This morning I was fortunate to meet Chief Todd Axtell of the Saint Paul Police. He kindly set aside a few minutes to speak with me about my visit, which was great as I was able to let him know how fantastic his whole team have been. Everyone I have encountered has been welcoming and helpful, a credit to the department. There’s been a running joke since I arrived about an exchange visit to Edinburgh (think they’d need to charter a plane, so many folk are coming!) and if that happens I’ve a lot to live up to in the hospitality stakes!

Once we’d finished at Police HQ Rob took me to visit the staff at The Vitals App. Rob had told me about this App before I came out, but to hear about it (and see it work) first hand brought home just how useful it is.

Here’s a very basic rundown of how it works. The police download the 1st Responder app onto their staff mobile devices. Each officer then carries their device around with them as normal.

People with vulnerabilities, disabilities, mental health issues or their families/carers download their own app and create a profile. The profile gives the information that the person or family would want a police officer to know when dealing with them – so for example that the person is frightened by loud noises, or is calmed by a fidget spinner. You can add emergency contact details, and even things like video recorded messages from a loved one or the person’s favourite song. When you create a profile you get a beacon to carry around with you (on a lanyard or wristband for example) or if you use an Android phone that can double as your beacon.

So let’s say I’m having a meltdown in the middle of the street and someone calls the police. I have my beacon with me and I’ve created my profile on The Vitals App. The police officer who is sent to the incident has the App installed on their device. Once that officer gets within 80ft of me he or she is going to get a notification on their device of my profile. So before they’re even out the car they know my name, my emergency contact, any issues I have and most importantly how to calm me down.

I’ve heard countless examples this week of how this has worked in real life. Last night I heard the tale of an autistic lady who was driving home and always used the same route, however that night the road was blocked by an accident. She got so upset to have been taken out of her routine that an officer thought she was intoxicated and called for backup. Fortunately the lady had the App and the second officer was able to see her profile when he arrived and call her mother as directed. The mother then called the lady to explain that she needed to follow the officer and he would get her home safe. Problem solved without any hassle, no traumatic meltdown for the lady and no need for the officers to potentially have to restrain her.

That’s a simple outline of the App, it’s being developed in more and more ways – like turning it around so that a parent gets an alert if their child goes more than 80ft away from them. It just sounds like such a simple, easy way to help people to stay safe and prevent unnecessary incidents. It’s got to be emphasised firstly that even though officers might get a ‘ping’ on someone it doesn’t mean they have to stop and interact – they might just drive past them on the street. However that brings me to my second point: no information is stored on the officer’s phone. While I’m in range with my beacon they can see my profile, once I move away it’s gone. It can’t be used as a database to store information on all the people that officer has interacted with. It doesn’t work like that.

If you want to read more, the website is http://www.thevitalsapp.com . They were kind enough to give me a couple of beacons (and access to the App as it wasn’t available on the UK App Store!) so I can do a decent demo when I get home…

Today was the main reason for actually coming to Minnesota – to see a CARE (Cop Autism Response Education) training session in action. I was fortunate to see both parts, the officer training, and also the information session held for parents/carers and autistic people themselves.

The first session was the police input. This four-hour session counts toward an officer’s annual professional development training (they have to do a set amount each year). It’s primarily a taught course with four modules – Understanding Behaviours; Call Response; Follow Up; Interaction with Individuals on the Spectrum. Dawn Brasch from AuSM takes the first half giving an outline of autism and autistic behaviours. This is essentially a crash-course for people who know very little about autism, then Rob Zink takes over for the second half to give an officer’s perspective on dealing with incidents (covering the other three modules). Two autistic adults, Jillian and Neema, then speak at the end about their own experiences.

Dawn’s part is pretty comprehensive. It’s clearly fuelled by knowledge gained from her own son and from working with people on the spectrum over the years. I know from experience how hard it is to cover every eventuality when it comes to describing behaviour as the spectrum is so wide, but the input gives the main things to note, and importantly the main things that are likely to bring a kid to the attention of the police.

Rob’s input basically gives officers a clue on how to deal with a call to an autistic person in crisis (having a meltdown). Whilst clearly stating that police officers have to consider everyone’s safety first, he goes over de-escalation techniques, how he’s calmed people down in the past and how he’s figured out how to do it. He really emphasises that this isn’t magic, it takes time and experience to learn and that in all likelihood it’s going to be messy and it’s going to be tough on everybody. That’s where the relationships come in. If an incident occurs with an autistic person Rob will make contact with the family to follow up over the next 7-10 days. One of the team will visit, speak with the person in a calm time and try to build a relationship (or repair it if the encounter with police was not pleasant!). CARE also encourages families who think their loved ones might have interaction with police to make contact with SPPD in advance. Officers will go out and speak with individuals and families, learn about their triggers and how to calm them down. They’ll explain how police responses work and gather information that can be flagged against the address in case of emergency. It all helps to be prepared.

The family session is basically a repeat of the above but minus the Behaviours input. The session is designed to inform families about CARE and to reassure them that SPPD is trying to improve. Rob makes no bones about the fact that the project stemmed from several complaints against the department when they got things wrong, but is able to say that since it’s inception the complaints have dwindled away. The families in the room seem receptive to the project, with the small amount of frustration on show actually aimed at the fact it’s not made it’s way to other local areas yet, like Minneapolis.

I can see a lot of opportunities for implementing something similar without even having to have a dedicated team. It seems like the most important part is the emphasis on partnership and communication between the police and individuals/families and we could do that on a very local level fairly easily. It’ll be interesting to see if the next two projects in Massachusetts and Maine have a similar outlook.

