Commonly Asked Questions About the Americans with Disabilities Act and Law Enforcement

6. Q: What if someone is demonstrating threatening behavior because of his or her disability?

A: Police officers may, of course, respond appropriately to real threats to health or safety, even if an individuals actions are a result of her or his disability. But it is important that police officers are trained to distinguish behaviors that pose a real risk from behaviors that do not, and to recognize when an individual, such as someone who is having a seizure or exhibiting signs of psychotic crisis, needs medical attention. It is also important that behaviors resulting from a disability not be criminalized where no crime has been committed. Avoid these scenarios:

• A store owner calls to report that an apparently homeless person has been in front of the store for an hour, and customers are complaining that he appears to be talking to himself. The individual, who has mental illness, is violating no loitering or panhandling laws. Officers arriving on the scene arrest him even though he is violating no laws.

• Police receive a call in the middle of the night about a teenager with mental illness who is beyond the control of her parents. All attempts to get services for the teenager at that hour fail, so the responding officer arrests her until he can get her into treatment. She ends up with a record, even though she committed no offense.