In a first-of-its-kind event, Rutgers police officers met with matriculating Autistic students at Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services (RCAAS) to bridge the communications gap between the two groups and create an atmosphere of trust and understanding.

Interactions between police and the neuro-divergent community can rapidly deteriorate if an officer does not recognize certain behavioral traits of autistic or other neuro-diverse individuals. Compounding this is when under stress, and autistic individual’s behavioral challenges can heighten and trigger a meltdown. The meltdown, in turn, can cause the autistic individual to become non-verbal and even devolve into an emotional breakdown such as sobbing.

The January 27 event was intended to kickoff an ongoing partnership to ensure that RUPD has the best training, and that the training can then be replicated throughout the state law enforcement agencies.

The RCAAS, located on the Douglass Campus, opened in late 2022. Christopher Manente, PhD, BCBA, and Director and founding member, is hoping the training creates an ongoing partnership between RUPD and its Neuro-diverse community, and becomes a model program for the state and the nation. “Currently most training is limited to didactic classroom training,” said Manente. “In this case, police are meeting and interacting with autistic adults.”

The featured speaker for the event was Captain Gerald Turning of Blue Bridge Autism Training. Turning, the father of an autistic son, provides autism training for first responders. He tackles issues such as improving communications and establishing communications with an autistic person, insights and strategies to help find an autistic individual who has gone missing, and improving communications among special needs families and their communities.

Turning, who spent 25 years in law enforcement in Tinton Falls, as a highly respected K-9 officer, said his whole life changed in 2007 when a doctor diagnosed his son with autism. What started with writing a blog discussing his feelings and fears of being a special needs parent, resonated with other special needs parents and soon he had thousands of followers. “Once I identified myself as a cop, I began to receive hundreds of messages from desperate families concerned that their loved ones with special needs might be mistreated or misunderstood by first responders.” Turning explained that it was then he realized his life’s mission: to bridge the gap between the two communities in which he was so intimately connected.

Attendees at the ground-breaking seminar included many matriculating autistic students and about 20 RUPD officers including individuals from Public Safety’s Central Communications who might very well field a 9-1-1 call from an autistic individual.

Turning spent time addressing both groups and the challenges facing each. “We are straddling two communities. We can do some good here today,” he said. Turning explained to the students that in an emergency the first thing an officer has to do is establish control. “If you are in a motor vehicle accident, for example, the officer may seem kind of rough, but he has to establish control of the situation and get people to safety quickly. The officer might say ‘Stand over there’ because he does not have enough time to say, ‘A truck is barreling down the road and you need to get out of the way before you get hurt’. Do you see the problem,” Turning asked the group of very receptive students. Turning acknowledged that autistic individuals often get nervous and excitable when something out of the norm, such as a traffic stop occurs, but suggested to the students that they can do things to diminish some of these challenges. Since, for instance, police ask for three things in a traffic stop—license, registration, and insurance card, Turning suggested that the students have these items right next to them and ready to show at any time to minimize the anxiety if faced with a motor vehicle stop.

Students openly participated in the discussion. For many of them there was a concern about the inability to make eye contact, a trait among autistic individuals. “This is very common and a concern for both parties,” Turning said. “For officers it raises suspicion. It would help if you tell the officer immediately that you are autistic.” “What if we can’t find the words,” asked a student. “I get this,” replied Turning. “My son is completely non-verbal. You should consider carrying an ID card to show the officer.” Turning added that these suggestions are for everyone’s safety. “Policing is dangerous. There are dangerous people out there, and sometimes autistic behavior mimics things bad guys might do.”

In addition to the lack of eye contact, Turning spent some time talking about stimming. Stimming is the repetition of physical movements such as pacing, rocking back and forth, staring at rotating objects, twirling one’s hair, and flapping one’s hands. 

While most people stim to some degree, autistic individuals do so even more intensely, as it is critical for their sensory input. Turning relayed a case presently making its way through the courts in which a highly trained narcotics officer mistook an autistic individual for someone under the influence of drugs. The stimming behavior was unfamiliar to the officer and the encounter ended badly with a resultant lawsuit. “I cannot even show the video. It’s too emotional for me. I love my brothers in blue, and I worry constantly about something like this happening to my own son.”

Turning also relayed the challenges for caregivers. When an autistic individual goes missing, the parent may appear seemingly unfit to an officer. “My son went missing five times, and I can honestly say that I may have appeared unfit to parent each time,” Turning said describing the sheer panic parents feel when this happens. Proper officer training is again essential.

“It’s extraordinary to have these two groups come together to learn about each other,” said Turning. “This is different than my usual training. It is breaking new ground.”

“We’ve done some Neuro-diverse training but no real interactions,” said Kenneth Cop, Executive Director and Chief of Police, University Public Safety. “My own officers have children with autism. As a baseline measure, our officers should get training with the people.” With about one in five Autistic teens stopped and questioned by police before the age of 21, Cop said that better understanding can support better outcomes. “This is a start; establishing a rapport and developing trust.”

Cop also mentioned stimming as a behavior that officers need to recognize. “We are looking to develop more interactive training and get feedback directly from the neuro-diverse community,” said Cop. He added, “This is brand new, cutting edge training. My folks know why they are here today,” said Cop of his 20 or so officers and civilian employees in the room. “This is a magical place. We want to be a resource for safety, but also for employment.” Many groups within IP&O have hired autistic students with great success, and Cop wants to expand that program in Public Safety.

The students were encouraged to think of the police as a resource that they can call or text in an emergency. Manente added, “The concept of Community Policing has been around a long time. This is just one more aspect of that.”

The total number of neuro-diverse students across diagnostic categories registered with the Rutgers Office of Disability Services (ODS) across Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick campuses is around 6,041, or approximately 9.8% of the student population. The RCAAS currently serves students in New Brunswick and Piscataway. The support programs are designed to make an independent and fulfilling life possible. The center advances research, provides academic, clinical, and social support, and prepares students to enter careers.

Featured in the IP&O Newsletter, February 2023.