West Chester Police are learning about Autism. Every police officer in the department will watch a video called "Autism and Law Enforcement."
It explains how to identify the signs of Autism and the best way to approach someone with the disability. The video gives real life examples of when officers were called to emergencies involving people with Autism.
Officers are learning that people with Autism don't react to situations like most other people. Captain Joel Herzog said he learned they are attracted to shinny objects.
"We're loaded with shinny objects, " said Herzog. They might want to reach out and want to touch an officer. In a normal situation you try to touch an officer on the street and they're not going to let you do that and you're going to take defensive action."
“I think that this shows that the police officers in Mahoning County, and in our area in general, really care about the people that they serve,” he said.
The training session included discussion and videos about communicating with people with autism, possible problems with interrogation and interviews and restraint and arrest options.
“In the training, everyone learned the value of calming body language, giving people extra time to respond and using clear language if at all possible,” Debbaudt said. “It is all based on officer safety but the key is to remember that these calls are going to take longer.”
Debbaudt's website is here. Here is a short video:
