Policy Brief: Autism and Policing

Ropar, Danielle; Holloway-George, Chloe

Abstract

More than one in 100 people in the UK are autistic. Despite the prevalence of autism within society, autistic people face barriers in
their everyday lives. One example of this is within the criminal justice system.

Autistic people are more likely to encounter the police, despite being no more likely to commit an offence than non-autistic people. Yet there is a lack of awareness of autism and other neurodivergent conditions within the police force that can cause distress to autistic
people when they interact with the police.

We found that the custody process and the environment of the custody suite were maladaptive for autistic peoples' needs. In
response to this, we co-developed training with autistic people and police officers to improve awareness of autism within the police force. We also improved the physical environment of a custody suite in a Nottinghamshire police station to make it better adapted for neurodivergent individuals. An evaluation of our training showed a significant increase in police officer's knowledge of autism. Many police officers also said this new knowledge would help them change their interactions with autistic people in future interactions.

Citation

Ropar, D., & Holloway-George, C. (2024). Policy Brief: Autism and Policing. University of Nottingham

• Report Type: Policy Document
• Online Publication Date: Jul 30, 2024
• Publication Date: Jul 30, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jul 30, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 12, 2024
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/37866335