Washington State Police Reform
The Washington State Legislature has passed sweeping police reform laws as community policing policies and practices have been placed under scrutiny. A handful of police reform bills were passed during the 2021 legislative session and beginning on July 25.The law aims to reduce use-of-force usage by police and limit the amount of physical force necessary. […]
Police Response and Transportation Reform for LA Metro
New CEO Stephanie Wiggins announced Wesnesday that LA Metro officials will stop focusing on law enforcement as a primary way response for homeless people within the transportation system. This announcement came after the introduction of the 23-month pilot program that would make buses and trains free for students in the short-term and free for low-income […]
Sexual Assault Against People with Disabilities Unlikely to Reach Courts
(Tasmania, Australia) A state sexual abuse support service says reports to police of sexual violence against Tasmanians with a disability are often not prosecuted in court. The sexual Assault Support Service chief executive said 25 per cent of women with a disability had experience some form of sexual violence compared to 15 per cent of […]
Confirmed Homicide of Person with Disability Ruled Justified
Marvin Scott was a 26 year-old African American suffering from Schizophrenia. Marvin used marijuana as a medication for his condition. At an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, Marvin was arrested on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge. The officers first took Scott to a local hospital because he was reportedly acting erratically. He was subsequently released […]
Mental Health Bill Introduced to Congress
A new bill is being introduced to Congress called the People’s Response Act which focuses on mental health. The bill will create a federal agency that would limit law enforcement responses by increasing the amount of community systems led by health officials. This will lead to mental health experts responding to mental health emergencies instead […]
Inhumane Living Conditions for Displaced Haitians with Disabilities
(Port-au-Prince, Haiti) A communal school in Pétion-Ville hosts hundreds of Haitians with disabilities. According to the residents, the school is devoidof basic social services such as water, hygiene and food. “When we got here, there was dust everywhere. So far the space is dirty. We are packed like sardines to sleep. This is our situation […]
Montgomery and Other Mental Health Crisis Providers Suffering from Lack of Funding
According to the Washington Post database, about a quarter of all fatal police shootings in the last six years involved someone experiencing a mental health crisis. A man in psychological distress died after police in Rochester, N.Y., placed a bag over his head and pinned him to the ground. In Salt Lake City, a mother […]
Senators Introducing Public Infrastructure Program to Increase Accessibility to People with Disabilities
As of 2019, 20% of all public transit stations across the United States failed to meet accessibility criteria for people with disabilities. On May 18th, Senator Duckworth, Senator Brown,, and Senator Casey introduced the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Act of 2021. This program would invest $!0 billion a year for 10 years into local […]
Federal Government not Focusing on Mental Health Response Reform Despite Public Support
Over the past year, many cities have implemented police alternatives for mental health responses. In addition, the momentum for diverting some 911 calls to mental health crisis teams have been gaining. These reforms could have prevented interactions with law enforcement that ended the lives of Prude, Nicolas Chavez, Walter Wallace Jr., Angelo Quinto, Deborah Tanner, and countless others who […]
National Mental Health Care Legislation Brought up in Congress
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators, Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto and Texas Republican John Cornyn, are pushing for legislation to support local governments that are expanding their mental health-care emergency responses, which seeks to shift the responsibility away from the police. “The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the mental health challenges so many Americans are facing, […]