The Ruderman Family report reviews the media coverage of eight cases over the 2013-2016 time period and states that the following patterns are revealed:

Disability goes unmentioned or is listed as an attribute without context. An impairment is used to evoke pity or sympathy for the victim. A medical condition or “mental illness” is used to blame victims for their deaths. In rare instances, we have identified thoughtful examinations of disability from within its social context that reveal the intersecting forces that lead to dangerous use-of-force incidents. Such stories point the way to better models for policing in the future.

The report concludes with “best practices for reporting on disability and police violence.”

Disability is a commonality in cases of police violence Use appropriate language Don’t blame the victim Crisis intervention training (CIT) will not address the causes of police violence Use of the word disability

Media complicity has long been an accusation leveled by activists against police terrorism. Offering best practices as a corrective is a much-needed intervention into both institutions. Media needs to be weaned from its reliance on and fealty to “official” sources, and police practices need more scrutiny and to be changed, when and wherever possible.

As an example: the Ruderman report best practice number four listed above: “Crisis intervention training (CIT) will not address the causes of police violence.” The report states:

“ … it has become almost routine for journalists to conclude articles about psychiatric disability with largely unsubstantiated claims about the efficacy and necessity of CIT–even in situations where the victims were killed by CIT trained officers–without assessing whether or not such training has been successful or demonstrated desired results.” “… CIT training must not be simply advanced by reporters as the fix, but rather an important component to addressing systemic problems within law enforcement itself.”

That observation has been echoed elsewhere; not for journalists, but for the police themselves by disability rights advocates. Leroy Moore is a long-time activist based in the San Fancisco Bay area. According to Moore, training has to stop being promoted as the end all-be all panacea for deadly police encounters.

“That’s the thing, [police] only have one answer and the answer goes all the way back to the 80s and that’s more training, more training, that’s all [police] offer. So if I go back to the late 80s with the same answer as today, you gotta wonder what is wrong? Something else is needed. Why is it only one answer? If I flunk a test over and over again, then I need to go do something else.”

Hopefully the practices suggested by Ruderman for media will be welcomed and put into use without delay. Just like local and national efforts at greater police accountability and reform.