Police Encounters With the Mentally Retarded
Perhaps this tragedy in Irvine could have been avoided if the Irvine Police Department had viewed a splendid training tape on recognizing and dealing with the retarded. The Barristers (young lawyers) of Los Angeles County developed this tape as a pro bono project with the Los Angeles Police Department for its training use. The tape is available from the Los Angeles Country Bar Assn. (phone 213/627-2727).
As the parent of an adult retarded son who is also mute, I’ve experienced a similar problem. However, tragedy was avoided because I saw the police car (Ventura) swerve in at my son and was able to convince the officers that he wasn’t high on drugs. Education of all police is needed and it’s available.
JULIA ROYALL GOLD
Los Angeles
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