Full course description
Course Introduction
Every law enforcement officer wants to ensure their safety and the safety of individuals in which they interact on a daily basis. There are an estimated 60 million people with some type of disability in the United States. Federal law requires law enforcement to make reasonable modifications to their policies, procedures, and practices during interactions with individuals who have disabilities. Encounters with individuals who have a developmental or intellectual disability require a distinct approach to ensure safety and effective communication.
Learning Outcomes
Participants in this course will be able to:
- Identify common disabilities and disabilities indicators that officers may encounter through research on this topic
- Analyze police-citizen interactions with individuals who have a disability
- Recognize and apply de-escalation techniques employed by specialized training on individuals with disabilities and law enforcement officer interactions
Meet the Instructor
Stacie Merken is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Indiana University South Bend. Dr. Merken earned her Ph.D. Criminology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2015).
As a Criminologist, Victimologist, and Generalist, she researches and teaches a wide variety of areas.
Some of her research interests include media/ideology/policy connections on effectiveness/ impact; violent offenders (i.e. serial killers, sex offenders, mass murderers) and criminological theory, offender/victim relationships, stalking patterns, hate crimes, criminal justice myths/media, gender and crime, victimization and trauma, prison subculture and prisoner reentry, and policing.