PART I.  SETTING THE BOUNDARIES FOR THE USE OF FORCE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT mechanism to community-based resources, preferably of the choice of the person concerned, who can provide support and advice both to law enforcement and to the person concerned. Persons with psychosocial disabilities should have access to justice to challenge abusive and arbitrary use of force by law enforcement officials. The latter should bear the burden of proof that the use of force was of last resort, and that they exhausted all other support efforts, such as calling the person’s preferred peer support, which could include friends, family or health professionals. In such cases, the law enforcement officials should also prove that there was an actual, rather than a perceived threat to others or a life-risking situation for the person concerned.94 SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE NEEDS OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS In the United Kingdom, firearms teams are specifically trained to deal with emotionally or mentally challenged people. The training focuses on giving them space, avoiding direct challenge and prioritizing establishing verbal contact whilst protecting others. In Jamaica, the Independent Commission of Investigations, INDECOM, recommended that the police establish medical response teams consisting of police officers with specialized training in dealing with the mentally ill and with psychiatric aides, who should be on-call on a 24-hour basis.a a See INDECOM Jamaica, Safeguarding the Right to Life: Issues from Investigations of Jamaica’s Security Forces in 2012, 2013, p. 32. Measures to prevent the abuse of force against groups at risk A human rights-based approach to law enforcement means that law enforcement agencies prepare and implement a strategy on how to ensure that the human rights and freedoms of those most at risk of abuse are respected and protected. COLOMBIA: ”VULNERABLE POPULATION’S PROTECTION STRATEGY” The Colombian police are implementing a strategy on respecting and protecting groups at risk.a They identified six priority groups as facing disproportionate vulnerability due to factors including poverty and violence. The groups include human rights defenders and trade unionists, indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians, victims of displacement, women and the LGBT population. These groups were then geographically mapped in order to identify the location of highest violence. Subsequently, the police defined seven modes of institutional interventions, which include specialized training, dialogue, specialized police services, investigations of crimes against members of these populations, capacity‑ building, inter-institutional coordination and police integrity. a National Police of Colombia, Book 5: 16 Operational Strategies of the National Police, Plan Green Heart, 2012, pp 152-160; National Police of Colombia, Permanent Operational Directive 003,11 July 2013. 94  See also Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), An Integrated Approach to De-Escalation and Minimizing Use of Force, 2012: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/an%20integrated%20approach%20 to%20de-escalation%20and%20minimizing%20use%20of%20force%202012.pdf 35