Some SCCPSS Campus Police Officers joined members of the
Chatham County Police Department at the Coastal Georgia Comprehensive Academy
on Wednesday, August 22, 2018. They were
there to receive an education about the different ways in which an autistic
citizen may behave and advice about the best ways to interact with them.
The visit gave officers the opportunity to learn about and,
in a tour following the information session, to see a variety of behaviors that
they may encounter when dealing with a citizen who has an Autism Spectrum
Disorder. Autistic citizens are
sometimes non-verbal, may not respond to verbal commands, or may even carry
devices to communicate that could be mistaken for a threat. The event also gave students at the center the
opportunity to build a rapport with officers in a setting that is familiar and
non-threatening to them.
The seminar was a first for the Coastal Georgia
Comprehensive Academy, but they hope to host more law enforcement in the future
to help further understanding of what could be encountered in an interaction
with an autistic citizen and learn how best to handle those situations.
To see more photos from the event, see our SmugMug gallery here.
