Strong Voices

Written by Guest Contributor, Dr Nicolina Newcombe

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Police meet with the autism community after distressing incident.

In May around 50 people from the autism community gathered for a special hui in Hamilton to discuss a recent incident in which a young autistic girl was misidentified and handcuffed by police and taken to Waikato hospital.

The hui was organised by autistic advocate Barbara Choat and attended by three New Zealand Police officers.

The event was an opportunity to air concerns about the incident and work towards repairing the relationship between Police and autistic people. It was also an opportunity for Police to acknowledge the harm caused by the incident.

Police Senior Sergeant Scott McKenzie, Area Commander Inspector Andrea McBeth and Inspector Scott Miller each confirmed they had attended with open minds and a willingness to listen.

Area Commander McBeth called the incident “awful” and said it had a traumatic effect on Police staff too.

Many parents shared stories about their autistic children getting overwhelmed or becoming non-verbal during stressful events, such as in emergencies or when they were lost.

The Police representatives spoke about the challenges of often being first responders and how the pressures of having to make decisions quickly, often with a lack of information, could lead them to wrong conclusions.

Inevitably the discussion turned to the importance of education and training. The Police are currently working with Autism New Zealand to improve how they respond to autistic people.

Ideas were shared on how to help our community be safer during emergencies. Some of these ideas included wearing lanyards or wristbands with instructions and having response plans on Police files. However, the Police representatives said it can be hard to get that information added. One officer worried that criminals could feign neurodiversity to get easier treatment, which raised concerns amongst the community about how autistics are responded to when our behaviour is misunderstood and criminialised.  

Attendees of the hui thanked the officers for coming and acknowledged their humanity.

The hui ended with plans for the Police and the autism community to keep talking and working together, ultimately with hope that this is the beginning of better understanding ensuring safer interactions for everyone.

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Image caption: (From left) Autistic Advocate Barbara Choat, Senior Sergeant Scott McKenzie, Area Commander Inspector Andrea McBeth and Inspector Scott Miller

Nicolina is autistic and is an Inclusion Advisor for IHC