Mission Police Department to host autism awareness training
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The Mission Police Department is teaming up with a non-profit to better serve people with autism.
The department will host a free autism awareness training later this month that’s open to the public.
The idea for the training came after Gladys Velazquez reached out to Bebo's Angels — a group that helps support families with autistic children — after several incidents between her son and police.
Velazquez’s 17-year-old son — Damian — has autism. When he gets anxious, he runs away.
Velazquez says depending on the circumstance, she and her husband can calm him down, but there are times when they need to ask police to help deescalate the situation. She lets dispatch know her son has autism so the responding officer can know how to properly assist.
“I tell them so they can know how to respond,” Velazquez said. “I always emphasize he has autism, he doesn't talk.”
Velazquez said she feels police officers need more training to help them better respond to situations that involve someone with autism.
“There was one occasion when I told the officer, ‘you need to help me like this, and we need to calm him down so he won't run to the street,’" Velazquez recalled. “Another officer had to come and he knew how to assist, and he calmed him."
Bebo’s Angels is now collaborating with Mission police to hold the autism awareness training.
“I remember in one year, I had three encounters with children with autism, and it's very important 'cause we are going to be dealing with this, and we have to be prepared,” Mission police spokesman George Rodriguez said of the training. “This is about sharing, and we want to share whatever knowledge we are going to be receiving with the rest of us. It'll make all of us be better as public servants."
There are currently two training sessions set for Tuesday, Jan. 24.
For more information, contact the Mission Police Department at 956-400-5525.
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