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

I smell mischief making.
It’s a shame there isn’t more media coverage of when the police and others in authority get it right, which they do every day. It’s good they wear body cam’s now to show the reality.

Hetty58

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.

I totally agree, we have had so many stares and comments over the years when our darling GS has had a meltdown in a public place.

Life is hard enough for them, attitudes of others make things harder.

She was 16 picked up drunk in town, had to be taken home by the police, where she's seen hiding in a cupboard and banging her head against a wall. The mother is berating the police.
Supposing they had walked away and left her there and she had had been injured. The parents evidently couldn't manage her.

A complete waste of police time, but it was the mother who called them out.

GrannyGravy13 I totally agree, we have had so many stares and comments over the years when our darling GS has had a meltdown in a public place.

Life is hard enough for them, attitudes of others make things harder.

Yes further to my post at 9.55 I too have a grandson with severe autism as well as other co-morbidities so am very versed in public meltdowns and the guaranteed stares and comments. I see this from both sides and am still disgusted by the "I don't care" officer.

Glorianny A complete waste of police time, who decided it needed seven officers to arrest one 16 year old girl? Are they so overmanned this is a normal number to respond to any incident?

OK, if the mother/parent alerted the police to the young person’s whereabouts, why didn’t she go and get her child?

Going by my experience of autism, the young person must have been fairly high functioning to be out in town at midnight?

The police should never be used as a taxi service

The Police Officers who allegedly said I don’t care when informed that the young person was autistic needs to have training regarding neurodivergence.

Obviously this is just my musings as we have no firm evidence to the sequence of events.

Rosie51

Glorianny A complete waste of police time, who decided it needed seven officers to arrest one 16 year old girl? Are they so overmanned this is a normal number to respond to any incident?

No it's simply how t works. The first two officers brought her home where things kicked off. Those two could not deal with her after she began name calling, so had to call out more. An officer who is alleged to have done something or witnessed something cannot then deal with the victim.

I imagine it's very hard dealing with a teenager with autism, or who is neurodivergent, but the last thing that will help in any situation is to splash the whole thing on social media.

Maybe the girl was out on the town because the mother can't control her daughter, it does happen, but even so, the first avenue to go down when you think there's been a mis-handling of the situation by the police - is not social media.

And, frankly, although the police are being made aware of mental health problems in young people and training is given, it really is not their job to deal with this. It is the job of the overstretched and underfunded mental health services who need to be working with the parents - parents who will hopefully be advised that using social media to air grievances in the first instance is absolutely the wrong way to deal with an incident like this.

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.

Even if they were told the girl was autistic they probably don’t know what being autistic even means.

I'm not always impressed by the way the police handle incidents and 'situations', but I think you do them a real disservice to say they probably don't know what being autistic means. Maybe there are some who really don't, but I honestly believe that most of them do - to some extent at least. They are not, and can't be expected to be, experts in the field of mental health problems.

I agree they cant be experts in a range of conditions but the figures I am hearing are now predictions of 1 in 10, (its 1 in 35 I think in the states currently) and certainly what I am seeing in schools is something different to previous numbers, we are not talking small numbers anymore .

I agree with Dickens here. My daughter is a highly trained Forensic Custody nurse and sees people like this in custody on a daily basis. The police personnel that she works with most certainly know about Autism and usually go out of their way to make the person feel safe in what are very difficult circumstances. It's easy to have a go at the police but it is insulting to suggest that they don't know what they are doing.!! The parents are at fault here.

I don't blame the parents for calling the police. Who else can you call for the 'drunk and disorderly'? Services are cut to the bone and any drunk 16 year old is vulnerable. We don't know the circumstances or why a parent couldn't be there. Autistic teenagers can be extremely strong and a danger to themselves and others.

I do know that a meltdown is completely terrifying. You can't do what they ask you to. You're very frightened by their orders and all the shouting, being touched or crowded. The only thing I could ever do was to hold my breath until I passed out.

A drunk and disorderly 16 year old’s mother exposes her on social media

Anniebach, the police returned her home - and that should have been the end of it. I really can't fathom why they then arrested her. Maybe it was just because they can? Perhaps because her mother was saying they can't? It makes no sense at all. Her comment wasn't homophobic.

Do we know what she said ?

If you watched the film clip you could see for yourself what took place.
Most PP s have got it totally wrong yet are very high handed as if they and only they know what happened.

The female officer really stirred th pot. The 16 year old told her mothe that the blonde officer looked like 'nana julie".
who is a lesbian. How is that ofensive?

why 7 officers?

No-one mentioned that the girl also has scoloris (sp) and when grabbed by her arms she screamed IN PAIN. the police refused to listen to mum trying to explain.

The police are in the wrong here as are some posters.

I have seen one film clip, cannot see how many police officers were there , I didn’t hear what the girl said

I think it was a clip posted on Mumsnet and orginated from Twitter. I don't do Twitter so cannot check.

It is clear the girl is frightened. I would have ben too in that situation of being trapped in a small space, cupboard,and hear the officer say they didn't care that she had Autism.

It could have been avoided, why was a 16 year old out at that time of night getting drunk and why didn’t her mother or a family member bring her home.

I thought the police were not attending mental health issue cases.

Hetty58

Anniebach, the police returned her home - and that should have been the end of it. I really can't fathom why they then arrested her. Maybe it was just because they can? Perhaps because her mother was saying they can't? It makes no sense at all. Her comment wasn't homophobic.

Clearly we haven't got the full story.

As if 7 police would be called to a incident of dropping a drunk 16 year old home.

Grantanow

I thought the police were not attending mental health issue cases.

Autism is not mental health 😡😡😡

Rosie51

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.

Such a good post
Thank you Rosie

There was another incident of an autistic boy accidentally dropping the Quran and was faced with a hate crime charge if he and his mother didn't apologise.

These very
Poor interpretations of the law are giving good hard working policemen a bad name.

We really really need the full picture, I feel. I've thought a lot about this today - I had some very kind officers last year when faced with abusive husband but they were with community police who have more training in those areas.

It definitely seems like they did not handle it at all well at points - but how much can we expect of the ordinary on duty night police given the complexity of the many different MH and Neurodiverse people in a state of crisis and situations they might encounter as well as drugs crime, violence on streets, burglaries....

Anniebach

It could have been avoided, why was a 16 year old out at that time of night getting drunk and why didn’t her mother or a family member bring her home.

She was staying with her older sister and went to a Pride event. She got drunk and her sister could not contact their Mum to arrange to get her home. Her Mum was asleep, she is a cancer survivor.

The sister then rang the Police for help to get her home and says she told them she was autistic.