Jill Woodworth

Chief Joseph Snyder & Officer Phillip Kraus of the New Paltz, NY Police Department discuss their background and experiences with community members that sparked the idea behind their new "Occupant with Autism" sticker. This sticker is a combination of police support & Autism Awareness and can be placed on a car or near the door of a home as a heads up for police that an individual within may be functioning differently. We also discuss feedback they've received thus far on this sticker within their community, both positive and negative, & potentially expanding outreach to other police departments. Officer Kraus also discusses his involvement in regional and departmental training on mental health issues, de-escalation & evaluation; providing access to resources instead of arresting and how this program could be expanded to include more autism awareness training. Both officers are open to feedback from their local community on the role of law enforcement when encountering those on the autism spe