Autistic girl 16 arrested for saying police officer looked like her lesbian nana

Heavy handed is the kindest thing you could say.

Why don’t the police get on with catching criminals and not bumping up their stats with soft targets. ?
(Rhetorical question)

Anyone with a relative who is neurodivergent should be concerned by this…

1. It does seem very very wrong

2. I'm waiting for the full report as only parts of the whole situation were filmed not by the police and posted on social media.

When I called the police because two hooligans were jumping on the roof of my neighbour's car (he was away from home), trying the door handles and throwing beer bottles in the road - they couldn't even find one officer to attend.

I make no judgement on this particular incident - the video is, as said, only a snapshot of the incident, the police do face abuse and - did they know she was autistic?

However, after they were informed she was autistic, did they really need to take her into custody? Couldn't this have been dealt with in the home? There was a time when police officers had the intelligence and wit to warn young people, in the presence of their parents, and caution them.

We know a young woman who is severely autistic with many other problems. She says inappropriate things all the time. She can't help it.

Wyllow3

1. It does seem very very wrong

2. I'm waiting for the full report as only parts of the whole situation were filmed not by the police and posted on social media.

I agree. Apparently, she was found drunk in town and the police took her home. The mother started shouting at the police and the girl then said the policewoman looked like a lesbian. It sounds as though the police have been heavy-handed, but I'd rather wait for the whole story.

Is looking like a lesbian a bad thing. The phrase is playing to some stereotypes but I find it homophobic if its seen as an insult.

It all depends if she was out of control, the police would not know that she was autistic and took her into custody for her own protection.

This happens regularly, with anyone who is not behaving reasonably, often drunk, high on drugs or just plain aggressive.

As ever, there is probably more to this tale. The girl didn’t say the PC looked like her nana, she said she looked like a lesbian. I think there’s a difference. As Galaxy says, is saying someone ‘looks like a lesbian’ a bad thing?
I suspect mischief making by the girl’s mother.

So do I.

It might be or it might be rubbish interpretation of hate speech law. It's going to be interesting if hate speech legislation ends up disproportionately impacting a protected group.

"Officers had driven the young woman home after her family told the police she "was intoxicated in the city centre,"
She allegedly made the comment upon her return and was then dragged away screaming after having been accused of homophobia.' This was at 1am on Monday.

The homophobic comment doesn't bother me; what does is that a 16 year old, designated autistic by her mother, is drunk at midnight in the city centre and the family, aware of this but apparently unable to collect the girl themselves,called the police to bring her home, which they did. She then behaved abusively.
The family's response: to film the incident and circulate it immediately.
Autism is far too frequently used as an excuse for bad behaviour; it would be interesting to see what sort of diagnosis this girl has, but that of course will be confidential.
The police officer she called a lesbian nana has her photograph and name published in the paper.

Great mother- not. Who would ask police to collect their own daughter and what is the daughter doing being drunk underage anyway? The mother should be held to account.

It said on TV this morning that the girl said the police woman looked like her lesbian nana.

Even if they were told the girl was autistic they probably don’t know what being autistic even means. They know everything there is to know about painting rainbows on police cars but not about disabilities. they need educating.

Galaxy

Is looking like a lesbian a bad thing. The phrase is playing to some stereotypes but I find it homophobic if its seen as an insult.

Ofgs

Was she “arrested” or “taken into custody”. They are two different things.

People who are drunk and violent are usually taken into custody for their own protection as well as that if those around them.

You have a point, nanna!
When mother rung police, surely she would have given autism situation immediately? Yet they didn't know at that crucial point.

The police get involved sadly too often on cases where some degree of any MH or neurodivergent difficulties are in the mix and its necessary for a MH evaluation - and help.

Primrose53

It said on TV this morning that the girl said the police woman looked like her lesbian nana.

Even if they were told the girl was autistic they probably don’t know what being autistic even means. They know everything there is to know about painting rainbows on police cars but not about disabilities. they need educating.

Hmm, she was ok to be handled to get her in the Police car in the City Centre and be driven home in a car with the Police officers. Her autism didn’t stop her doing that and they obviously knew something about autism if they were able to accomplish that.

And then she kicked off on arrival at home.

What does that tell you?

It's quite complex sometimes to work with someone with autism who is upset, I have done it for 30 years and see skilled staff including myself getting it wrong at times. I am not really sure if the police are the best people to deal with those incidents but there arent really other options. I have had experiences regarding the police and young people I work with that really havent been great.

Well...it tells me things maybe weren't entirely right at home, thats speculation of course, and be that as it may:

but what mum of an autistic child would decide to splash their child's ID all over social media

I am not sure you can say that Lathyrus, I have seen children with autism manage their feelings for a long time and then a seemingly small issue can spark difficulties. I say small issue, it may seem small to me but not to them.

People in general have little understanding of autism. As a kid I had several good thrashings and clips round the ear - for being disobedient, spoilt, dramatic and unladylike. My meltdowns were temper tantrums, breath-holding was attention-seeking - and so on. Nothing much has changed.

Seems to be a growing trend that any altercations with Police are filmed and uploaded to social media, this is the second in a matter of weeks the first being the lady who declined to show her ticket to the ticket inspector.

I hope the police has their personal cameras on and that these will show the sequence of events.

Being neurodivergent is difficult enough on a day to day basis, if the young person was intoxicated it could heighten any autistic traits.

I'm the mother of a police officer who is often at pains to defend them from unfair attacks. My son says the police now have too many officers who are unfit for the job. That not one of those seven officers tried to calm the situation is most disturbing. The body cams of the officers are being viewed and hopefully the truth will out. Whatever the outcome, that officer on being reminded the girl is autistic and is having a meltdown (she is seen hitting herself in the face while crouched down in the cupboard) replies "I don't care"..... well you should, you really should.