NCJ Number
85203
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 51 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1982) Pages: 18-25
Date Published
1982
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Police officers should acquire knowledge about the causes of mental retardation, identifying mentally retarded persons, and techniques for communicating with mentally retarded persons.
Abstract
Because greater efforts are being made to include mentally retarded persons in normalized community living, police are increasingly likely to encounter mentally retarded persons in their work. Retarded persons may be identified by their difficulty in expressing themselves verbally and in making rational judgments about the consequences of their actions, their inability to concentrate on one task for any length of time, difficulty in remembering what has just occurred, and physical abnormalities common among moderately, severely, and profoundly retarded children. Police officers should recognize that mentally retarded persons have the same needs as others to experience a sense of worth and dignity in interaction with others; however, because of their limited ability to cope in some situations, they may need police services more than the average person. Officers should use simple language in communicating with mentally retarded persons, particularly when giving directions, and patience and understanding should be exercised in eliciting verbal responses from mentally retarded persons. When problem behavior has occasioned an officer's contact with a mentally retarded child, the child's parents should be contacted and the incident and officer response explained. The officer should provide the parents with a list of local agencies that provide supportive services to the retarded and their families. Twenty-two footnotes are listed.