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Police & Autism

kellyb26

I was recently arrested by the police,i told them I was autistic and they said "welllll I can't see anything on your medical records" I asked them to phone the local hospital i was diagnosed at and they said "they'll be nobody there we can't ring around" now would this be discrimination or not? or something else I'm just so confused and need answers they were just very reluctant to acknowledge my Autism 

Parents

  • Hi there, I’m so sorry to hear about your experience… it sounds very frustrating.

    While I’m not a legal expert, what you said does raise concerns about how the police handled your situation. Especially their reluctance to acknowledge your autism or take the steps to verify it. Under the equality act 2010 (if you’re in the UK) autism is classed as a disability, and public services including the police have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This includes treating you fairly and making efforts to accommodate your needs, regardless of whether they have your diagnosis on record at that moment.

    It’s disappointing that they didn’t take you at your word or attempt to verify your diagnosis. Even if they couldn’t immediately access medical records or contact the hospital, they could have approached the situation with more understanding and respect.

    You should consider filing a formal complaint with the police force involved so they’re aware of how their actions impacted you and can review their procedures. I appreciate some people view making complaints might negatively impact you, but this shouldn’t be the case. You absolutely should share your concerns about how the police dealt with you, otherwise nothing will happen and no learning will come of it. I found the following website quite helpful with detail on the process you would follow to complain: 

    https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/complaints/guide-to-complaints-process 

    In the meantime, you could also look into applying for something like an alert card. Whilst you shouldn’t need to prove your diagnosis, having something like this on hand could help avoid situations like this in the future. You can get an autism card from the Sunflower lanyard scheme, or on the NAS website: https://www.autism.org.uk/shop/products/merchandise/this-person-autistic 


    The NAS also has a helpful guide for the police, which might be worth you reading so you know what the guidance police should be following…

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice/professionals 

    If you feel your arrest was unlawful, and you were detained unfairly, you could consider seeking legal advice for compensation. There are lots of no win no fees firms who could support you with this. But I don’t know the circumstances of your arrest so you should consider this with caution.

    I hope this helps

Reply

  • Hi there, I’m so sorry to hear about your experience… it sounds very frustrating.

    While I’m not a legal expert, what you said does raise concerns about how the police handled your situation. Especially their reluctance to acknowledge your autism or take the steps to verify it. Under the equality act 2010 (if you’re in the UK) autism is classed as a disability, and public services including the police have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This includes treating you fairly and making efforts to accommodate your needs, regardless of whether they have your diagnosis on record at that moment.

    It’s disappointing that they didn’t take you at your word or attempt to verify your diagnosis. Even if they couldn’t immediately access medical records or contact the hospital, they could have approached the situation with more understanding and respect.

    You should consider filing a formal complaint with the police force involved so they’re aware of how their actions impacted you and can review their procedures. I appreciate some people view making complaints might negatively impact you, but this shouldn’t be the case. You absolutely should share your concerns about how the police dealt with you, otherwise nothing will happen and no learning will come of it. I found the following website quite helpful with detail on the process you would follow to complain: 

    https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/complaints/guide-to-complaints-process 

    In the meantime, you could also look into applying for something like an alert card. Whilst you shouldn’t need to prove your diagnosis, having something like this on hand could help avoid situations like this in the future. You can get an autism card from the Sunflower lanyard scheme, or on the NAS website: https://www.autism.org.uk/shop/products/merchandise/this-person-autistic 


    The NAS also has a helpful guide for the police, which might be worth you reading so you know what the guidance police should be following…

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice/professionals 

    If you feel your arrest was unlawful, and you were detained unfairly, you could consider seeking legal advice for compensation. There are lots of no win no fees firms who could support you with this. But I don’t know the circumstances of your arrest so you should consider this with caution.

    I hope this helps

Children
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