Law Enforcement Accessibility Standards Act

 

This bill seeks to prevent unnecessary disputes and harm by educating police not only about communication, but culture,

in an effort to cultivate respect for a community that often goes overlooked. The Law Enforcement Accessibility

Standards Act has 3 major steps which are as follows:

This bill will establish a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interaction Training Committee (DHH-ITC). This is a specialized

committee responsible for developing the standard curriculum and protocols that law enforcement officers will undergo.

More specifically, this committee will create curriculum models, evaluation and testing procedures, establishing

guidelines for real time communication (interpreter access, VRS use, writing/gestures, etc.). The DHH-ITC must also

update its curriculum every five years to maintain relevance and efficacy. It is required that this committee include

law enforcement training specialists, disability rights attorneys, and DDBHH representatives. The DHH-ITC committee will

also be allowed to rely on the advice of other state agencies (Commission of the Deaf, MN’s DHH Service Division, etc.)

This bill functionally requires the DHH-ITC to create a statewide statewide standardized training program that will

address the following:

Deaf culture competency

Legal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Minnesota state human rights laws

Appropriate communication strategies

Deescalation

It will also specify that training must be completed by new cadets and all currently licensed peace officers. Training

must be accessible to all (in-person, online, etc.)

This bill makes the training outlined by the DHH-ITC MANDATORY for all peace officers. This training will reoccur every

5 years as the training standard is updated.

 

 

In the United States, interactions between law enforcement and Deaf, Deaf Blind, or Hard of Hearing individuals often

result in miscommunication, fear, and even fatalities. Despite existing protections for these individuals under the

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), many officers lack the proper training to recognize communication differences or

appropriately engage with DDBHH individuals.

Disputes and disagreements between the community and law enforcement aren’t minor, either. In 2014, 64 year-old Pearl

Pearson was pulled over and beaten by police officers who misunderstood his attempts to communicate through sign

language. His vehicle had a visor card that explicitly stated he was deaf, but officers instead reported non-compliance.

Even further, people's lives have been taken due to law enforcement's ignorance towards the DDBHH community. In 2017,

Oklahoma resident Magdiel Sanchez was fatally shot by police officers when he failed to respond to their verbal

commands. Despite neighbors informing the police officers that Sanchez was deaf, the officers viewed his actions as

threatening. No form of ASL communication was present.

These instances are extremely preventable, yet very little effort has been put in towards remedying the problem despite

1 in 20 Americans having some form of hearing loss according to the National Association of the Deaf. This is likely

because of the cultural and language barriers that the Deaf, Deaf Blind, Hard of Hearing communities face when sharing

their stories.

 

 

Deaf/Hard of Hearing - An individual having a hearing loss of such severity that they depend primarily on visual

communication (writing, lip reading, manual communication, gestures).

Deaf Blind - An individual having medically verified hearing and visual loss that, when combined, interfere with

acquiring information or interacting in the environment.

Law Enforcement/Peace Officer - means an employee of a political subdivision or state law enforcement agency who is

licensed pursuant to sections 626.84 to 626.863 charged with the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement

of the general criminal laws of the state and who has full power of arrest, and shall also include Minnesota state

troopers, state conservation officers, park police, and University of Minnesota police officers.

Incident - An encounter between a Peace Officer and Deaf/Deaf Blind/Hard of Hearing individual that eventually escalates

to the citizens rights being violated, violence occurring, or verbal harassment taking place.

 

 

The Peace Officer Standard and Training Board shall allocate a portion of their existing budget toward developing and

implementing this bill and curriculum. It will not increase training hours in this manner, instead fulfill a part of the

previously established education mandates.

These funds will specifically be used to pay committee members, develop curriculum and materials, train departmental

trainers, and provide online modules.

 

Failure to complete the training will result in an automatic POST license suspension. A peace officer will be prohibited

from serving in active duty while suspended. If a peace officer’s failure to complete this training is not remedied

within six months, a peace officer’s POST license will be revoked.

An appeals process will be established if an officer believes a suspension was issued on false grounds.

Additionally, to keep peace officers accountable for maintaining the training they have completed, police departments

will be required to report the following:

Any incidents involving Deaf, Deaf Blind, Hard of Hearing individuals

Use-of-force incidents involving Deaf, Deaf Blind, Hard of Hearing individuals

 

 

The committee must be established in a 6 month period upon passage of this bill

A curriculum must be developed and implemented by August 1st, 2027