Autism and the Police

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Here in Ontario, police in the city of Ottawa have developed an autism registry to allow them to access quick information about a registered person with autism: http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/Community ... istry.aspx

This is such a great idea...surprised not many other cities have adopted it.

usually the main thought I have when approached by the cops is 'crap I hope they don't use force because it is really not nessisary.' seriously cops= I wish I could not respond that way and I don't once they express they aren't after me...but i feel very anxious when cops approach me. I did have a rather bad experiance involving them though so that might be somewhat why.

I think there will need to be a campaign to teach ASD people who probably won't come across as severely developmentally disabled how to deal with the police. By that, I don't mean teach them to be a 4th amendment crusader that can argue their way out of more trivial matters, I mean teaching them what to say and what not to say to just get to a point where they can get assistance from someone who can advocate for them. A separate campaign would be necessary for the cops to quit trying to trip them up like they are a crackhead that just burglarized a car and treat it as a possible mental health issue once they know that an ASD is a factor. I don't know who would be best to launch either of these kinds of campaigns yet.

Most people in America would have an issue going on a government registry. Some may have criminal records a history of involuntary commitments or guardianship/conservatorship orders, but a lot of people would be reluctant to participate in such a database.

Reach for a card in your pocket when a cop is walking up to you and see how quickly you get laid out, at least here in the states they would tackle or shoot you.

I stagger when I walk so they think I am drunk or stoned so they hassle me. They always want to see my pupils and my eye contact is not the greatest so they have gotten pissed at me plenty of times thinking I am avoiding the pupil check. I also have pulled away instinctfully when people reach for me so they say that it is an act of aggression so when they say something to me I always make sure to same I am autistic and will sue them if they beat me up. I say it pretty loudly so their dashboard camera will pick it up. I tell them my psychologist's phone number is in my wallet feel free to call him to varify I am autistic and have a hard time with eye contact. They leave me alone when they see my psychologists card because they are too lazy to call him.



I own firearms and I have a hunting liscense and I do not need them taken away one day because I on some registry somewhere if it gets merged with a mental patient registry or some other registry.

I just fear the day a cop comes up to me when I am not in the freaking mood...I do not know what to expect at this point, my minds got a mind of its own....but anyways reaching in my pocket is the last thing I would want to do in front of a cop as I don't want to get tackled, shot or tasered.

though last time I was challenged about eye contact I just said 'yeah It's an issue I've had since I was a child.' and the cop backed off pretty quickley and another who was there seemed to be acting overly nice towards me I like that cop its fair to say he saved me a lot of trouble by sort of taking over and then eventually letting me go...the female cop was being a real jerk.

A former co-worker's wife was sitting on their stone fence infront of their house with their friends on the fourth of July when the cops came to arrest a drunk and disorderly woman from the house next door. The cops ended up fighting the woman when they took her to the squad car my co-worker's wife asked what happened so the cop pushed her backwards into some rose bushes then hopped the fence to arrest her taking her away to because the fat drunk woman whooped his ass and he was upset. It was all caught on two police car's cameras. She got $125,000.00 from the police force and is still in litigation with the cop. She has perminent scars on her back and the left side of her face her lawyers should of gotten more.

I have an autism alert card from the National Autistic Society. I also have a Medic-alert necklace that states "autism, psychosis and bleeding disorder" and gives my best friend's number and my dad's number should I go non-verbal. The sergeant that I am now in contact with thinks that's a very good idea. He put it on the Police National Computer (their storage for information about individuals the police have dealt with) that I have autism and explained how officers should treat me if I get sectioned again.

just found this news article today, and remembered this thread.... thought I'd post a link for a police officer who is the father of an autistic son, who realizes there is a gap in officer training and is trying to do something about that... http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/ind ... w_cop.html