CORONA, Calif. – Lillian Vasquez has been using a negative interaction between a police officer and her son as a learning tool to teach law enforcement officers in departments in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties over the last nine years. 

Vasquez is a journalist with KVCR, an NPR station, located in the Inland Empire and serves as an Autism Society Inland Empire board member. She's married to a retired California Highway Patrolman and is a mother to two children. Her son, 20-year-old Grant Wisegarver, is on the autism spectrum. 

Vasquez says a few years ago, her son and his caretaker were at the Rialto Public Library when he became agitated because they had to leave the computer area since the library was closing early. Her son raised his voice and the librarian, not realizing that he was on the autism spectrum, called police. 

“Law enforcement handcuffed him. It was one of our local police departments here in the Inland Empire. I was devastated, but I understand. I’m married to a police officer so I understand. I get both sides,” said Vasquez.

As the wife of an experienced law enforcement officer and a mother to a child with special needs, Vasquez realized she needed to bridge the gap between the police and autistic people. Vasquez reached out to Rialto Police Department, spoke to officers and conducted a training class so cops on the street could understand how a special needs person needs to be approached and talked to when responding to a call. 

“I’ve personally trained somewhere between 500 to 600 officers and we offer the training to every police department in both counties,” said Vasquez. 

However, not every department has been on board. With the ones that are, Vasquez says she has spent a lot of time training higher ranked officers, but she’d like to speak to the men and women who are on the ground and are more likely to come across an individual with special needs. 

“The training won’t work every time for every officer, but I would guarantee that some of the situations will go better if the officer knows what autism is, how to recognize it and how to combat it and how to deal with it when you’re on that call,” said Vasquez.

Last Friday, an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer shot three people and killed a man who his family described as having an intellectual disorder. Vasquez was reminded that she needs to continue to train officers and people who have special needs or knows someone who does. 

Vasquez recommends teaching and training a person with autism to let responding officers know of their special needs when they’re approached by an officer. She also recommends caretakers to speak up and let the officer know that they’re taking care of an individual who is on the spectrum. 

As for officers, Vasquez says they need to remember that they have to think differently when they approach an individual with special needs. 

“If you can handle it by calming your voice, lower your voice and don't think that the individual with autism isn’t giving you respect. They don’t know how to handle themselves in the situation that they’re in,” said Vasquez. 

She says violent and traumatic interactions between law enforcement officers and adults with special needs are painful for both sides, so it’s best to be open to training to increase the chances of a safe interaction.