Research Report Police responses to people with disability University of New South Wales, Sydney Leanne Dowse, Simone Rowe, Eileen Baldry and Michael Baker October 2021 Acknowledgments The research team acknowledges and thanks our project partners and advisors for their commitment, time and expertise from which the project has significantly benefitted. We thank those who have given their time in interview to share their valuable insights into how policing impacts people with disability in practice. Research team UNSW Sydney: • Professor Eileen Baldry, Co-Lead • Emeritus Professor Leanne Dowse, Co-Lead • Simone Rowe, Research Associate • Michael Baker, Research Assistant University of WA: • Professor Harry Blagg University of Queensland: • Dr Kathy Ellem Research partners • Intellectual Disability Rights Service (Janene Cootes, Executive Officer) • National Ethnic Disability Alliance (Jane Flanagan, Senior Research & Policy Officer) Research advisors • Superintendent Greg Moore, Commander South Coast District, NSW Police • Monique Hitter, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Legal Aid NSW • Susannah O’Reilly, Director, Your Story Disability Legal Support, Legal Aid NSW Peta MacGillivray, Aboriginal Legal Service Board Member & Aboriginal Youth Justice Research Manager, Yuwaya Ngarra-li. Table of Contents 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................1 2. Literature Review......................................................................................................3 2.1 People with disability in contact with police.....................................................3 2.1.1 Characteristics and prevalence.......................................................................4 2.1.2 The victim-offender dichotomy.........................................................................5 2.1.3 Causes of police contact.................................................................................9 2.2 The context for police responses to people with disability...........................10 2.2.1 Policy context................................................................................................10 2.2.2 Police culture.................................................................................................11 2.3 The nature of police responses to people with disability..............................12 2.3.1 Negative assumptions and discriminatory attitudes......................................12 2.3.2 Failure to identify or accept disability.............................................................17 2.3.3 Resistance to engaging mandated supports.................................................21 2.3.4 Police violence against people with disability................................................25 2.4 Policing First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability...................................................................................................................31 2.4.1 First Nations people with disability................................................................32 2.4.2 Culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability..............................34 2.5 Improving police responses to people with disability...................................39 2.5.1 The benefits and limitations of police training................................................39 2.5.2 Support persons............................................................................................41 2.5.3 (Re) examining diversion...............................................................................42 2.5.4 Innovative models and alternatives to police.................................................44 2.6 Summary.............................................................................................................50 3. Police policy and practice......................................................................................52 Research Report - Police responses to people with disability | i 3.1 Planning, monitoring and reporting.................................................................52 3.2 Engagement with people with disability as advisors.....................................60 3.3 Police corporate leadership and oversight.....................................................64 3.4 Disability data................................................................................