What if?

A dear friend of mine shared a Facebook post that contained the following statement, “I AM 100% AGAINST DEFUNDING THE POLICE. I ACTUALLY THINK THAT THEY DESERVE MORE PAY! I BET YOU DON’T HAVE THE GUTS TO SHARE.”

Let me just say that personally, I never share these type of general statements on Facebook. But now and again I will comment on them. My feeling is that they are just that, too general, and in my opinion can cause more harm than good. Rather than starting a healthy conversation, oftentimes comments on these posts can become mean and argumentative.

I can tell by her Facebook posts that we don’t always see eye to eye. But we have a great love and respect for each other and can appreciate each other’s differences.

I chose to respond. Here is what I said: I don’t want to defund the police. I’m open to learning more about using some of those funds to have the department hire individuals with mental health backgrounds to assist the police on calls involving a mental health crisis. I’m concerned about my son on the autism spectrum and with a mental illness getting hurt during a meltdown because he is misunderstood.

To which she replied, “Glenda, I agree with you 100%”. Which is exactly how I knew she would reply. I know her heart. Which didn’t reconcile with the shared post.

No matter how you feel about defunding the police, stay with me.

Several years ago I came upon the book, “Autism, Advocates, and Law Enforcement Professionals”, by Dennis Debbaudt. In his book the author suggested that parents, caregivers and other advocates educate their local police departments about autism and the person that they care for. I did just that. We lived in a small town and our family was pretty plugged-in to the community. I owned a business in town and served on several local boards.

I was familiar with our local law enforcement and felt comfortable sharing our story with them.

Which came in handy. When Travis was around nine he eloped. He ended up at a stranger’s house and knocked on their door. He told the woman who answered that he didn’t have a family and that he was hungry. Of course she dialed 911. An officer was dispatched. He recognized Travis, knew our story and drove him home.

We had recently watched the movie, “Angels in the Outfield”, about two boys that lived in foster care. That is the only thing we could think of at the time as to why Travis would do such a thing.

This example is just the beginning of our encounters with the local police department. Even our local school district involved the police department regarding Travis.

The scary part for me is now Travis lives in a much larger city, just outside of city limits. The local sheriff’s department are aware of him and his diagnoses. They have been called on multiple occasions for various incidents. His live-in aide at the time called when he was having a meltdown and she was afraid for his safety. A friend contacted the department when Travis indicated to him that he was thinking about suicide. A neighbor called the department after bullying Travis, just in time for them to arrive and see his resulting anger. A so called friend tricked Travis, saying he was going to take his car to fill his tank in return for a favor Travis did, only he never brought the car back. We had to report it as stolen.

Honestly, this is just a few examples of the encounters we have had with law enforcement. None of them had anything to do with Travis breaking any law.

My belief is that because these officers know Travis and are aware that he has autism and mental health issues, they have been able to handle these calls professionally. It’s possible that they have had some training specifically on handling situations with individuals with special needs or possible mental health diagnoses.

In his book, Debbaudt gives examples of situations gone wrong with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and law enforcement. He states, “The officers did not know that a person with autism might, when confronted, display suspicious or inappropriate behaviors. They did not know that persons with autism may be unresponsive, that they often run from police or others they perceive as strangers. Autism awareness had not been a part of their training.”

He goes on to say, “The combination of different levels of functioning, varied patterns, and unusual response of people with autism, presents a serious challenge to law enforcers, who we know are encountering individuals with autism every day. Persons with autism often have no choice in how they respond - the way they respond is part of their very nature.

Persons with autism have not developed the social awareness that is required in the community, and their actions, though not mean or malicious, can appear that way to others. Their behaviors may escalate quickly into tantrum-like behaviors, and they may not understand the consequences of their actions.”

We deal with Travis’s lack of social awareness regularly. The mobile home park that he lives in has a pool. Travis was interacting at the pool with some of the younger boys, around the age of 11-12. Keep in mind that he is in his twenties and has a full beard. Their parent called the sheriff’s department to report that Travis is a pedophile. This happened a few years ago and it broke his heart.

I reminded Travis of the Berenstain Bears book that we read when he was a child. I told him with this world that we live in parents are hyper-vigilant in caring for their kids because you cannot tell the good apples from the bad apples just by looking at them.

Travis replied that is why he doesn’t want to live in this world. He has only visited the pool a time or two since, and only with a friend.

When Travis plays Xbox, groups of players join in playing a game together. I don’t think anyone does an interview asking how old each player is when they join a game. Travis became friends online with a player that is fourteen. Keep in mind that fourteen is about Travis’s current maturity level. This kid’s mother sent Travis a text calling him a child molester and accused him of looking for kids to traffic. For real.

He wants me to reply to her and explain his story. I wonder if it’s worth the effort. Because I have to wonder what kind of person would even say those things and why. Travis is not that guy.

My point being, he is not socially aware, and it results in misunderstandings, some involving law enforcement.

Debbaudt states, “When responding to a call that involves a person with autism, officers may face a situation that will challenge the training, instincts, and professional conduct of even the most experienced police veteran. A dispatcher may use a code that indicates that the call is a domestic situation involving a person with autism or other like condition. Such a call can cause extreme apprehension for first responding police officer.

Their presence may cause further inappropriate responses by a person with autism. Persons with autism may not know the implications of their behavior - they may not understand the consequences of their actions, especially aggressive actions. They cannot conceptualize meanness or acts of purposeful injury to others. They just want the circumstances to change but do not know how to implement that change.”

