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There are an estimated 3.3 million wheelchair users in the United States and this figure is projected to increase by 2 million yearly. Law enforcement officers (LEOs), and other first responders, will contact them in a variety of situations, including as crime victims or criminal suspects. Few LEOs have been trained by their employer on how to make legal, safe, and non-discriminatory contact with special populations, specifically wheelchair users.
TOPICS
  • STATUTES, STANDARDS, & HOLDINGS
    • Americans with Disabilities Act;
    • ADA Amendments Act of 2008,
    • Rehabilitation Act of 1972,
    • Use-of-force Amendment-based standards, and
    • Training LEOs in core tasks (statutory & case law requirements), including the ADA;

  • DEFINITIONS & EXAMPLES:
    • Key terms (e.g., disability, special needs, wheelchair, etc.),
    • Special needs population
    • Special needs examples

  • DISABILITY:
    • History,
    • Perceptions, and
    • Tiny Tim, Scrooge, Easter Seals, etc.

  • WHEELCHAIR:
    • History,
    • Categories and models,
    • Use environments, and
    • Nomenclature and propulsion methods;

  • CONTACT:
    • LEO, wheelchair user, and third party safety issues,
    • Body-worn camera and/or Dash Cam recommendations,
    • LEO appropriate (non-discriminatory), prohibited (discriminatory), and inappropriate questions and responses,
    • Communication hurdles and reasonable accommodations,
    • Seizing the wheelchair and/or its user (legal concerns),
    • Recognizing disguised weapons on wheelchairs, and
    • Review of actual LEO-wheelchair user contacts (video and case studies);

  • CONTROL:
    • Wheelchair user pat down and/or searching methods,
    • Prosthetics: identification, inspection, detachment, and/or searching methods,
    • Physically managing a special needs wheelchair user and force options,
    • Wheelchair searching methods, and
    • Contraband collection and management;

  • RESTRAIN:
    • Identifying medical issues (visible & invisible), and medical equipment,
    • Understanding connected medical equipment concerns and issues,
    • Managing the obese or large stature wheelchair user,
    • Handcuffing and/or restraining a special needs wheelchair user, and
    • Minimizing and/or avoiding restraint injuries;

  • TRANSPORT:
    • Transferring from wheelchair to ambulance,
    • Transferring from wheelchair to patrol car,
    • Transferring from wheelchair to special transport vehicle, and
    • Strategies when a wheelchair user must remain in the wheelchair;

  • SKILLS DEVELOPMENT:
    • Wheelchair use,
    • Searching,
    • Restraining,
    • Transferring, and
    • Teaching;

  • PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
    • Creating an evidence-based User-level training program,
    • Creating learner psychological and behavioral engagement,
    • Creating competency-based assessment(s), and
    • Aligning training content with agency policy and procedure;

  • Guidelines for releasing wheelchair user arrest information and HIPAA; and
  • Future issues about special needs populations.

TUITION
$435 for the first officer (includes 5 User-level mini-books); $395 for each additional officer. Tuition includes: Instruction, program workbook, User-level lesson plan with assessment rubrics, certificate, User-level program slides, and online support and updates.