Conference on Offenders with Mental Retardation and the Criminal Justice System, Opening Remarks

• NCJ Number: 121074
• Author(s): J K Stewart
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 3 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Presentation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Opening remarks were made before the President's Committee on Mental Retardation on September 15, 1989, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Annotation

The major obstacle in more appropriate handling of mentally retarded offenders is the lack of knowledge and training of law enforcement and criminal justice professionals.

Abstract

Law enforcement officers and other members of the criminal justice system must be trained to recognize borderline mentally retarded individuals, and to distinguish their masking and possibly belligerent behavior from mental illness and ordinary uncooperativeness. How well the police respond to and understand the dimensions of mental retardation will determine the quality of the police and the community's response to mentally retarded suspects and offenders. It is important that principals in the mental health and criminal justice professions meet to dispel myths, illuminate data, confront the unknown, and take on the hard choices that exist in mental retardation policy with respect to criminal justice policy.