Innovation in The 'Burg: Autism Spectrum Training for Florida Police Officers

Key Insights

• Today's expert: Dr. Lauren Gardner, Administrative Director of the Autism Program and Psychology Internship Training Director at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
• Today's community member: Officer Carla Ramos, St. Petersburg Police Department.
• The Autism Training Program is a single day training for law enforcement officers in the state of Florida. The program gives officers better knowledge and awareness of the signs and symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and how to de-escalate situations that could occur when dealing with individuals on the Autism Spectrum.
• The training provides a safe environment for officers to learn through training and simulation using trained actors, some of whom are on the autism spectrum.
• Officers from St. Pete Police Department use the autism training in their everyday work. In fact, dispatch is trained to ask questions about autism prior to the arrival of the officer, so they can be prepared for what to expect during the call.
• Why start the program? Johns Hopkins All Children's saw a need in the community for this training. Without training, law enforcement officers may mistake signs and symptoms of autism as suspicious behavior.
• Behaviors like not responding to questioning, running away and avoiding eye contact are common for individuals with autism. Other restrictive and repetitive behaviors common to individuals with autism, like hand flapping or inspection of objects from unusual angles are sometimes mistaken for symptoms of drug use.
• Gardner hopes that with this training, officers can avoid unnecessary arrests or Baker Acts of individuals with autism.
• One example of the need for training: In 2016, a young man in Miami was with a behavioral aide and "stimming" with a toy truck when officers arrived. Officers mistook the toy truck for a gun and fired, intending to hit the young man with autism, but actually shooting his behavioral aide in the leg.
• While Ramos has not encountered an individual with autism in her own work with St. Pete PD, she feels far more prepared to deal with the situation, if it were to arise, thanks to this training program.
• Over the next few years, the goal is to expand the program to other first responders and school safety officers.
• This year alone, the program has trained over 330 officers from 22 different departments, so attendees may not be training with someone they know, but they will be with colleagues.
• Simulations can be from 10-20 minutes, depending on the skill of everyone involved. The debriefing takes the most time, to talk through what went well and what could go better next time.