Maybe I’m just too wary of police… But I gotta say, good intentions aside, the idea of a police database of autistic people is… Not one that I’m comfortable with?
But it’s apparently an initiative quite a few UK autism orgs are working on…
There should never be a database like that of any group of people… There is nothing stopping it from being misused if society takes a huge political shift. Like, I think this can even be abused by officers in the current system.
Who suggested a police database of autistic people?
The org “Autism Hampshire” had one under the title “Autism Passport”, but they redid their website literally last week (in between days I was collecting data for my dissertation, I thought I was losing the plot) and all mention of it has been removed. The page is available through the Wayback Machine, however, and reads:
“The Autism Alert Programme launched the Autism Passport on the 21 April 2011 in addition to the Alert Card and Alert Car Sticker. Autism Hampshire with the agreement of the individual with Autism or their parent if under 16 are able to create a passport for them. The Passport will be placed onto the Hampshire Constabulary’s Safety Net System and will allow Criminal Justice System professionals access to information and strategies to support the individual. The creation of a passport will enable organisations and professionals to identify the communication needs of an individual and to improve the service received by victims and witnesses and to ensure that those within the criminal justice system are dealt with in an appropriate manner. Our partners involved in this are the Police, Police Authority, HMCS (Magistrates), DutySolicitors, Youth Offending Team, HM Prison Winchester and Probation.”
I wrote this post after further data collection found that the org “Autism Sussex” had a similar scheme:
“This card is promoted and delivered by Sussex Police. Anyone who has a disability that makes it hard to communicate can register for a Pegasus card. When produced, the card and/or unique PIN number will inform any Officer that this individual needs additional help. The nature of the person’s communication problem, i.e. autism, can be obtained via a police radio call giving access to a secure database. The Officer is given relevant information that may enable reasonable adjustments be made at all stages of the investigation. This may well impact at an early stage on the eventual outcome. The database also holds contact details of two people, who know that person well, e.g. family members or carers. These contacts can act as an “appropriate adult” if not directly involved in the investigation. In the case of an individual with autism, people who know them well are likely to offer the best support.”
And, like, yeah, as I said in the original post, this all seems well-intentioned, and maybe I’m just paranoid, but I don’t think that you can escape the end result of these projects: The police having a database of members of an oppressed, minority group.
What type of liberal bullshit is this???
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