WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., will introduce two bipartisan policing reform bills to address the high incidence rate of violence involving people with disabilities.
The Law Enforcement Education and Accountability for People with Disabilities (LEAD) Initiative is comprised of two bills: the Human-services Emergency Logistics Program (HELP) Act and the Safe Interactions Act. Among other reforms, the LEAD Initiative would enhance state and regional 2-1-1 and 9-8-8 call systems, diverting some non-criminal emergency calls away from 9-1-1 and toward human services and mental health support agencies. U.S. Representatives Susan Wild, D-Pa., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., are introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
“As lawmakers, we must do everything in our power to prevent tomorrow’s tragedies. The Pennsylvania families of Walter Wallace, Jr., Ricardo Muñoz and Osaze Osagie needed mental health crisis support and they didn’t get it. It is time to take action,” said Casey. “The LEAD Initiative would connect people and police with the resources they need, reduce demands on police and provide law enforcement with the knowledge and skills necessary in a crisis situation.”
The Washington Post database of police shootings estimates that at least 25 percent of shootings involve a person with a mental health disability. A 2016 Ruderman Foundation report estimated that between one-third and half of 2015 shootings involving a law enforcement officer included a person with a disability.
