In September 2011, officers stopped Gilberto Powell, a 22-year-old man with Down syndrome, concerned that the bulge under his shirt was a gun. Gilberto had difficulty answering questions and resisted the pat-down. In response, the officers pushed him to the ground and struck him on the face. Only after using extreme force did the officers realize that Gilberto’s bulge was a colostomy bag. They defended their actions, stating that they did not know Gilberto was disabled.
Police brutality in America is a significant issue; the problem is amplified for individuals with disabilities. The ACLU notes that police officers are more likely to misuse force and cause significant harm when interacting with an individual with a disability, especially if that individual is a person of color. People who have trouble following orders and processing information under stress are misread as dangerous, and the results can be heartbreaking.
Individuals with non-apparent disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder, may have trouble responding to police instructions. In this setting, police may overuse force when interacting with individuals with disabilities.
There are some initiatives aiming to help law enforcement interact more thoughtfully with people with disabilities. In Massachusetts, “The Blue Envelope” program provides a blue envelope to hold the car license and registration for individuals with autism. If stopped by the police while driving, the blue envelope alerts the officer that this individual has special communication needs. Started in the United Kingdom, the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program, is a global initiative that uses a sunflower symbol to help individuals with non-visible disabilities discreetly signal they may need additional assistance or understanding.
Alerting police to invisible disabilities may save lives.
Read the entire article on Psychology Today: Educating Law Enforcement About Invisible Disabilities
Suzanne Bender, MD is a Staff Psychiatrist in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, part-time, at Harvard Medical School. Within the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology (GI) and Nutrition Department at MGH for Children (MGHfC), she is the Co-Director of the MGHfC Pediatric GI Psychiatry program. Dr. Bender is the co-author of the book Becoming a Therapist: What Do I Say and Why? which is used as a teaching text and was released as a second edition in 2022.
