In the wake of the shooting of Charles Kinsey, a therapist who was trying to find Arnaldo Rios, an autistic man who had wandered from his group home, the Miami Police Department is choosing to hold yet another training session to teach police how to deal with people who have Autism. At no point is the real solution to shootings like this mentioned
Training would not have stopped Charles Kinsey shooting
I'm going to show you the video of the Charles Kinsey. It could be triggering for some people.
As we can see, Charles Kinsey was doing everything police defenders constantly say that African-Americans should do in police encounters.
His hands were up. He was complying with the officer. He was also explaining the situation with Rios. Rather than being helpful in any way, or trying to engage in basic situational awareness, the officer chose to shoot Kinsey, who had been trying to tell him that Rios couldn't understand what was going on.
The officer remains on the police force after some paid vacation time. He is being sued by Kinsey and Rios' family. Miami says their officers just need more training in how to deal with disabled people. However, no amount of training would have stopped this shooting, There was no threat by presented by anyone other than the officer. The officer did not do basic police work. Had he assessed the situation and used his brain like a good officer, no shots would have been fired.
Accountability would prevent shootings like Charles Kinsey
The big problem is not a lack of training, but a lack of accountability. What motivation is there for police not to shoot at people like Charles Kinsey when the absolute worst that will happen is a paid vacation and any lawsuits against the officers being covered by taxpayers rather than the officers?
What motivation do officers have to pay attention to this training when internal affairs will just sweep it under the rug? There is none. It doesn't help that our culture sanctifies police and treats any suggestion that an officer did something wrong as an attack, They'll try to put the blame on the disabled person. They'll try to say that Rios' family should put him in an institution rather than helping him live in his community.
The victim-blamers ignore the fact that the institution Rios was subsequently placed in has a documented history of abuse. They also ignore that abuse is common in mental institutions. But the victim-blaming further detracts from officer motivation to do better.
This lack of motivation creates another problem: Disabled people and their families are afraid to call the police. You have families who are afraid to inform police if their family member wanders off or threatens suicide. Disability rights activists are advising people to not call the police in the event of a crisis like the one Charles Kinsey was trying to address because police have been escalating situations.
This is a problem that can only be solved by holding cops accountable, Training is not enough.
