11/21/2025
Autistic people are at risk of increased negative interaction with police due to difficulty following directions, expressive and receptive language delays, difficulty reading social cues, self stimulatory behaviors, and gross motor difficulties. Ideally, police officers would be trained in managing people with developmental delays. Many areas are doing that (DC has a program called Community Intervention Officers). However, this isn't universal. Additionally, right now, different law enforcement like the FBI, DEA, ICE, and US Marshalls are being brought into cities. Since these departments are typically working different areas like cyber crimes or high level drug crimes, they aren't readily trained in working with youth who may have disabilities or mental health needs. They are also from outside communities so they are less in tune with local culture and community policing models. This makes interaction more difficult and more dangerous for the clients we work with. However, we can teach our clients how to more safely interact with law enforcement.
Autistic people are at risk of increased negative interaction with police due to difficulty following directions, expressive and receptive language delays, difficulty reading social cues, self stimulatory behaviors, and gross motor difficulties. Ideally, police officers would be trained in managing....
