Hope Resources Helps KPD Hone Special-Needs People Skills

An organization in Kodiak will be working with the city police department to educate current and future officers in identifying and interacting with people with developmental disabilities. Hope Community Resources will help the KPD with the Kodiak “CARE” program, which stands for Children and Resident Encounter.

In it, according to Hope’s Corrie Davis, police officers will be provided photos and dossiers of special needs citizens before they encounter the subject when out on a call.

“It’s a way for guardians to give local law enforcement information to about their loved one who may experience a developmental disability, so that law enforcement understands what their triggers are, where they may go in case they run away, who to contact in case of emergency, etc.,” Davis said. “So the training that Hope is going to do is in conjunction with that.”

The KPD’s “Kodiak CARE” program emerged from the aftermath of an incident nearly a year ago when three Kodiak police officers tackled a severely autistic man to the ground and pepper-sprayed him in the face at point-blank range. In body-cam video from the officers, it appears Nick Pletnikoff was taken to the ground because he did not respond to questions quickly enough for the sergeant in charge on the scene. That is the kind of situation this training is designed to avoid in the future.

Davis says a questionnaire was created for guardians or family members to fill out, on a voluntary basis, that will then be given to the KPD to have on file, along with photographs. Davis says Hope is confident privacy concerns have been addressed.

“We helped KPD develop their questionnaire. We actually had a panel of family members and guardians that went through the questionnaire and vetted it out,” Davis said.

“Folks in the community are able to pick up the questionnaire here at our Hope office as well as at KPD. And then it gets turned back into KPD, and KPD does some photography and different things of that nature.”

In the announcement of the collaboration, Hope Community Resources quotes Kodiak Police Chief Ronda Wallace as saying that the information is critical, and when officers have it in advance, it can, “better protect all parties involved.”

That training could be very valuable to the city in the future if it helps avoid legal entanglements for the department. Last August’s violent encounter with Nick Pletnikoff is still costing the city tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The first of two lawsuits stemming from that incident came when the city attempted unsuccessfully to suppress body-cam video of the encounter, and then the Pletnikoff family sued two officers, the department and the city itself, which could lead to much more in damages.

In another move that could save the city money on legal fees in the future, Chief Wallace confirmed this week that Kodiak police officers no longer wear video cameras attached to their uniforms.

As part of the KPD and Hope Community Resources collaboration, Davis says city police, along with state troopers and Coast Guard Military Police have been invited to Hope’s annual family luau at Camp Muller on Scout Road Friday night from 5 to 8 p.m.