Nationwide there have been many incidents where law enforcement and other first responders have experienced interactions with people that have autism or other developmental issues but were mistakenly thought to be under the influence of drugs. It can be challenging to decipher between someone on drugs and someone with a developmental disability who is in crisis.
Here in Arizona, the Department of Economic Security (DES) in cooperation with the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) is addressing this issue by reaching out to law enforcement and first responders all over the state to provide training in this area.
On Jan. 23, Rosalva Zimmerman, program manager for community engagement at the Director’s Office at DES, along with several colleagues paid a visit to the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department. “This training will be implemented statewide, but as a former resident of the White Mountains, I am a huge advocate for rural Arizona and would like to see the mountain communities that I love get the first opportunity to take advantage of it,” said Zimmerman.
During the visit, Police Chief Larry Scarber and staff were given a brief overview of the training program that will be released to help law enforcement better indentify persons living with developmental disabilities. This training will include information on disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, as well as intellectual and cognitive disabilities.
The training program not only provides information on how to recognize certain disabilities but tips on successfully interacting with individuals that have those disabilities. This training is provided free of charge to law enforcement agencies. The hope is that this will reduce incidents where police have altercations with individuals and use force unnecessarily.
