CISF to be trained in frisking passengers with autism soon
Security personnel at Delhi airport will be trained to be friendly to autistic passengers, who often don’t respond well to frisking or touch by strangers. The decision comes after a 15-year-old boy turned violent and scratched security personnel at Mumbai airport recently.
“We had a discussion with an NGO and they will train our frisking staff in dealing with an autistic passenger. People with autism can get agitated when touched by strangers. Security is of prime importance but at the same time, a passenger’s special needs should also be taken care of,” a CISF official said.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) provides security to airports across the country and has to often deal with autistic passengers at different airports. The training will start from Delhi airport and trained personnel will in turn sensitise others posted at different airports.
CISF director general OP Singh confirmed the move and said their objective is to provide ‘security without any inconvenience’.
“The NGO will help us with designing a training module and tell us how an autistic passenger reacts to different situations. We train our personnel in soft skills but after the Mumbai incident, we felt the need to train airport security staff in dealing with passengers with special needs too,” the official added.
On July 7, a boy tried to cross the security check at Mumbai airport.
When security personnel tried to stop him, the boy turned violent and had to be lifted out of security area. In the process he scratched the security personnel, who were taking him out. “His parents informed us later that he is autistic and has extreme aversion to being touched by strangers. They also showed medical certificate and were apologetic. But, we felt our staff should be trained in dealing with such a situation. However, we need cooperation of passengers also as they will have to tell us in advance,” the official added.
CISF may set up a separate frisking booth for autistic passengers as they need more time to cooperate with security staff.