7 police officers versus 1 autistic girl

[Green777]

https://metro.co.uk/video/teen-girl-autism-arrested-telling-officer-looks-like-lesbian-nana-2995683/

AIBU to think these Police officers should be disciplined for arresting this autistic

girl for a ‘hate crime’ then dragging her out of her home kicking and screaming?

The police officer who the girl said looked like her ‘lesbian nana’ seems very unprofessional.

I have a son the same age with the same disability. I don't really have to try too hard to imagine that part. What I can't imagine is letting him get into such an awful situation in the first place.

I don't want my police to have fragile egos and thin skins. I don't want them to react with violence to somebody's words.

THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO I WANT POLICING not to actually be the police.

FFS.

These police should be sacked and the force needs autism training asap. In fact, why the hell have they not already had this? I weep for the days when "inclusive" meant actually including all people and making adjustments for people with disabilities.

FuppingEll

Well aren’t you perfect.

Autism varies a lot in severity and in how it presents in girls and boys.

You don't let your vulnerable teen go out

How do you stop them?
Locking my son permanently in his room and putting bars over the window would be the only way I could guarantee to keep him in - but this is inhumane, plus it would never give him any opportunity to live a normal life (which many MNers would love!). You’d be criticised for keeping a dog this way, let alone a human!

Teenagers sneak out sometimes, some teenagers don’t.
By all accounts the girl left to follow her sister.

It doesn’t matter if what the kid said was way worse than what the mum has admitted, or if she has awful parents. Even if the body cam video shows her saying horribly abusive things, this is not an appropriate way to deal with it. She was not a physical threat and couldn’t be questioned until she’d sobered up anyway. They should have left and asked her to attend the station the next day with her mother. The arrest was punitive, it served no purpose in terms of investigation or public safety.

I would have thought that the Child Q case review would have led to police forces really looking at how they deal with vulnerable children, but sadly it appears not. Her mother should have been her appropriate adult.

It sounds like, like many 16 year olds, she lied to her parents about going to a sleepover and then snuck out to join her older sister. That happens to lots of parents of 16 year olds, whether they know it or not. But even if her parents were neglectful and letting her do it, that wouldn’t make treating her that way OK. Kids with shitty parents need more protection, not less.

@HatFamster

Your comments are misleading. The police have said "comments were made which resulted in the girl being arrested on suspicion of a homophobic offence." This is not the same as the police corroborating mums version of events that all she said was that police woman looked like her lesbian nana. Currently, we only have mums account of what was said and we do not have a record on camera of what exactly the girl had said.

Just to be clear that I think regardless of what the girl said, the police have acted completely inappropriately however I think we need to be accurate in what the police have actually said at this time.

I have to be honest, at first glance, I very much doubted she ‘just’ said ‘you look like my lesbian nana’ to the police officer, not at all, but that really doesn’t make a difference! The fact remains she is a teenager with a disability and she was treated appallingly. There was no reason to go in all heavy handed and haul her out there and then. I’m not the first to start shouting about how appalling all police officers are, because that’s not the case at all, but this is a fantastic example of a really shit one being backed by equally culpable colleagues.

@FuppingEll I’m autistic too.
I stuck to rules rigidly. If I was told to not go out, I’d have done that with bells on.
My son however is very different. I cannot keep him in, even if it’s for his own safety. So it’s a case of managing the situation as best you can. I haven’t had to involve the police, but could easily have been in that situation.

Not all autistic teenagers are the same. You cannot judge by your experience alone.

Fair enough, but the comment was made in her own home, which muddies whether the police acted within the law in this case.

Do we know how many teenagers carry knives these days?

Was she wearing a big badge saying disabled?

And disabled people can still really injure others...

Stopping your vulnerable teen from going out doesn’t give them life skills. And how on earth would that ever be possible. Parents need to work. Vulnerable teens need educating and to live full lives. I thought we’d moved away from locking up people with disabilities. 🤔

Oh fgs. She was not a threat. She was having a meltdown, the police invaded her space and escalated the situation.
Should the police arrest everyone in this way just in case they have a knife? Jesus, the police barely respond to assault or theft these days!

Does anyone know if this news story has made it to TV? I hope it does and I hope discussion programmes highlight it. Show these police officers up for who they are on national TV.

Since when is homophobia ok?

How is saying that someone looks like their lesbian Nanna homophobia? (Unless they’re Nannaphobic and so homophobic by some sort of transitive property.)

Was she wearing a big badge saying disabled?

What like a big symbol on her clothes signalling her out at "other"

Yeah I don't think that's a path that ends well personally

Its disappointing people are defending this arrest. This is not how I want to be policed. There are some situations where I can imagine debating the rights and wrongs - but not this one. She is a minor? A female child with a disability. The police absolutely do not have grounds to hold her in custody and I expect it will have been a traumatic experience. I hope this results in disciplinary action but doubt it.

What a shame she forgot to wear her black triangle badge in her own home.

On the video the police offer is told very clearly that the child is autistic. I also assume they'd been told this previously when the older sister called for them to help her get her sister home, after she left the house without her parent's consent and/or knowledge.

The female officer also very clearly states that she doesn't care.

I have found this video very upsetting - its distressing on so many levels. She could have been asked to come to the police station in the morning with her mum for a caution and have it explained to her what homophobic comments were. It was clearly the blonde police woman who was presumably triggered from past experiences....but choosing to lose it at a 14 year old - a vulnerable 14 year old with disabilities - I hope this police woman is sacked because if she can't be trusted not to lose her cool with a vulnerable 14 year old I have not hope she is going to keep her cool in any situation.
The police woman was clearly trying to 'win'...I am guessing now this video is circulating she doesn't feel as victorious as she thought she was going to feel.

@Simonjt
So it was in her own home? Why were police called there?

Letting your 16yo autistic child go out on the piss and be brought home by the police does not teach life skills. The parents clearly weren't at work, they were right there yelling at the police, inflaming an already inflamed situation. Absolutely nobody is saying people with disabilities should be locked up and if you can't see a difference between letting a vulnerable disabled teenager go out on the piss and locking them up then I suggest some parenting courses. There are plenty of age-appropriate, safe activities that teach appropriate socialisation and life skills that a 16yo can be involved in and none of them involve being out pissed at 1am and being brought home by the police.

In fact I am really shocked that as a mother of an autistic person you would even suggest that what that child was involved in was some kind of 'life skills' lesson?

FuppingEll

So you’re saying teens with autism shouldn’t be doing what NT teens do?

Funny that is exactly the opposite of what we’ve been advised by services. Sometimes things don’t go to plan. That happens with all teens let alone those with ND. I have let my ND Dd out on an evening with boundaries that escalated into drinking too much and bolting. We learn and move on.

And the similar number to brethalise me?

I was 200 hundred miles from home, so if I had been 'known' it wasn't to the local police.

Lesbians are awesome. No need to get upset and arrest someone for mentioning the word lesbian.