New Florida Bill Would Require Police to Be Trained on Handling People With Autism

A new bill was filed before the Florida Legislature on Dec. 12 that aims to make training on how to properly identify and handle people with autism spectrum disorder mandatory for law enforcement officers. Filed by Rep. Paula Stark, the legislation (pdf) calls for law enforcement to participate in a minimum of four hours of in-person training from both current and recruited officers. “One in 36 children have autism in the U.S.,” Ms. Stark told The Epoch Times, which, she pointed out, was an increase from one in 44. “This is increasingly a potential hazard for first responders who are called to situations involving autistic persons.”...