Utah law mandates autism awareness training for police officers

A new law passed by the Utah state legislature in March will require police officers to complete mandatory training on autism awareness. 

The law, which took effect this month, mandates that Utah law enforcement officers undergo “training in intervention responses to autism spectrum disorder and other mental illnesses,” according to ABC News.

State Rep. Steve Eliason (R), the lawmaker who introduced the bill, told the news outlet that he pushed for the measure after the shooting of a teen with autism in September of last year.

“Knowing how to deal with [people with autism] more specifically just seems like it could do a world of good,” Eliason said, calling the law a “no-brainer.”

Utah’s attorney general, Sean Reyes (R), will be running the training in some cases and shared with ABC News that it will involve a virtual simulator in which the level of the incident can be adjusted depending on an officer’s response.

“The beautiful thing about the system is that we can change the dialogue, we can change the reaction, the response and we can make it harder [or] better depending on how the officer is navigating this situation,” Reyes said. “We worked with families with children with autism spectrum disorder; we worked with experts in the education field, in the medical community, to behavioral scientists, to actually try to create and develop these modules.”

“We view this as a very positive step forward to help empower law enforcement with the tools that they need to better serve and protect communities — in particular vulnerable communities,” he added.

The trainings were first done with school resource officers and Cheryl Smith, a family member of someones with autism who helped to develop a program within Utah schools, according to ABC News.

Smith explained that the training is designed “to show [law enforcement] the difference between autism or mental illness and criminal activity.”

“I want to give them the tools to deescalate the situation, to recognize it,” she told ABC News.

The news of the law comes after Salt Lake City Police shot a teen boy with autism after the mother called 911 because he was having a mental health crisis. 

NPR reported that Golda Barton had called police to request an intervention team to help her son.