Lynchburg to become first city to train all law enforcement on autism

LYNCHBURG, Va (WSET) -Lynchburg is on the verge of becoming the only city in the state to have all of its law enforcement trained how to recognize and respond to an individual with autism.

All 173 officers in the Lynchburg Police Department know what an autistic individual might be going through.

"It's not that they're mad, it's not that their angry, it's that they have a frustration of something in their body, something that's bothering them and they're trying to get it out and we need to try to understand," said Ronnie Sitler of the Lynchburg Police Department.

Commonwealth Autism offers training to teach officers and deputies how to de-escalate a situation involving someone with autism.

"It might be sensory overload, maybe it's too loud in the area, maybe there's too much chaos going on, it can be any number of things," said Didi Zaryczny of Commonwealth Autism.

"You've met one person with autism, you've only met that one person, there's not something that everyone reacts the same to everything," added Sitler.

From not being able to speak to a potential physical encounter, officials say they are ready for anything.

"You can kind of maybe gauge what you're dealing with and realize you have something especially if they can't speak or whatever their behavior is instead of taking that immediately as a threat," saidChief Deputy Don Sloan of the Lynchburg Sheriff's Office.

"It's not a matter of if you're ever going to run across this, you're going to run across it. And, if we can better recognize those type of situations then we can make everyone's day safer," added Sitler.

Commonwealth Autism not only provides training to law enforcement but the legal community, as well.

Law enforcement are also encouraging autistic individuals to take advantage of 'JP's Law,' which allows them to put their condition on their ID card.