Christine Jordan Sexton
As the number of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease grows, so does the need to educate law enforcement officers and other front-facing employees on how to best identify people with dementia and the best ways to protect them.
To that end, the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously approved legislation (HB 801) sponsored by Republican Rep. James Buchanan.
The bill requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to develop and implement a new online continued education training component relating to Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia.
FDLE is required to work jointly with the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) on a program that includes instruction techniques for recognizing behavioral symptoms and characteristics of dementia and Alzheimer’s diseases; effective communication with residents with dementia; and ways to avoid the use of physical restraints.
The program must also include instruction techniques to identify signs of abuse, neglect or exploitation. Completion of the training component may count toward the 40 hours of instruction for continued employment or appointment as a law enforcement officer required by law.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 579,900 people in Florida over age 65 have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s causes the brain to shrink. As it progresses, the disease wipes out people’s memories and the loss of brain function can lead to to dehydration, malnutrition, infection and ultimately death.
Buchanan said Monday that as a child, his grandfather, who had been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease, lived for the last 10 years of his life with his family.
“I got to see over time, not only how he physically changed, but how his personality changed. So I think it’s something that’s important, that we make sure that law enforcement and folks that will be interacting with members of the public that are inflicted with Alzheimer’s or some sort of dementia have an idea of how to best work with those folks in our community,” Buchanan said.
Disability Rights of Florida (DRF) supports the proposal, but DRF lobbyist Olivia Babbis suggested that lawmakers consider also requiring law enforcement officers to learn the best ways to recognize people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and the best ways for law enforcement to interact with and protect those people.
Babbis reminded members of the subcommittee that the Legislature last Session passed a bill that establishes uniform requirements for law enforcement agencies that want to operate “Persons with Disabilities Registries.”
“We feel in those areas, especially if we’re going to make the assertion that registries keep people safer — which anecdotally we have some doubts about — we need to make sure that the officers engaging with those individuals have training — (it) should not be voluntary — in the areas that maintain these lists,” Babbis said. “But we are supportive of the bill.”
Rep. Paula Stark has legislation (HB 829) that requires the Criminal Justice and Training System in FDLE to require all recruits and officers to have a training component on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and allow that training component to count toward the 40 hours of education requirements for continued employment. That bill is being heard by the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Tuesday.
Meanwhile, FDLE estimates that the total cost to develop and implement the training component required under HB 801 will cost roughly $11,000.
Democratic Rep. Susan Valdes lamented tearily about her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, when discussing her support of HB 801.
“My mother was a patient of Alzheimer’s. And let me tell you, that disease is horrible. Sometimes they’re so scared, they don’t know where they are. They’re so disoriented. And it could cause some problems for them. So I applaud your efforts in trying to continue training for law enforcement to help in this area. So, from my family, bottom of my heart, thank you very much for bringing forward this bill.”
