Harassment by police; overstimulation

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I live in a dormitory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Apparently, there was a smell outside of my dorm room that they thought had been coming from my room, though I'm also the room next to the stairwell. While I'm not saying that I haven't smoked before, I certainly haven't on campus.


Just now, at some time past midnight, I was awakened by by three police officers and four housing officials knocking on my door. I answered the door and they invaded my room. I sat in my chair, and the three officers formed a semi-circle around me. The main officer began questioning me in a raised voice. My thoughts came to a halt, I tried to explain to them that I couldn't focus if they kept being so loud, but they interrupted me. He then proceeded to make fun of both the way that I sit and the way that I talk, asking me why I looked so nervous.

They kept asking if they could search my room, and I denied as I can't live with people handling my belongings. After nearly an hour of questioning against my will, the head residence assistant told me how much I pissed her off, then they all left.


They sent me through the worst bout of over-stimulation I've been through in years. I was feeling an overwhelming panic, I couldn't keep my breathing regular, and I was fully weeping but they wouldn't stop.

They're now saying that my housing is in jeopardy because I wouldn't let them go through my stuff. Can they do that? Is it legal for them to use my home as leverage against my fourth amendment right to privacy?


The first thing I'm going to do tomorrow morning is call my psychologist and see if he can call the housing office. I'm not sure what to do after that though.

the way i see it they act as guards...they dont even have the rigth to break into your house or invate it let alone looking thought room..so they try to force you...which is illegal too

Thats pretty poor and I feel very sorry for you, you sound very stressed out over that as any person would be.
Do you live in a police state where people can do that?

Find an attorney immediately and find the police supervisor for those three officers (not the Sergeant, the Lieutenant or Captain). You also should contact your local ACLU.

The South is pretty much a grouping of police states were you will get harassed by the police if you are under 30.

My stepfather is a policeman, and he said that it's really unfortunate in AL that many of the police here don't even know what autism is much less know how to deal with it. It's sad really, especially how prevalent autism is now days.

I really don't know what I'd do in that situation. I'll ask him what would be best when I talk to him again.

Doesn't your university have an Office of Disabilities or some other disability program? Nearly every university in the US has something like this. I would contact them

I don't think that they had any right to do what they had done.
and if your housing is threatened you could probably threaten to sue the police and the campus unless you get an apology

I just got done talking to the higher ups in the housing office, and I think it's taken care of to my satisfaction.

While it would probably be possible to sue, I would rather not make a big deal about it. It was a pretty horrible experience, but I don't think it was anything that I deserve compensation for, and I wouldn't want to hurt the university.

The police report had a few discrepancies (it didn't list the officer who caused the problems), so there is a little internal conflict going on now. If nothing else, I hope that the people involved learned from the experience and will be better at handling such situations in the future.

Your civil rights were just raped. It is common in the Southeast where "redneck" law enforcement prevails. I got pulled over for being white in a predominantly black neighborhood. The deputy said "People like you have no business around here. What are you doing here? Buying drugs?". It was grossly offensive. Luckily for me another officer pulled up who recognized me and said " he's a good boy, let him go". Which leads me to believe he would have kept me there for a while and searched my car etc. (with no cause). Needless to say I don't do well with stimulation of this sort either.

Obviously they are clueless about us, and our Asperger's and Autism. I've had problems with police harassment, and I finally printed up a laminated card saying "High Functioning Autism may appear as a guilty or intoxicated demeanor, and may present as with poor or bizarre eye contact and peculiar answers to routine questions". So far, that has put a stop to any furthering of harassment. However, I do fairly often get stopped in public to be asked if I'm on drugs, or "why are you acting so guilty like you did something"? Especially store security guards. I've never stolen so much as a pack of gum in my life from any store or anyone, and I hate that I am treated like I'm a petty thief. Mall and store security guards are more of bullies than real police, so I don't think the printed card would help. But at least they can't arrest or make records.

I don't advocate lawsuits, but if your housing authority at the campus won't listen to the explanation, and respect and work with the Autistic and Asperger's student body, they might need to be told by a lawyer that they're treading on thin ice.

Charles

A lot of people are saying that your rights were violated, and that you should sue.

I'm not seeing it.

Cops were called to investigate a crime (whether smoking pot should be a crime is not at issue here - it is a crime.) Rightly or wrongly, you were pointed out to them as the likely suspect. Of course they are going want to ask questions - and it is their job to look at you and your behaviors suspiciously. You say that they "invaded" your room, but I'll pretty much bet that they asked if they could come in. They may have given the impression that you had to say yes, but if you said no . . . the conversation would simply have continued in the hallway. If you hadn't answered the door at all, they would (eventually) have left. You also say that they asked, repeatedly, for permission to search your room, but that they did not do so. So . . . they didn't enter or search without a warrant.

Of course the residence assistant was pissed - she was convinced you had been smoking pot, and that you were getting away with it.

The bottom line is, you were the suspect in a criminal matter. It sounds like you were treated the same way anyone else would be treated, under the same circumstances. Should you have been treated differently because of your position on the spectrum? Maybe. But, here's a question that factors into it - did any of them know that you are on the spectrum? You did not say if that is public knowledge or not. If it is, then it should have been taken into consideration. If it isn't, then why would you expect them to ignore behavior which sounds very much like what they would expect from a scared, toasted stoner?

I am, however, glad that things are working out in your favor.