[BBC] Metropolitan Police officers assaulted autistic boy

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17366756

The police say they were in the right to hand and leg cuff him and 'had no choice' and are appealing, they are certainly not sorry and clearly would/will do it again.

Jumping in the pool and not wanting to go home is just the sort of thing autistic teens do, lots of kids at my daughters autism school do that sort of thing, why did the teachers not handle it better? why did the pool people call the police? It shows a complete lack of training for all involved.

Once my teen daughter would not come down from the school climbing frame and after several hours the school called me to coax her down, I was really cross how they dealt with it but I cant imagine that they would have called the police instead, seems ridiculous!

and its definitely all about training and how the situation is dealt with, my daughters had several changes of teachers over the last year and some get involved in massive situations with loads of 'handling' (physical restraint by several staff) where as other teachers deal with the situation much better and defuse it calmly and only rarely end up 'handling'. My daughter hates it when she gets 'handled' and says its the most frightening experience ever.

I am glad that I am not in the UK now cause I love to jump in the water fully clothed, although I can swim well.

Anyway...they cant even bother to apologize and want to appeal it?? what jerks!

I agree, the police involved should have personal consequences, not just the taxpayers taking responsibility for them.

Jojo

Agree with most of the comments. The police should be held accountable for their actions. I don't know if it's like this in the UK but in the US it seems police are becoming more like bullies than the kind of people you'd expect who protect and serve.

It may not be long until there's another report about this. My family are currently in the middle of a law suit against the police because I was assaulted by them last summer, and was restrained with handcuffs and held down my three police officers. I hadn't commited any crime. The police were called out because, and I quote, 'There's a weird-looking girl without any shoes on near the golf course'. I live next to this golf course, which is in the Hampshire countryside (in the UK) and have walked there for years. My feet were hot, so I took my shoes off. I had a paper hat on. That's all.

Naturally, I freaked and ran away at the sight of the police because I don't like strangers coming near me and they were wearing fleuroescent jackets that were just to bright, because I have such heightened senses. I was physically assaulted and repeatedly insulted whilst under police care. It was awful. They handcuffed me simply for trying to make myself feel safe. I didn't understand what I had done wrong. I still don't. They wanted me to talk, and I couldn't, because I had gone into shut down mode.

The way the police dealt with the situation was inappropriate. I was twelve years old, and treated in such a way that seven months on I still have scars on my feet and hands, and was severely psychologically damaged.

The police need more training in how to deal with aspies and auties, in fact anyone with special needs, because they were just as rough when they had seen my autism badge and medical alert necklace.

I'm glad the boy was given the £28,000.

This is being discussed on Channel 4 News right now. A woman from NAS and a young woman, Robyn, with Asperger's are being interviewed about it.