SWAMPSCOTT — The Police Department has announced that it will be proudly participating in the Blue Envelope Program, an initiative based around making interactions between law enforcement and individuals with autism spectrum disorder smoother and safer, according to the Department’s post on Facebook.
The new program is in collaboration with the Massachusetts State Police, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts, the Arc of Massachusetts, and individuals with autism and their families.
Envelopes can be found at the town’s Police Department on Humphrey Street or any Massachusetts State Police Barracks. Individuals can receive the state-issued envelope that contains their essential documents (license, registration and a contact card), which will alert the responding officer that the person they’re communicating with has autism.
Special Officer Brian Wilson spoke about the impact he hopes it has on the department and the community as a whole.
“This is something that I’ve learned about from seeing it in other police departments, and I know in our community there’s a population that is autistic,” Wilson explained. “This is a program that was adopted to make the experience with police for autistic people easier.”
Wilson continued, “So, if you have a motor vehicle stop, the idea is that the person places their license and registration in the envelope and hands that to the officer… There’s a series of statements on the envelope that explains that the person has autism and that they’re not trying to be difficult, instead of situations escalating to levels they don’t need to get to.”
“Sometimes, people aren’t trying to be standoffish, it’s just something they can’t avoid, so it makes the encounter better for the officer, as well as the person involved in the stop,” Wilson said.
Wilson added that he thinks it’s a good direction to take because some situations tend to go bad for no reason at all. “It’s definitely a good thing, and it’s intended to make sure things don’t even get to that point,” Wilson said. “It’s a positive thing to get out there for people.”
