Bill to require autism training

Law establishes police program

A bill mandating autism awareness training for Florida’s police departments will be back before legislature this session, and it has taken on new urgency after an autism-related police shooting in North Miami over the summer.

The bill was first pushed last year by a worried Pembroke Pines father. He had heard the mother of an autistic teen speak to her son, who just got his driver’s license.

“Her first order was, ‘If you’re stopped by police, take your hands off the wheel, throw your arms out the window and yell, ‘I’m autistic,’ ” said Tim Arnwine, whose autistic teenage son Shane did not speak until he was five years old.

Arnwine contacted state Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Hollywood, who filed a bill for the 2016 legislative session that would have mandated autism training for police officers. The bill passed unanimously through two out of three committees in the Senate, but never got a hearing in the House.

Jenne has filed the bill again for the 2017 legislative session, which begins March 7. It would require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to create a four-hour autism training program that would count toward the 40 hours of training officers must complete every four years.

There is still no comparable bill in the Senate. The previous Senate sponsor, state Sen. Chris Smith, DFort Lauderdale, was termlimited out of office.

The issue was spotlighted this year after an incident on July 18 in North Miami, in which Officer

Jonathan Aledda shot the caretaker of an autistic man, 26-year-old Arnaldo Rios.

Rios wandered away from a group home, and police received a call about a suicidal man with a gun wandering the street. But Rios had a toy truck, not a weapon. His caretaker, behavioral therapist Charles Kinsey, was trying to calm Rios when Aledda pulled his weapon. He shouted to police that Rios did not have a weapon. Yet when Rios held the truck up, Aledda opened fire, hitting Kinsey in the leg.

Aledda was placed on administrative leave. An investigation by both the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Department of Justice is ongoing. According to a police union representative, Aledda believed Rios was armed and fired his weapon to protect Kinsey, but struck Kinsey by accident. Kinsey is suing Aledda.

“For everyone, from the officer to the person who was shot, this is probably the worst day of their life,” Jenne said. “I talked to law enforcement to try to come up with a bill they feel comfortable with as well. This isn’t a blame bill. This isn’t to say you messed up. This is to help people.”

Matt Puckett, executive director of the Florida Police Benevolent Association, said, “North Miami kind of highlights the need for more training. So we’re in support of the training . ... We’ll be active participants and supporters.”

Arnwine, a former paramedic who helped develop protocols for emergency medical technicians in recognizing patients with autism, hopes that teaching police will prevent a tragedy.

“One in 68 kids are diagnosed with autism, so all police are eventually going to run into someone with autism,” Arnwine said. “A person with autism may never look you in the eye. They may laugh inappropriately. They may parrot you. They’ll make odd, sudden movements which the police might mistake, like hand flapping or hand washing. They might crouch and cover their ears. They might even run away. But they’re not running away from the officer, they’re running to a place where they can get their heads together.”