"The Chaska Police beat me up and took my Lunch Money" and other tales of Government sanctioned bullying

 Last July Diane Craglow was babysitting a young man with Autism in a small town in Arizona where they decided to take a walk to one of his s favorite parks .Ms. Craglow was not hesitant to leave the young man alone for a few minutes as he was safe in areas that he was familiar with and it taught him to be self-sufficient.
When Ms. Craglow returned she was shocked by the scene in front of her a police officer had tackled him to the ground and was handcuffing him as multiple cars pulled up and more officers piled out to the scene.
As she figured out what happened Ms. Craglow became aware that the policeman were unaware that the adolescent, Connor ,had autism, and had interpreted his rigid, unfamiliar movements as intoxication, and upon being approached Connor’s ability to communicate had basically shut down, So officers labeled him “Uncooperative” and tackled him to the ground subsequently all hell broke loose.
Images from Officer’s body camera show how the encounter turned into a situation that escalated rapidly to the point, Connor had no ability to make sense of what was happening to him. Officer’s exhibited a blatant lack of understanding and charged Connor with resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, the Courts later threw out the case entirely.
This is basically the worst case scenario for an individual with a developmental disability, now imagine Connor rather than being a thin 180 lb white 14 year old was an adult 250 lb Latino whose built like a football player where an officer responds with a taser.
That’s what happened last year in Miami ., when a young autistic man named Arnaldo Rios momentarily wandered and was playing with toy truck on the street, and a passer-by called the police to report an “armed and suicidal” man sitting in the road.
The police arrived and found Rios and his behavioral therapist Charles Kinnsey in the road. Miami PD Officer Aledda shot at Rios and missed him but struck Mr. Kinsey in the leg. Although Kinnsey survived the trauma of the incident resulted in Arnaldo being unable was unable to eat, suffering from night terrors and sits in his room isolated saying to himself over and over, “I hate the police.” In April, state prosecutors charged Officer Aledda with attempted manslaughter and culpable negligence.
Closer to home for many of us is the story of 17 year old Marcus Abrams of St Paul Minnesota. In September 2016, Metro Transit Police observed Abrams and friends “ruff-housing” by the tracks of the green line light rail tracks. Like Me, Abrams has Asperger’s syndrome, which is considered on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. He also has seizures, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other disabilities. Also similar to me he has sensory issues. After Abrams told him that he didn’t have a state issued ID, They grabbed him by the wrists and he tried to back away. Officers grabbed him by his vest and tackled him to the ground, Officers cited in their reports that Abrams was kicking and hitting at them and that once they got off him he was unconscious, It turns out Abrams had had 2 seizures while officers were administering the restraints, He was admitted to the hospital and officers ended up dropping the charges.
Most people are aware that I also have Autism and that I am very high functioning. However as my parents and others who have known me my entire life would tell you. In situations of crisis my ability to communicate is shut down. Several weeks ago when I had a mental health crisis in Chaska . I was managing the situation fine by myself walking and deescalating and I had done nothing wrong. Chaska Officers showed up and concluded I was intoxicated citing me as “uncooperative” because I wouldn’t talk to them, They tackled me to the ground so forcefully that they knocked out one of my teeth There was no breathalyzer no blood test and no factual basis for that conclusion at all, I spent 4 days in jail because Officers reported a “Bruised knee” and a “reddened knee” and that I screamed threats at them, As many Chaska residents have informed me they wouldn’t respond well to be tackled and punched in the face for being pissed off and walking down the block either. The Chaska Police department like others cites that this was just a “normal police stop”. I have spoken with individuals from NAMI, The Autism society, the MN psychological association, Special educators in our school districts, Officers from the Carver County Sherriff’s department, State Legislators, the Disability law center that took one look at the Police report and concluded that there were significant problems and that Chaska escalated the situation themselves which from reading from above one can conclude is not uncommon practice
There are even a variety of studies show that these kinds of interactions between disabled people and law enforcement are very study from the Ruderman Family Foundation conducted last year reported, “Disabled individuals make up a third to half of all people killed by law enforcement officers.”
Parents filed a complaints about the way their kids are treated by law enforcement all the time and more often the not the results come back not only clearing the officers but citing there’s nothing they can do because it’s too hard to teach Officers to recognize the signs of Autism as differ depending on the individual. In part this is true. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s estimate that one in 68 American schoolchildren has been diagnosed with Autism and that although it is a large demographic, it’s very diverse, but this is also wrong in part, It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize common traits of Autism and to treat them with Human decency.
When it comes to law enforcement and Autism there are more effective ways to handle these situations. It’s like that old saying about bumblebees don’t swat at it and it won’t bother you in the way that if your level headed and don’t go bulldozing in and tackling an individual with Autism the situation probably won’t escalate a whole lot farther. Sirens and flashing lights can also be catastrophic sensory overload for people with autism, while a calm voice and a reassuring demeanor can go a long way toward de-escalating a tense confrontation. Autistic in many cases struggle to read social cues so coming out aggressively will more than likely will lead them to the conclusion that they are being threatened.
Police officers also should not expect autistic people to behave in the ways that non-autistic people do. For example, officers should not regard a refusal to look them in the eyes as a sign of guilt, or an inability to speak or focus as a sign of being ” uncooperative” like officers did me. In fact, many autistic people find it easier to interpret spoken instructions if they’re not compelled to simultaneously look the speaker in the eyes.
There’s a variety of programs are underway in several police departments across the country and around the world, but they are still too few and far between. The scarcity of these programs is a sad legacy of the decades when autism was mistakenly believed to be a rare condition, and many autistic people lived out their lives in state-run institutions.
We all know Autism is common, We all know it exhibits itself in every hues and shades of humanity, isn’t it time that we give law enforcement officers the knowledge that they need to avoid some normal aspect of the job into a complete and utter calamity