Police Training in California

 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.

Corinne Purtill at LAT:

[Kate] Movius, founder of the consultancy Autism Interaction Solutions, is one of a growing number of people around the U.S. working to teach law enforcement agencies to recognize autistic behaviors and ensure that encounters between neurodevelopmentally disabled people and law enforcement end safely.

She and City of Industry Mayor Cory Moss later passed out bags filled with tools donated by the city to aid interactions: a pair of noise-damping headphones to decrease auditory input, a whiteboard, a set of communication cards with words and images to point to, fidget toys to calm and distract.

...

As early as 2001, the FBI published a bulletin on police officers’ need to adjust their approach when interacting with autistic people.

“Officers should not interpret an autistic individual’s failure to respond to orders or questions as a lack of cooperation or as a reason for increased force,” the bulletin stated. “They also need to recognize that individuals with autism often confess to crimes that they did not commit or may respond to the last choice in a sequence presented in a question.”

But a review of multiple studies last year by Chapman University researchers found that while up to 60% of officers have been on a call involving an autistic person, only 5% to 40% had received any training on autism.

In response, universities, nonprofits and private consultants across the U.S. have developed curricula for law enforcement on how to recognize autistic behaviors and adapt accordingly.

The primary goal, Movius told deputies at November’s training session, is to slow interactions down to the greatest extent possible. Many autistic people require additional time to process auditory input and verbal responses, particularly in unfamiliar circumstances.

Los Angeles Sheriff Training About Autism

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, and respond with tasers, batons, chokeholds, or worse.

Posts have discussed incidents in the following places:

• Orlando
• Richmond, VA
• Jackson County, KS
• Glynn County, GA
• Douglas County, CO
• Graymoor-Devondale, KY
• Vacaville, CA
• Metrairie, LA
• Salt Lake City
• Statesville, NC
• Buckeye, AZ

This list is not exhaustive.  Indeed, it does not even scratch the surface.

Police training could be helpful, but we also need programs to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the training.

Jessica DeNova at KABC-TV:

Some members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department participated in an immersive experience to prepare themselves to better handle people with autism and developmental disabilities when on a call for service.

The training was put together by the city of Industry, along with Kate Movius of Autism Interaction Solutions. Movius has first-hand experience because her own son is on the spectrum.

"If there's one thing you take away from the training today it is that you take your time, if it's tactically permissible, and safe for you, to slow way down," said Movius.

Kits that included items such as noise-canceling ear muffs and white boards were given to participants to help them better communicate with someone with autism.

People living with autism also spoke and gave testimonials on their interactions with law enforcement.

LAUSD Agrees to Address Special Ed Failure

 In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing autistic people and their families. Those challenges get far more intense during disasters.  And coronavirus is proving to be the biggest disaster of all. 

Paloma Esquivel and Melissa Gomez at LAT:

Los Angeles Unified failed to provide appropriate education to students with disabilities during the pandemic as required under federal law and must provide extra services to help some of the most vulnerable students recover from the significant voids in their learning, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday.

The investigation, conducted by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, confirms what many parents have alleged since schools were first closed — that they basically had to fend for themselves during distance learning as their children were left with little if any education and specialized assistance. The district has entered into a voluntary agreement with the federal department to fix its failings.

...

The investigation found that the district failed to provide services identified in students’ legally required education plans, failed to accurately or sufficiently track services, and informed staff that the district was not responsible for providing so-called “compensatory services” aimed at helping students make up for what they lost, because the district was not at fault for the campus closures.

The agreement calls for the district to offer make-up services “to remedy any educational or other deficits that result from a student with a disability not receiving the evaluations or services to which they were entitled.”

...

Attorney Valerie Vanaman, who has been critical of the district’s treatment of students with disabilities throughout the pandemic, said she was happy about the agreement but continues having concerns about the district’s ability to follow through.

“This is a nice outcome to see. It gets us partway there, " she said. “Where the rubber hits the road is ‘how will they actually implement it?’”

Training ASD People for Police Encounters

Previous posts have described training for police in dealing with autistic people. At The Los Angeles Times, Sandy Banks describes training in the other direction:

Emily Iland spent decades advocating for her 30-year-old son, who has autism, his own apartment, a college degree and an accounting career.

Now, as part of the Autism Society of Los Angeles, Iland is trying to make sure young people like him, pushing for independence, don't wind up as law enforcement statistics.

Since 2007, Iland has been trying to teach Los Angeles Police Department officers how to recognize and interact with people who have autism spectrum disorders. Now she's trying to teach people with autism what to do if they are stopped by police:

Don't run or reach into your pocket. Stay calm. Show them your hands. If you're handcuffed or put into a patrol car, be quiet, be patient, be still. If you're arrested, tell the officers you have a disability and ask to talk to a lawyer.

Those are the basics of Iland's "Be Safe" campaign, which includes a DVD starring young people with autism role-playing police encounters, and a guidebook for parents, teachers and counselors.

LAPD Shooting

AP reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California is urging the Los Angeles Police Department to examine its policies following the fatal weekend shooting of an unarmed man who family members say was autistic.

In a statement released Monday, ACLU of Southern California Executive Director Ramona Ripston said the organization is "deeply troubled" by the shooting.

Police say 27-year-old Steven Eugene Washington was shot by two officers near Koreatown shortly after midnight Saturday after he approached them and appeared to remove something from his waistband.

Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said the officers fired "in defense of their lives."

In addition to a thorough investigation, Ripston asks that the LAPD "look at changes in department policy and training that could help prevent such a tragedy from recurring."

KPCC-FM follows up:

LAPD officials say they began working with the Autism Society of America three years ago, and started a one-hour course for officers in 2008.

That periodic training focuses on helping officers understand how to deal with an autistic person in the field.

Officials said about 2,500 members of the department had completed the training. They could not say whether the two officers who shot and killed an autistic man in Koreatown on Saturday had received the training.