BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — With every new badge came a backpack filled with tools to help Baltimore County Police's new officers fulfill their promise to serve and protect everyone in Baltimore County.
As the 177th recruit class was sworn in Wednesday morning, each officer received a backpack containing tools to help them better interact with people with autism.
Chief Robert McCullough addressed his new officers, emphasizing the importance of the kit.
Baltimore County Police give new officers tools for autism community interactions
"To further ensure you are equipped to serve all—and I say that again, all—members of our community with professionalism, compassion, and understanding," McCullough said.
According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly half of all people with autism have interactions with police during their lifetime.
With that in mind, the Husman Institute for Autism filled the backpacks with tip sheets, sentence starters, communication boards, and sensory items.
Director of Outreach Beth Benevides told WMAR-2 News why they were necessary.
"The greatest gift any of us can receive is the gift of understanding, and we know that in stressful situations, people with autism can often be misunderstood. So we're trying to equip officers with tools that they can have in their cars to really help de-escalate a situation and just bring calm to a situation that could be really stressful for someone," Benevides said.
She shared an example of when the tools were instrumental in helping police calm down a man with autism who was separated from his caregiver.
"When they found him sitting in another office, he was visibly upset. He was hitting himself and clearly stressed, and the officers offered him a backpack. He took the materials out of there and chose what was important to him in that moment."
She had a lasting message for the 177th recruit class.
"We're really just asking officers that when you're encountering a situation like this, you take more time. So we're hoping that these toolkits, these backpacks, will be a reminder that this is a human being in crisis at the moment, and anything that we can do to bring a little calm to this situation will help."
Baltimore County Police say the partnership with the Husman Institute for Autism will continue long into the future.
