ASPartOfMe wrote:
This seems more about the boys ethnicity then his autistic traits or autism.
Curfew for school age kids during the school hours is another problem. Another example of school districts panning off thier responsibilities to law enforcement. What if the kid was sent home because he had a tummy ache?
That's how the article frames it, but we can't know the police officer's thinking and thus it's debatable. He's Hispanic and autistic, two characteristics that stick out like a sore thumb in a white socially conservative area. Unfortunately because of that he was virtually guaranteed to have interactions with police at some point or another. This is entirely why courts reject 'suspicious behavior' as probable cause, what's suspicious to one person is completely normal to another. Also of note, the family isn't suing the PD over racial profiling, rather they're suing to implement a training program to better equip officers in dealing with citizens that have developmental disabilities.
Quote:
It says that after a Utah Highway Patrol trooper arrived at the Duchesne Library to help, he noticed the boy was scared, shaken and disabled. He suggested to Boren that a trip to the zoo with officers could help him trust police again, but Boren replied, "If the boy can't be trusted on his own, we'll make sure he is not allowed to be out in public," according to court documents.
That in a nutshell is the problem with modern police culture: too many are more concerned with their macho tribal authority than diffusing dangerous situations.
26 Jul 2017, 7:02 am
