{"id":364437,"date":"2026-08-06T16:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364437\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:12:08","slug":"why-tallahassee-police-are-getting-extra-autism-training-and-offering-decals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364437\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Tallahassee police are getting extra autism training and offering decals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the U-S. The CDC reports<\/a> that 1 in every 31 children is on the autism spectrum, and more adults are being diagnosed.<\/p>\n

In the Big Bend, a free resource for these individuals and their families is the Florida State University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (FSU CARD<\/a>). Director Catherine Zenko says Florida lawmakers established seven of these centers<\/a> statewide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were put in statute over 35 years ago, they were very specific that they want these regional autism centers to cover the entire lifespan of citizens in Florida. So, we\u2019re over 7,000 people who are registered in 18 counties,\u201d Zenko says.<\/p>\n

On Speaking Of, we hear about efforts by the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) to improve outcomes for people on the autism spectrum who interact with law enforcement.<\/p>\n

A weekly deep dive into Tallahassee’s most talked about news topic. Hosted by Gina Jordan every Thursday.<\/p>\n

TPD recently announced<\/a> its Approach with Care Autism Awareness Initiative. It includes additional training for officers, plus free decals to alert law enforcement that someone in a vehicle during a traffic stop may have autism.<\/p>\n

TPD Deputy Chief Jeff Mahoney was the catalyst. It started when he met a fellow dad on a park playground about eight months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was swinging my son, he was swinging his son, and we quickly started a conversation, and we both realized that we were dealing with the same thing,\u201d Mahoney recounted at the TPD news conference announcing the initiative. \u201cBoth of our sons are nonverbal and have autism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their meeting led to a proposal that Mahoney presented to TPD Chief Lawrence Revell.
\u201cIt was a yes right away,\u201d Mahoney said.<\/p>\n

The other dad that helped create the initiative is Shon Strickland, owner of Midtown Print. He also spoke at TPD\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spend a lot of my life trying to understand how my son sees the world. It\u2019s different from how I see it, and it\u2019s wonderful,\u201d Strickland said. \u201cMy son can\u2019t always show what he\u2019s feeling the way other people do. In a tense moment, that could be misunderstood, and that\u2019s the thing that scares parents like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important that law enforcement officers \u2013 because they have to be so alert on things \u2013 to also be able to identify those signs,\u201d says Juming Delmas, \u201cand I think these decals are brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delmas\u2019 son is on the spectrum, and that inspired him to create the Infinite Spectrum Foundation<\/a> in Tallahassee. He says the officer training component is crucial, as more people are being diagnosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that officers are gonna really need to hone in on understanding the behavior of people on the spectrum and also understanding (how) to truly de-escalate situations,\u201d Delmas says.<\/p>\n

FSU CARD is helping train law enforcement. The center has long been a guiding light for people on the spectrum, serving as a free resource covering 18 counties around the Big Bend.<\/p>\n

\u201cAutism is such a broad spectrum. The definition has evolved over the years. It casts a very wide net,\u201d Zenko says, noting that law enforcement often cannot tell someone has autism just by looking at them.<\/p>\n

She says the decals can make a difference. \u201cIf they don\u2019t know that the person has autism, watching the way that they are acting – reacting – could be misinterpreted as harmful, as aggressive, as something that justifies the use of force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zenko says officers are required to have autism training compiled by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and they can take an optional 8-hour course as well. Other trainings include using virtual reality to interact with someone on the spectrum, then flipping the scenario so that the officer is the person on the spectrum.<\/p>\n

Part of their efforts include fundraising<\/a> so every officer can have sensory bags<\/a>. If someone is distressed or a situation needs de-escalation, these bags would include items like fidget cubes, a communication board, and stress balls. Zenko says they plan to look for community partners to help put together 500 bags to dole out to officers.<\/p>\n

For a free care decal, visit:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Florida State University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (FSU CARD<\/a>)
\u2022 Leon County Schools
\u2022 Behavioral Management Consultants (BMC)
\u2022 Cayer Behavioral Group
\u2022 Children’s Home Society Early Steps
\u2022 MidTown Print<\/p>\n

Click LISTEN above to hear the full segment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the U-S. The CDC reports that 1 in every…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-364437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}