One of the hardest encounters with law enforcement is with disabled individuals, especially disabilities not easily noticeable at first sight, like deafness or autism. Because of these disabilities, encounters with those individuals and law enforcement are at risk of ending unpleasantly. One example is a case between officers in the UK and Shaun Phuprate, who was arrested because the officers misinterpreted his signing as rude gestures. I call for the Obama administration to make a policy for the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a form of validation on the state ID/driver's licenses of all citizens with disabilities so it can further assist police officers when encountering these individuals and provide official validation of their disability for a safer and secure encounter.
This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
