mental Retardation
Will exhibit a mood level that is inconsistent with the situation
Have a short attention span
Have a limited vocabulary
May have a speech impediment
Have unusual behavior traits or agitation accompanied by physical activity may also present itself
Verbal and nonverbal behaviors may include yelling, biting, hugging, rubbing of genital areas, or breasts

16. Autism
Frequently occurs along with other mental impairments, such as mental retardation, seizure disorders, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder
Characterized by impaired social relations and communication deficits which may lead to behavior prohibited by law
They may become aggressive if interrupted during a preferred activity
Mayers, T Persons with Autism and Criminal Justice: Core Concepts and Leading Cases. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.

17. Mental Illness Defined
Mental illness is a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress (e.g., a painful symptom) or disability (i.e., impairment in one or more important areas of functioning) or with a significant increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom

18. Mental Illness vs. Mental Retardation
Persons Having Mental Illness and Mental Retardation are Highly Represented in the CJ System: they are not the same!

19. Categories of Severe Mental Illness
These are highly represented in the prison population
Schizophrenia
Bipolar disorder
Serious depression

20. Schizophrenia
Three to six times greater in the prison population versus the general population
This complex disease may include disordered thinking or speech, delusions, hallucinations, inappropriate emotions, confusion, withdrawal, and inattention to personal grooming
(Quanbeck, Frye, & Altshuler, 2003).
Human Rights Watch 2003, p31

21. Persons with Schizophrenia
Individuals with this mental disorder may present with anxiety, anger, and aloofness; argumentativeness, along with a superior or patronizing manner
May be quick to anger, provocative, and dangerous

22. Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder (previously called manic-depressive disorder) is characterized by frequent dramatic mood swings from depression to mania
Human rights watch p 31

23. Persons with Bipolar Disorder
During manic phases some people may be psychotic and may experience delusions or hallucinations
In a manic phase can be disruptive, quick to anger, provocative, and dangerous

24. Serious Depression
Puts people at an increased risk for suicide and self-mutilation
Human Rights Watch, p 65

25. The Property was the Prisoner’s Own Body
In October 2001, a prisoner at Georgia’s Phillips State prison who was mentally ill and had an extensive history of self-mutilation, heard the murder of another prisoner, David Strickland, at the hands of his cellmate in a nearby cell. The prisoner “responded to the stress by cutting himself,” and was subsequently given a disciplinary report and placed in an isolation cell for “destruction of state property”

26. The DSM-IV Defines a Personality Disorder as:
An enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment

27. Personality Disorder
The most prevalent personality disorders among jail and prison inmates are anti-social personality disorder (ASPD) and borderline personality disorder

28. Antisocial Personality Disorder
Persons with antisocial personality disorder, typically men, can be particularly difficult to manage in a correctional setting
They can often be manipulative, volatile, disruptive, and likely to engage in aggressive, impulsive “acting out” behavior which can include assaults on others, self-mutilation, and/or suicide attempts

29. Borderline Personality Disorder
The essential feature of the former is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others

30. Distant Field Evaluation
Nonverbal assessment conducted from a distance over 3 feet
Inappropriate dress
Stumbling or appearing confused
Inappropriate actions with others
Appears gravely disabled

31. Detailed Field Evaluation
Up close to determine if there are problems that must be addressed
Show of respect and non-threatening approach

32. Interview Considerations
Although these interviews may be challenging, they involve only a modification of techniques
A cycle of victimization and abuse will make it more difficult to establish rapport
Be patient
Understanding

33. Legal Issues
Research the statutes that are specific to protecting disabled persons in your state
Elements of the crime may be different

34. Protections Specific statutes exist that protect persons
Having disabilities
Who are mentally incapacitated
Having mental disabilities
Having physical disabilities
Specific statutes exist that protect the property of special populations

35. Prepare for the Interview
Select a location that is quiet and without distractions
Turn off cell phone or pager
One-on-one interview is preferred

36. Communications Appropriate adult may be needed
Someone who is able to provide support and smooth the progress of communication with police
Facilitated communication may be needed
A trained facilitator assists with a keyboard or communication board, steadying the physical movements of the person so that they can make movements

37. Communication During the Interview
Do not phrase questions in legal terms
Do not infantilize
Keep sentences short and to the point
Avoid asking “why”
Attempt consistency in communications
Avoid leading questions and questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no”
If possible, no longer than 30 minutes
Confirm vocabulary

38. Methods for Establishing Rapport
Avoid touching the person
May be touch toxic
May feel as though they can’t refuse the touch
If inappropriate touching occurs, firmly and gently avoid personal contact
Speak directly to the interviewee with respect
Ask the person what they would like to be called
Don’t assume the person wants or needs help
Keep clear of wheelchairs

39. Conducting the Interview
Attempt consistency in communications
Avoid leading questions and questions that can be answered with yes or no
If possible, no longer than 30 minutes
Confirm vocabulary
Avoid asking “why”

40. Interrogation Considerations
Make a determination on the level of functioning of the suspect
Can they read, write, answer simple questions?
Follow up statements suggestive of guilt by asking for details
Verify that the accused understands what is being said

41. Miranda Warnings
There is no requirement that Miranda rights be given verbatim
Explain in a manner consistent with the needs of the suspect
Provide the suspect with his or her Miranda Rights which is required for all interrogations of persons in custody

42. False Confessions
Interrogations of individuals with a mental retardation is a concern
There is a link between low IQ and false confessions
Avoid unnecessarily lengthy interrogations
Persons having mental retardation usually want to please police officers and may incriminate themselves even when innocent of any crime