Autism and American Policing: A Call for Awareness
By Kenneth J. Weiss, MD, and the Committee on Arts & Humanities of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry
This article was originally written by member Kenneth J. Weiss, MD, DLFAPA for the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP); it was published in GAP's blog in Psychology Today online. It is reprinted with permission. Dr. Weiss, immediate past president of the PaPS Philadelphia Chapter, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and in the private practice of forensic psychiatry in Bala Cynwyd, PA. Dr. Weiss is well-known as a master educator in UPenn’s Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Weiss is past recipient of the PaPS Presidential Award.
Key Points:
- Behavioral crises of teens and adults with autism in the community are different from other domestic emergencies.
- Police responders to crisis calls in the community need to be more knowledgeable about autism.
- Emergency dispatchers can gather information that might reduce the use of lethal force by responding officers.
Keywords: police, autism, crisis intervention, community safety
On April 5, 2025, police officers shot 17-year-old Victor Perez in the front yard of his Pocatello, Idaho home while his family watched. Victor, who was non-verbal, autistic, and born with cerebral palsy, died in the hospital.
Officers were responding to a 911 call from Victor’s neighbor about a disturbance at the home. Victor’s neuromuscular differences caused a staggering gait which was misconstrued by the caller as intoxication.
Victor held a knife when the police arrived but was separated from the officers by a chain-link-fence. A nine-minute video released by police and a legal filing give clues to the dynamics of the situation. These materials are open to interpretation and will likely be evidence in court proceedings.
Per the legal filings, the responding police made no inquiries about Victor, did not speak with his family who were present, and used no de-escalation techniques. Instead, from the street-side of the fence they screamed at him to drop the knife. Seconds later, as Victor walked forward, they shot him nine times.
Victor’s case is one of many similarly tragic encounters across the country. Whether the officers’ use of force was excessive is a matter for the courts to decide. Also, this account is not intended to express any legal opinions or moral judgments about the conduct of the parties involved but rather to highlight the complexities of these situations and to offer suggestions for preventing future fatal outcomes. However, citizens’ immediate protests raise important concerns about the role of law enforcement in aiding individuals with special needs.
Why is this happening?
Police work is potentially dangerous. Given that domestic situations are relationally complex, involving intense emotions and individuals who may have mental disorders (psychosis, substance abuse, dementia, autism), officers may find themselves feeling ill-equipped to quickly and effectively evaluate the actual dangers they may be facing.
Without specific training on how to recognize that an individual may have autism and on how to de-escalate a mental health crisis, a police officer’s sense of potential danger can have fatal consequences.
For example, some individuals with autism are identified as suspicious or menacing when they are merely exhibiting behaviors that are characteristic of this disorder. They may engage in repetitive movements or self-soothing behaviors such as rocking; they may recoil at being touched. These behaviors can be interpreted by police as belligerent, leading to restraint.
An important source of ambiguity about the level of danger police officers can expect may be deficiencies in the information chain. Well-intentioned 911 calls about citizens acting suspiciously can predispose dispatchers and responding officers to prepare for the possibility of a violent confrontation and lethal force.
Since most well-functioning adults with autism are in the community, many continue to live with aging parents. Under stress, individuals with autism may have breakdowns in conduct, which frighten family members. When a good relationship exists between the family and police, a 911 call (there is not enough data on 988 calls) can produce positive results.
However, when the call reports weapons are seen or suspected, the threat of danger raises the stakes; this may have occurred in the Victor Perez case. Whether a knife at a distance from police, but not from family members, necessitated a lethal response will be a legal determination.
Misreading behaviors leads to misguided reactions
Some individuals with autism display characteristic behaviors that are maladaptive in social situations. Examples include emotional coldness or aloofness, oddness, inability to appreciate others’ motives, and insistence on sameness (rigidity).
The United Kingdom autism scholar Clare Allely and others have observed that characteristic behaviors of autism (repetitive behaviors, avoidance of eye contact, odd language, for example) can be misinterpreted by police as evidence of dangerousness or criminality.
The situation is further complicated when individuals with autism cannot answer an officer’s question, when the family’s home language is not English, and when there are interracial dynamics and disability bias. These elements may increase the likelihood of harm to the individual with autism.
What can be done?
Those with autism have every right to live in the community and they deserve police services appropriate to their needs. Mental health professionals, in their role of educators, are essential for improving relations between law enforcement and the citizens they serve.
Sometimes police and crisis specialists are needed to defuse volatile domestic situations. Ideally, mental health workers can work alongside police. To avoid tragic outcomes, responders to domestic calls should have information relevant to the individual whenever possible.
Family members calling police should be explicit that their relative with autism needs behavioral containment. The Autism Society provides detailed information for caregivers who find themselves in situations that lead them to call the police.
Officers facing dangerous assignments have perceptions and expectations that are shaped by the information received. Police who answer the 911 call line can try to obtain more detailed information from emergency callers about the nature of the disturbance, whether the person in question might be having a behavioral crisis, and whether weapons are involved. If responding officers have sufficient information in advance, they are less likely to prepare for and use lethal force.
The idea of registering individuals with autism with police has been proposed but is not agreeable to everyone. These individuals would be giving up some privacy and providing what could be seen as stigmatizing personal information. This proposed voluntary process is not the same kind of registration as that proposed recently by the US Dept of Health and Human Services, which would involve involuntary data collection. On the other hand, registration could be a way to help to avoid the misinterpretations described above. Some municipalities have car stickers that identify drivers with autism, thus limiting misinterpretation of drivers’ behavior.
While police officers are generally trained in responding to mental health crises, specialized knowledge of autism is also required—not all people in crisis can be handled identically. Dr. Allely and her cited sources indicate key points for improving interactions between police and autistic people in the community. Officers can:
- Determine from available information whether the person is known to have autism.
- Use available family or support people to help interpret and give context.
- Be patient in waiting for responses, which may not be as quick as desired.
- Stay calm and reduce external stimulation including lights, sound, and touch.
- Stop insisting that suspects make eye contact, suppress odd behaviors, and cease fidgeting.
- Adapt language to what the person can absorb, and provide sufficient information about what is happening.
A century of police culture and the evolution of an us-versus-them climate cannot be reversed quickly. Nevertheless, police should not be regarded as the enemy of mental health. Families sometimes must rely on “the authorities” to defuse domestic turmoil. When the police response is tantamount to a military operation, sadly, the outcome can be heartbreaking.
Further, the need for reliable information on autism is more important than ever due to residual concern—by high government officials—about the causes and nature of autism.
Whenever possible, mental health professionals have an obligation to work with (and perhaps within) law enforcement agencies to educate and change the script in relation to citizens with autism and their families. That means teaching police officers to understand and accept behavioral differences, acquire information before an encounter, and learn how best to aid families in distress.
References
Allely CS. Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Criminal Justice System: A Guide to Understanding Suspects, Defendants and Offenders. Routledge, 2022.
Hutson TM, Hassrick EM, Fernandes S, et al. “I’m just different—that’s all—I’m so sorry…”: Black men, ASD and the urgent need for DisCrit Theory in police encounters. Policing: An International Journal. 2022; 45(3):524–537.
Resources
The Autism Society