Report on the Need for Police Training

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss interactions between police and autistic people.  When cops encounter autistic people, they may not respond in the same way as NT people, and things can get out of hand. Among other things, they may misinterpret autistic behavior as aggressive or defiant. Training could help.

At the PBS NewsHour, Judy Woodruff reports on why police still lack training to effectively respond to people with disabilities.  The report starts with the story of Eric Parsa, an autistic youth died in 2020 at the hands of sheriff’s deputies in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

 

Full transcript here.

California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training has a publication titled A FIRST RESPONDER’S GUIDEvFOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESSvOR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY