Deflection and pre-arrest diversion tactics are not new topics. While there is still much to learn about how these alternatives to arrest affect the interactions between law enforcement and individuals with developmental disabilities, it is clear that the use of deflection and pre-arrest diversion practices have the potential to positively alter outcomes for those who come into contact with the justice system.
Deflection is when law enforcement officers or other first responders connect individuals to community-based behavioral health treatment or services or developmental disability services, when an arrest would not have been necessary or permitted or instead of taking no action.1 Pre-arrest diversion is when law enforcement officers connect individuals to community-based treatment or services or developmental disability services, instead of making an arrest when the individual would otherwise have been criminally charged, diverting them from the criminal justice system.2
Miscommunications between an individual and an officer can escalate a situation.
People with developmental disabilities can come into contact with the criminal justice system as victims of crime and as individuals arrested and incarcerated in jail or prison.3 Developmental disabilities can possibly impact an individual’s behavior and ability to communicate and make sound, reasonable judgments. Miscommunications between an individual and an officer, in addition to perceived difficult behavior, can escalate a situation and lead to an arrest. Challenges for individuals with developmental disabilities may also occur post-arrest in the justice system. Individuals with developmental disabilities are less likely to receive probation or parole compared to people without developmental disabilities.4 They tend to serve longer sentences due to their inability to adapt to or understand the rules of a detention center or prison. Applying alternatives to arrest, such as deflection and pre-arrest diversion, can reduce the long-term impact of criminal justice involvement for those with developmental disabilities.
To enhance law enforcement’s response to individuals with developmental disabilities, the IACP’s Academic Training Initiative created Law Enforcement Response to People with Developmental Disabilities: Steps for Deflection or Pre-Arrest Diversion.
This resource provides
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- insights into the developmental disability community values by exploring what is important to the community and how officers can apply this information when interacting with individuals with developmental disabilities;
- four key steps officers can take to support the deflection or pre-arrest diversion of individuals with developmental disabilities and suggestions on how these steps can be integrated into law enforcement interactions; and
- federal, state, and local resources for supporting individuals with developmental disabilities.
Supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Academic Training Initiative team includes the University of Cincinnati, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Policy Research Associates, the Arc of the United States’ National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability, and the National Policing Institute. The goal of the initiative is to provide training and resources to inform police responses to individuals with behavioral health conditions and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Other resources include Mental Health Conditions and Developmental Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities: What Law Enforcement Officers Need to Know. Additionally, Crisis Response and Intervention Training is a 40-hour off-the-shelf training curriculum designed to prepare police officers to respond to individuals experiencing crises related to behavioral health conditions (including mental health conditions and substance use disorders) and intellectual and developmental disabilities.d
Notes:
1NORC at the University of Chicago, Center for Health & Justice at TASC, and Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program, Report of the National Survey to Assess First Responder Deflection Programs in Response to the Opioid Crisis: Final Report, NCJ 300955 (Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, 2021), 8.
2NORC, TASC, BJA, Report of the National Survey to Assess First Responder Deflection Programs in Response to the Opioid Crisis.
3Erika Harrell, Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2009-2019 – Statistical Tables, NCJI 301367 (Washington, DC: U.S Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2021); Laura M. Maruschak, Jennifer Bronson, and Mariel Alper, Disabilities Reported by Prisoners: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016, NCJ 252642 (Washington DC: U.S Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2021).
4Leigh Ann Davis, People with Intellectual Disabilities in the Criminal Justice Systems: Victims & Suspects (Washington, DC: The Arc, 2009).
5Davis, People with Intellectual Disabilities in the Criminal Justice Systems.
Please cite as:
Rachel H. Jensen and Dana Bonnell, “Developmental Disabilities and Diversion: What Law Enforcement Officers Need to Know,” IACP@Work, Police Chief 90, no. 4 (2023): 106-107.
