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Originally Posted by rjolley
Thanks, just read through this.
Definitely is a hard problem to solve. Funding programs to help the public would be helpful as well as funding programs to help the officers mentally deal with the stress they have to deal with daily.
Getting rid of police departments doesn't make sense, but changing the way they interact with the public and requiring additional training to do so would go a long way.
Most people just want to be treated with respect and not assumed to be a criminal. Most aren't, actually. Going into every situation like you're about to deal with public enemy #1 can cause more stress than necessary.
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The closest real world example I have of this, is the cop that showed up to my son after he wrecked his car. My son is on the spectrum and didn't know how to respond, didn't tell the cop that he has issues, was nervous. The cop caught him lying right off the bat and hauled him out of the car. Pretty much accused him of being high and generally escalated the entire situation (I know, because they tried to call me, it went to voicemail, and they didn't hang up, so I heard over 2 minutes of back and forth). When I finally showed up, I filled the officer in on the situation, and he had no idea what Autism was, or how it was impact someone, and honestly, he didn't care either. He had no idea how to deal with a public who isn't fully equipped to deal with how to handle him, and he made my son feel like shit.