Project to Coach Lawmen on Needs of Disabled

Pacific Bell and the Newport Beach Police Department have joined in an effort to produce a training film and manual to help law enforcement officers recognize the special needs of the county’s 350,000 disabled citizens.

The project, developed initially by the Orange County Human Relations Commission, grew out of “what appeared to be a real need for education in the law enforcement community,” said Vicky Plevin, a human relations specialist with the commission.

“As severely disabled people are more and more integrated into the community,” Plevin said, the issue of how law enforcement will relate to them will be increasingly relevant.

Designed for Police Briefings

The film of 10-15 minutes and the manual, expected to be completed within the next three months, are designed to be used at police roll-calls and pre-shift briefings, Plevin said. They are aimed at helping officers distinguish between people with disabilities--including “invisible disabilities” such as autism and deafness--and those engaged in criminal activity or under the influence of drugs.

There have been several such incidents in Orange County in recent years, according to Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Human Relations Commission, including that of Guido Rodriguez Jr., an autistic teen-ager who Irvine police thought might be under the influence of the drug PCP in 1985 after he refused to stop for questioning while riding his bicycle.

Rodriguez lost an enlarged kidney following a subsequent chase and a struggle in his front yard with police officers. No charges were filed against the teen-ager or the officers, and his parents settled a lawsuit against Irvine for $350,000.

“That’s the kind of situation that shows there is a need (for the new program),” Kennedy said.

“It’s the sort of classic case we’re going to look at,” said Brenda Premo, executive director of the Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled in Anaheim.

The center, which serves the entire county, will act as the technical adviser for the project.