No, because the Police are not the same as the public accomodation - the business, not the police are limited by the ADA. From the ADA website: " The police are not gating if the person can recieve accommodations or not - the police are combating fraud. It's the same subject area - but different purposes and interjections.
I know you know better. Contrary to popular misconception, the police are NOT exempt from the ADA. From the ADA website: "Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in State and local governments services, programs, and employment. Law enforcement agencies are covered because they are programs of State or local governments, regardless of whether they receive Federal grants or other Federal funds." If they don't provide an accomodation to someone with a disability they also can be held liable for damages. They cannot make any further inquiries into the status of a service animal any more than a business or employer can. It also is not a violation of Federal law to fraudulantly claim an non-service animal is a service animal. And while a few states do have laws which make such fraud a misdemeanor, it is incumbent on the state to prove it. A difficult task considering the restrictions of the ADA and medical privacy laws. This law will act more as a deterrent on its face, since enforcement will be, as I said, difficult.
Now ultimately some high court may say having the police potentially investigate someone like this may impede on rights the ADA was trying to establish.. and through judgement determine the state law to be in conflict... but it's not violating the law as it is now. But a judge could effectively 'extend' the law through their interpretation.
The ADA is a civil law, the police have no enforcement power. Some states have enacted legislation to empower the police for ADA enforcement, but those laws cannot supercede the Federal law. So while states can make it a crime to fraudulantly claim a disability or service animal, they cannot spercede the Federal law in how it can be proved.
More often than not... I'd wager most police departments don't want to get drawn into this kind of PR nightmare. Just the threat maybe enough to discourage some abuse.. but some disability lawyer group could go after the law.
Well, the law will be hard to enforce. There is no type of registry or universal certification of service animals, so the police would be hard-pressed to get proof, which they cannot demand anyway since it violates Federal law.
Is it really that much different than enforcing towing on Handicap parking spaces??
Actually it is. As I said above, there is no universal system to identify service animals, and it is against the law to ask for proof. A car that is parked in a handicap space is required to have a placard. If a car is seen in a handicap parking space without the placard, it can be towed. There is nothing in the law that prevents that.
As a side note, Six Flags will be requiring a doctor's note next season for anyone requesting an accessibility pass. As I have stated in the past in discussions about Disney's accessibility program, they are absolutely legally allowed to do that. The issue I foresee in Six Flags' future is that the ADA applies to any person with a disability regardless of proof, so if Six Flags denies the accomodation for someone without a doctor's note they can be liable for damages.