 

Yesterday was mostly spent with the Saint Paul PD. The morning started with a quick visit to the HQ building where there were a lot of quick introductions, and as has been the case everywhere I’ve gone, a lot of lovely people. We then drove over to see the department’s brand new training facility, which is very impressive. Admittedly it doesn’t have a castle, but you can’t have everything…

We then went to visit the staff at the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM). They developed CARE alongside Off. Zink and the SPPD and are pretty passionate about it. I did a very quick input on me and my Fellowship and we spoke about the practical side of CARE. They felt it was vital for them to have a link into the police that they could use to feedback information or get advice, and the police value AuSM as an organisation they can refer people on to for services and advice, which is the bit we often don’t have the time or the knowledge to do.

From there we visited Focus Beyond, a school for young people aged 18-21 with Special Educational Needs to continue their learning past traditional school age. Rob delivered an input to a group of pupils on what to do if they encounter the police – helping them to understand what officers will do and ask for and why. A really simple input but one that could make a big difference to their safety.

Then at 4pm it was on to join the afternoon shift at the Western district. Sitting in roll-call felt very familiar as the Sergeant went over the day’s briefing – a group of young officers relatively new in service who were missing half their squad due to various factors. They spoke about the difficulty of getting time off and how busy they were, which are grumbles you’d probably hear on any response team in Scotland too. I was brought back to reality with the news of the shooting that had occurred that morning where numerous shots had been fired at a young man following a fight. Trying to explain to them that I don’t carry a gun because I just don’t need one was met with bemusement…

One interesting fact that my colleagues will enjoy is the SPPD shift system. Every year you bid for your shift. So if you end up with the night shift, then you’re night shift for the whole year. Wow.

My shift was spent with Officer Albert Lyfoung. Originally from France, Al had three years service and was a brilliant guide. We compared stories and found that everything was very similar – and we went to everything from thefts to a sudden death. There is a huge difference in the technology used though. They all wear body cameras which are activated at every incident, and laptops in their vehicles mean they have instant access to information that we’d either have to get controllers to pass or return to the station. What a difference that makes.

The big issue though is guns. We went to a suicidal female who had two small kids in the house and a (totally legal) gun. The stress on the officers going in to that situation was huge – literally going in to help someone but having to approach the house behind cover with their guns drawn just in case. Thankfully the lady was calm and everything ended safely but I can’t fathom going into almost every incident with the thought in the back of your mind that the person you’re dealing with is likely to have a firearm. You can buy a gun privately in Minnesota without any kind of background check or permit. Incredible.

So all in all a fantastic, eye-opening experience. I expected to come over here and find policing to be very different, but it’s not. Same people, same problems, same banter.

Thank you to the Saint Paul Police Department for allowing me to spend some time with you.

My first ‘real’ day started with an early start to drive 150 miles north to Duluth, MN to the Minnesota Crime Prevention Association conference. It’s somewhat ironic, given my day job in prevention, that my first outing on the Fellowship was to a crime prevention conference, but it was a good ice-breaker if nothing else.

I travelled up with Officer Rob Zink from the St Paul Police Department and Dawn Brasch and Jillian Nelson from the Autism Association of Minnesota. They work together as part of CARE (Cop Autism Response Education). CARE is the reason I’m in Minnesota. It was set up in response to incidents involving police and autistic people that often ended in complaints due to lack of understanding. Rob has two sons on the Spectrum and was tasked with finding a solution, and shortly afterwards CARE was born.

The project provides training to Law Enforcement officers on autism, but also provides training for families on Law Enforcement! CARE emphasises the importance of officers learning about individuals in their communities when they are not in crisis – essentially building relationships when the going is good, so that if they’re required in the bad times both officers and individuals know each other and know what to expect. Thinking about it on the way home, this is quite a key component. The autism spectrum is so big that it’s impossible to cover every behaviour in a training class. You can’t give officers a tick list of things to look for to recognise an autistic person (albeit some traits will give us away). So understanding individuals is important. A lot seems to focus on building trust and positive associations, and I’m hoping to learn more about this tomorrow when I visit the Autism Society of Minnesota and speak to some families.

Dawn, Rob and Jillian delivered a condensed presentation to delegates outlining the basics of understanding autism, and how CARE works. It was a whistle stop tour and a good precursor to seeing the full training session on Wednesday.

Other highlights of the day include a donut from MN instition Tobies, getting absolutely weighed down by freebies and a (very cold!) tour of Duluth to see the lighthouse and the lift bridge.

 

Welcome to my blog. I’ll be writing about my experiences on my 2018 Churchill Fellowship. The first leg takes in projects in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine, USA. I’ll then visit Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands during the second leg.

This journey began with a last-minute submission to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust last September, right before the deadline for applications for the 2018 Fellowships. As a serving police officer with Asperger’s Syndrome, the idea had come from work I’d been doing in my own force (Police Scotland) to raise awareness of autism, and from work my colleagues in the National Police Autism Association (NPAA) had been doing across the UK on the same subject. With only 150 Fellowships awarded annually from over a thousand applicants I thought I’d hear no more about it… but here I am!

During my time in the USA I’ll be visiting three projects that train police officers in autism awareness, and associated groups that support the learning. I’m hoping to bring that knowledge back to Scotland (and the rest of the UK) to help educate our officers.

Hopefully you’ll stick with me over the next few weeks on this leg of the journey.

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb

Winston Churchill