BOULDER, Colo. — A new program within the Boulder Police Department is designed to improve how officers interact with people on the autism spectrum by offering decals for people to put on cars and homes.
The sticker can alert officers pulling someone over or investigating a call that the person or a loved one has autism, so they can adjust their response for everyone's safety.
The program is already grabbing attention and praise from those in the community.
Like any mom, Kristen Pincus worries about her son, Jackson.
"My son, he's 9-years-old. He's very much into technology. He was non-verbal until he was about four. So he is speaking now, but there are behaviors and things that come along with autism that could be misinterpreted as noncompliant or otherwise by officers," said Pincus, who is a board member with the Autism Society of Boulder County.
Pincus said she was pleasantly surprised to hear about Boulder Police's new program offering decals to alert officers that they or a loved one has autism.
"This was kind of a no brainer and I kind of questioned why we hadn't done something sooner," said Boulder Interim Police Chief Stephen Redfearn.
Redfearn got the idea from a police department over in Illinois. He quickly got to work with officers and community members in Colorado to put together a plan that would work here in Boulder.
It's work, he knows is important.
"Just have better engagement but also, on a serious level, avoid a tragedy," Redfearn said.
Nationwide, one in five people with autism will interact with a cop before they turn 21, according to the Autism Society.
Many of those interactions can result in restraint, arrest, use of force and even death.
"There are behaviors, even my son has some of these behaviors, such as running away from safe situations or aggressive behavior could be seen as yelling things or not understanding commands that were given to them. Things like that," Pincus said. "All of that can lead to misinterpretation of their needs."
Chief Redfearn said these decals can help officers make sure that doesn't happen.
"It allows them to say, 'Oh, maybe someone here may interact with me differently,' and then gives them better tools to go into a situation to hopefully be able to deescalate it and so we don't see bad things that have happened around the country," Redfearn said.
“I think having police officers respond to situations with a little bit of awareness makes a huge difference so they can appropriately assess the situation and know that some of these behaviors may not actually be noncompliant or aggressive," Pincus said.
And people are taking note. They're coming in regularly for more information and to pick up decals.
"We've had almost every day somebody coming in to get a sticker and a program," Redfearn said.
Both Redfearn and Pincus say they're hopeful that by spreading awareness around the community, they can make police interactions safer all around.
"If we can avoid one situation where a community member or an officer is not hurt, then that's a win," Redfearn said.
"I mean, as parents, we want to make sure our kiddos are safe in the world, especially when they get a driver's license and are exposed to different situations alone," Pincus said. "So knowing that there are people out there in our community working alongside of us to mediate that is great."
Redfearn said the response to the new program has been supportive so far. He's also gotten interest from other departments in Boulder County, even some in other states, interested in adopting a similar program with their own departments.
If you or someone you know wants a decal to alert law enforcement about a loved one with autism, you can pick that up at the Boulder Police Department at 1805 33rd Street.