I totally agree with this next statement by Debbaudt, “In spite of increasing efforts to make law enforcers aware, it is a reasonable and safe assumption that most law enforcement professionals are not yet trained to recognize and respond to a person with autism.”

Have you heard of Elijah McClain? This situation happened in Aurora, Colorado. In my backyard. In 2019. Dennaudt’s book was written over twenty years ago.

Elijah was walking home from the convenience store at 10:30pm. He was flailing his arms while listening to music. A citizen called the police concerned because he was wearing a ski mask in August and looked “sketchy”. The caller also indicated that he didn’t believe anyone was in danger and that he believed Elijah was unarmed.

According to the police report, Elijah resisted when confronted. Officers slammed him on the ground immediately after apprehending him. They held him on the ground for fifteen minutes. He was clearly in distress, sobbing and saying that he couldn’t breathe. He vomited several times and apologized saying he didn’t mean to but that he couldn’t breathe correctly.

All of this was heard on the audio. All three of the responding officers said that their bodycams fell off during the struggle.

One officer applied a carotid control hold which cuts off blood flow to the brain causing Elijah to become unconscious briefly. One officer threatened to have his police dog bite him.

When paramedics arrived they were told that Elijah was “acting crazy” and “definitely on something”. Elijah was 5’6” and weighed 140 lbs. Paramedics injected him with 500mg of Ketamine. When they transferred him to the ambulance they noticed his chest was not rising and he had no pulse. He was pronounced brain dead three days later.

According to the bodycam audio, these were Elijah’s last words, “I can’t breathe. I have my ID right here. My name is Elijah McClain. That’s my house. I was just going home. I’m an introvert. I’m just saying that I am different. That’s all. I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why are you attacking me? I don’t even kill flies. I don’t eat meat. I don’t judge people, I don’t judge people that eat meat. Forgive me. All I was doing was trying to do was become better. I will do it. I will do anything. Sacrifice my identity, I’ll do it. You all are phenomenal. You are beautiful and I love you. Try to forgive me. I’m a mood Gemini. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Ow, that really hurt. You are all very strong. Teamwork makes the dream work. Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to do that. I just can’t breathe correctly.”

There is a reason I am using Elijah’s first name when I write. He was a real person. With autism. I cried when I heard the story on the news. I cannot imagine what his family must be going through. It hits very close to home.

The only thing Elijah did wrong was look “sketchy”. The only drug they found in his system was Ketamine.

I can imagine Travis walking down a street listening to his headphones, rocking out to the music. Wearing a hoodie even when it’s warm out. Just like he wears his Crocs all year. Even in the snow. It’s his thing. It brings him comfort.

Debbaudt states, “Physical restraint should be used only after all other interventions have been tried and failed. Restraint should never be the first reaction when a person with autism escalates. Never place a person with autism on his or her stomach. This action may lead to further struggle often misinterpreted as attempts to get free, when actually the person is struggling to breathe.”

Per Debbaudt, “Law enforcers have a tough job to do. Even with the best of training, they too may experience anxiety and fear in new situations. There is a fear of the unknown when they come across a variety of people each day. They don’t know their intentions. They don’t know how some people will react to them. Law enforcers have described their daily experience as hours of routine interspersed with minutes of high anxiety whenever they approach people they do not know. Officer injury and deaths resulting from these never ordinary interactions are real reasons for their heightened sense of fear. Without information or training to the contrary, law enforcers will remain suspicious when they encounter a person whose behavior is not easily explained.”

I don’t know the heart of the officers that responded to the call about Elijah. I do know there was three of them and one of him. I know that he was already cuffed and restrained when he was given Ketamine.

Clearly there is still training that needs to happen.

But what if? What if there was a social worker or mental health professional on that call?

I don’t like the slogan, “Defund the Police”.

Per www.goodhousekeeping.com, “It’s a common misconception that defunding the police means completely stripping law enforcement of all of their funding. While some organizations are indeed calling for the abolishment or dismantling of police altogether, defunding the police simply means reducing police department budgets and redistributing those funds towards essential social services that are often underfunded, such as housing, education, employment, mental health care, and youth services.”

And Wikipedia states, “Police officers and police departments provide too many services. The US has an over-reliance on law enforcement, which is expected to handle an unrealistically wide range of social issues such as homelessness, mental health and substance abuse. Some activists have called for an unbundling of services. Under this model, many services that were previously provided by law enforcement would be provided by specialized response teams. These teams would include social workers, emergency medical technicians, conflict resolution specialists and other community-based professionals.

A 2020 paper by researchers at RAND Corporation argues that police are given too many roles in society an asked to solve issues that they are not properly trained for and that would be better suited for professionals in mental health.”

I read the news to try to keep up with what is going on in the world. Maybe too much. If you see me reading on my phone, it is more likely that I am reading news as opposed to checking Facebook. Although I like to do that too. I no longer subscribe to various magazines that I used to enjoy, such as Time Magazine and even People. I don’t want to waste the paper if I can get the articles online.

The stories are out there. Families calling the police because their loved one is having a mental health crisis and even when told the circumstances by dispatch, officers react with too much force. Sometimes killing their loved one.

And I read about these massive multi-million dollar lawsuit settlements. Funded by the taxpayers. What if we used those funds to build the specialized response teams?

I’m open to learning more. Are you? Going down the path of continuing the way things are doesn’t seem to be the answer.

“It’s risky. It’s scary. It could all fall apart. Yes. But what if it all falls together?” - The Better Man Project