Trigger warning: Girl gets arrested, seemingly for being Autistic in a built up area.

That video was a very uncomfortable watch.

The girl was cowering under the stairs, screaming in distress. The mother clearly told officers that her daughter is autistic and one of them responds with "I don't care". The mother clearly told officers that her daughter doesn't like being touched, as part of being autistic. The police still physically dragged her out and arrested her.

Was there not one officer there with some autism awareness training, who could have stepped in and stopped what was happening? There seemed to be a lot of police present. Shocking 

Autonomistic said:

Was there not one officer there with some autism awareness training, who could have stepped in and stopped what was happening? There seemed to be a lot of police present. Shocking

The teenager was drunk in public (aged 16 so was drinking illegally) and the police response was decent to start with (ie we're taking you home) then what we are told by the media is that the girl used a phrase that borders on a hate crime in our warped society and the police woman took exception to be told she looks like a lesbian.

Two minor strikes should not have escalated to the end situation but we don't know the whole story.

The police are using body cam footage to review what actually happened so we can see if this is being blown out of proportion by the media in search of a sensationalist story. I expect the truth lies between the stories told by both sides.

Being autistic is not a "get out of jail free card" and the police officer is entitled to take exception to the perceived insult. Comon sense should have prevented the escallation though, but what if the police officer was also autistic? Would that have made a difference in how she is being villified now?

I don't know if the police get training on dealing with autistic people, ADHD people, bipolar people or any one of the many conditions & illnesses out there - I supspct not as this would take time and money.

In the end I expect this will just get swept under the rug of an internal investigation by the police.

It does highlight the fact that we need better ways to educate society on the different spectrums to facilitate our interactions.

Autonomistic said:

Was there not one officer there with some autism awareness training, who could have stepped in and stopped what was happening? There seemed to be a lot of police present. Shocking

The teenager was drunk in public (aged 16 so was drinking illegally) and the police response was decent to start with (ie we're taking you home) then what we are told by the media is that the girl used a phrase that borders on a hate crime in our warped society and the police woman took exception to be told she looks like a lesbian.

Two minor strikes should not have escalated to the end situation but we don't know the whole story.

The police are using body cam footage to review what actually happened so we can see if this is being blown out of proportion by the media in search of a sensationalist story. I expect the truth lies between the stories told by both sides.

Being autistic is not a "get out of jail free card" and the police officer is entitled to take exception to the perceived insult. Comon sense should have prevented the escallation though, but what if the police officer was also autistic? Would that have made a difference in how she is being villified now?

I don't know if the police get training on dealing with autistic people, ADHD people, bipolar people or any one of the many conditions & illnesses out there - I supspct not as this would take time and money.

In the end I expect this will just get swept under the rug of an internal investigation by the police.

It does highlight the fact that we need better ways to educate society on the different spectrums to facilitate our interactions.

Based on the girls mothers account I’m not convinced they would’ve grounds to charge even if she had said it in public

The issue is that they would have arrested her for a Public Order Offence, at most Section 5, which cannot be completed in a private dwelling under S5(2) as the officers were in the same address.

This making the arrest unlawful, the Police had to drop the case as there is no realistic prospect of getting this charged on the grounds.

Unfortunately we are not privy to the full facts of the incident, other than what has been publicly released

Omg yes I read about this. Disgusting treatment, made worse that they knew... Horrible.

The police aren't trained at all with autism and they don't even try it seems.

Last year I had to go in to hospital because of a bad kidney infection and the paramedics were really understanding. Because I was distressed and anxious they turned off the sirens on the ambulance which really helped to put me at ease.

In the case of ZH v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, the issue was that there was a carer present and the police did not consult them or take their advice.

No I thought it had been referred to the one that wasn’t run by the police www.gov.uk/.../independent-police-complaint-commission

The independent police commission that is run by the police?

The rug is already pulled back and the broom ready to sweep.

Iain said:

Being autistic is not a "get out of jail free card"

I don't think anyone is suggesting that. However it shouldn't take in depth training to realise that crowding around and forcibly arresting an already distressed and overwhelmed autistic person isn't going to de-escalate the situation. As you say, common sense should have prevented that happening.

Iain said:

what if the police officer was also autistic?

I very much doubt the situation would have escalated in the same way if that was the case. An autistic officer would have been aware that an autistic person can offend without meaning to and that they needed space to calm down. The classic double empathy problem.

Political Correctness ended up become Authoritarian, because the People's Republic of America wanted it that way.

We need less diversity, and more mutual respect.

The police were informed on the scene by the girls mother that she was Autistic and that their conduct was causing further harm and one replied "we don't care".  That's textbook unreasonable behaviour.

I'm surprised that the family didn't lose patience at that point and eject them.

They won't "get away with it" because the public will see this stuff, and will eventually put two and two together about the role of the police in our society, and respond accordingly, then change will happen.

Looking at the face of it there is no way you could say but the family don’t have enough evidence to bring a prima facie case which means if they choose to Sue it’s almost certainly going to go to a hearing.

so whether or not it gets swept under the rug depends on the family and their will to go to court.

The lack of training in autism hasn’t been a defence in previous cases. Mainly because I believe the judge came to the conclusion that the police had time to bring in an expert. In this case the girl was locked in the closet. It seems safe to assume that there was time to bring in someone with training

Peter said:

Actually I don’t think it will get swept under the rug it’s already been referred to the police complaints commission

The findings are unlikely to be clear cut as the girl did use offensive language to the police woman (unintentionally) so the escalation seemed to hinge on this.

If the police lack training in dealing with autists then the girls behaviour could not have been reasonably anticipated by the police so they are unlikely to be liable through lack of training.

To get the training across the board would probably end up costing tens or hundreds of millions and the people who would benefit would be a small pool so the cost/benefit is not there.

That is why I think they will sweep it under the rug - there does not seem enough grounds to sue and a "fix" for the origins of this would be too costly.

Actually I don’t think it will get swept under the rug it’s already been referred to the police complaints commission placing that aside The family have every opportunity to sue the police over this. The police have been sued for manhandling autistic people inappropriately before. If the family has the will to push the issue to court this could very well become a high-profile court case.