COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia Police Department had a National Alliance on Mental Illness Training session and part of this training included a collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (SCDDSN).
During the training officers were given several tools on how to successfully interact with someone who has autism.
According to Stephanie Turner, the director of the Autism Division at SCDDSN, there is a study that shows a significant amount of people with autism have interactions with law enforcement at a young age.
"There is one study that by their twenty first birthday, individuals diagnosed with autism, about one in five or twenty percent have interacted with law enforcement," Turner said. "about five percent of those encounters have resulted in them being detained by law enforcement."
At the end of the training, officers who were in attendance received a puzzle piece pin to put on their uniform as an indicator for citizens to know that the officer underwent autism crisis intervention training.
Turner believes this pin will help to put many at ease in situations that law enforcement is called to deal with.
"One of the identifiers that we gave our police officers in this training is a puzzle piece pin that they can put on their lapel or somewhere on their uniform," Turner said. "That helps people understand that they have been through this crisis intervention training. People will know when they see this autism pin that this law enforcement officer has been trained on what to do in a crisis situation. So that loved one can breathe a sigh of relieve when they respond to the scene that they know what autism is and how to handle it."
Shawn Keith is the executive Director of Autism Society in South Carolina and he recently hosted a similar event for Lexington Police Department due to a grant they received from the Autism Society of America.
"I believe that all law enforcement agencies and even all first responders should have some type of first responder training," Keith said. "It relates not only to people with autism but people with disabilities in general."
William Miller is a corporal for the training division at Columbia Police Department and he says that this training is a necessity for officers.
"We don't always know what we're going to," Miller said. "We always have to keep in the back of our minds that this could be something that falls along those guidelines. We have to be prepared for it. We can't just necessarily jump into a situation and treat it as everything else. If we ask the right questions if we are as understanding as we can be, try to reach in as far as we can, we'll find out a lot more."
Turner and her team are headed to Spartanburg next to continue educated law enforcement on their Autism Crisis Intervention Tour.