Active Self Protection

Not really a use of force thing but the gang was talking about police contacts with those on the autism spectrum. I have a hot button on that topic.

As a 20+ year search and rescue dog handler I've seen several police departments mis-handle missing autistic kids. Some kids on the spectrum like to run and hide from family. It's one issue these folks have. The problem with cops is they have a "you run I chase" mentality. So when they or the SAR folks encounter the missing subject, it's off to the races.

The problem is where you gonna chase 'em? Into traffic? Off a cliff? I told one deputy "I don't do foot pursuits with my SAR dog," so they promptly chased the kid into the 55-degree water of Puget Sound in Washington State after dark in February. We might call it "Puget Sound," but it's basically "da ocean." The kid ended up hypothermic, the deputies who hauled him out were hypothermic, and we're just lucky the kid was only neck deep and didn't step off an underwater ledge.

If an autistic kid is healthy enough to run from you, they're healthy. Their heart is beating, their lungs work and their legs aren't broken. They're not only fine, but given their mental condition, they're actually behaving normally. Don't create an emergency by chasing them anywhere. Try to keep eyes on them without crowding them. Then bring their parents or a trusted caregiver in to calm the child down and regain control.

Normally we try to keep the families of missing people occupied someplace other than the command post. With autistic kids we keep the parents there, with a vehicle or UTV ready to take them to the scene of a sighting.

To the extent that our ASP folks or just forum readers go to CIT training, it's worth bringing this up. Don't chase!

Thanks for listening.

Hey Robert, thanks for sharing that! There are so many things running through the minds of these kids (or adults) that it really does take some engaged training to understand what may be going on. We had an instance a few years back where our son bolted from school, the school staff turned it over to the resource officer and fortunately for us he declined stating that Cody already thinks he's in trouble and me trying to 'catch' him will cause more danger. So he got in his car and stayed about 3 blocks away as the teachers just walked about a block behind him. Also fortunately for us I was less than 5 minutes away when they called so I could drive over and help. When I arrived we still had some tense moments but everyone went home in once piece. I have great respect for that officer and the decisions he made that day and we still see him from time to time around town and he is a great example of how to do it right.