Shifting to a Social Model of Disability in Policing | San José Police Chief

Letter submitted July 30, 2024, regarding the police chief recruitment by Michele Mashburn. For information on the Disability Community Engagement Meeting tonight, go to the Disability Inclusion Programs & Services page or the All Things Disability Equity blog post.

Dear City of San José:

It is time for San José to hire a police chief who understands the complex interplay of disability and law enforcement. Disability is fluid, but police often treat it as a fixed medical condition with harmful stereotypes and a history that perceives disabled people as deviant and threatening. This gap in understanding disability is at the root of wrongful arrests and excessive force, especially among people from multiple marginalized communities. It is essential to have the police shift to a social model of disability to allow more accurate perception and responses to the diverse needs of disabled people.

Police violence against disabled individuals stems from unconscious biases and stereotypes held by police officers (Hutson et al., 2022). There are deep historical roots of police violence against people with disabilities, and it is essential to understand this history to move beyond it. The police system primarily uses the medical model of disability, viewing disability as a problem in a person’s body that must be fixed or cured. This model also views a disabled person as less valuable than that of a nondisabled person. Another model that comes into play with the police system is the charity model, which considers disabled people as objects of pity, reliant on others, and of little value to society.

Susan Schweik’s research on “ugly laws” (2010) shows how policies have historically criminalized disability by deeming certain physical traits as socially deviant. These laws, reinforced by scientific racism and early 20th-century social policies, linked disability and poverty with criminality, leading to regulation and control of individuals deemed morally, physically, and mentally deviant (Cohen, 2017). Such historical contexts underscore how disability has been pathologized and criminalized through policing.

Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed 34 years ago, it is a legal framework that fails to account for societal barriers, including ableism. So, the medical model used within the police system perpetuates harmful stereotypes especially for sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or developmental disabilities. These beliefs hinder effective law enforcement’s responses and continue to allow police to perceive disabled people as deviant and threatening. It is essential to understand police violence toward disabled people (Carbado, 2017) and uncover the deep historical roots of police violence against this population (Morgan, 2020).

In order to adequately address the challenges faced by disabled individuals, a shift towards a social model of disability is essential. This model recognizes that disability is a dynamic reality that is not always about fixing or curing the individual, but rather supporting the human access needs that arise due to the disability. Given the overt violence and discrimination and the more covert forms of neglect and avoidance, training programs alone have not eradicated the systemic violence embedded in racism, ableism, classism, patriarchy, and white supremacy (Lewis, 2019) and have been shown to reinforce stereotypes and increase bias (Caldwell, Morgan, and Jensen, 2024).

To address these issues, the new police chief must prioritize the perspectives and voices of disabled people, especially disabled people of color, D/deaf, and LGBTQ+ people, involving them in decision-making processes. Recognizing these issues’ historical and systemic nature and investing in community-based solutions is essential for meaningful change in policing practices.

Recommendations for the Hiring of a New Police Chief in San José, CA

1. Prioritize a Social Model of Disability in Policing Practices: A new police chief should have a plan to adopt and implement a social model of disability. They must recognize disability as a dynamic interaction of a person and society shaped by social meanings attached to physical and mental impairments, rather than viewing it solely through a medical lens. Additionally, the new police chief should be able to outline a transparent approach to accomplish this to ensure that all police and department staff understand and appropriately respond to non-apparent or intermittently apparent disabilities, especially in individuals from marginalized communities.
2. Involve Disabled People of Color, Deaf, and LGBTQ+ People in Decision-Making Processes: The police chief must prioritize the inclusion of disabled people of color, including the Deaf and LGBTQ+ communities, in meetings and decision-making processes. They should clearly articulate a plan that outlines how these diverse perspectives and voices will shape policies and practices. The plan should also address how to meet the specific needs and concerns of these communities and how to foster trust and accountability.
3. Invest in Community-Based Solutions and Recognize Historical Contexts: The police chief must realize that community-based solutions are essential to address the root causes of systemic violence embedded in racism, ableism, classism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. The police chief must be able to acknowledge and address the historical associations between disability and criminalization, such as the impact of “ugly laws” and other discriminatory policies. Additionally, they must be willing to constantly learn and grow with the community and people with disabilities.This recognition will move away from pathologizing and criminalizing disabled individuals.

References

Caldwell, K., Morgan, J., Jensen, J., & Center for Racial & Disability Justice. (2024, January 24). Letter to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Regarding Interactions of Autistic Individuals with Law Enforcement. Public Comment Letters. Retrieved July 22, 2024, from https://www.crdjustice.org/public-comment-letters

Carbado, D. W. (2017). From Stop and Frisk to Shoot to Kill: Terry v. Ohio’s Pathway to Police Violence. UCLA Law Review, 64(6), 1508–1552. https://www.uclalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Carbado-64-6.pdf

Cohen, A. (2017). Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck. Penguin Publishing Group. https://archive.org/details/imbecilessupreme0000cohe_r7m6/page/n7/mode/2up

Hutson, T. M., Hassrick, E. M., Fernandes, S., Walton, J., Bouvier-Weinberk, K., Radcliffe, A., & Allen-Handy, A. (2022). “I’m just different–that’s all–I’m so sorry…”: Black men, ASD and the urgent need for DisCrit Theory in police encounters. Policing: An International Journal, 45(3), 524–537. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-10-2021-0149

Lewis, L. F. (2019, June). Response: Concerns re disability/deaf rights communities’ response to policing systems’ violence [Google Document]. Retrieved July 22, 2024, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NZTtMi03CFQwd7DibXIG6JAuo-525n7u/view

Morgan, J. (2020, September 8). Policing Under Disability Law. Stanford Law Review, 73(2021), 1401–1469. Retrieved 22 July, 2024, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3689161

Schweik, S. M. (2010). The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public. NYU Press.