On 23 October 2019, Dr Chloe Holloway and Dr Nell Munro organised a major session on Autism and Policing at the Law Enforcement and Public Health Conference (LEPH) in Edinburgh. Dr Holloway chaired the panel and representatives from the Nottinghamshire Autism Police Partnership were invited to present.
Dr Chloe Holloway opened the session by highlighting the negative experiences of autistic individuals in police custody and the need to improve support through changes to practice, the custody environment and policy. Mr Nicholas Clarke spoke about his personal experiences in the criminal justice system and emphasised the repeated failures of health and criminal justice professionals to listen to his voice.
Dr Katie Maras (University of Bath) outlined her work into how to interview autistic witnesses and victims and the need to make adaptations to the police interview. Inspector Duncan Collins (Nottinghamshire Police) showcased the design of a new custody suite in Nottingham and discussed how he had made adaptations to the design in order to improve accessibility for autistic individuals.
Dr Danielle Ropar (School of Psychology) closed the event and spoke about the work of NAPP to improve the support of autistic individuals in police custody.
The LEPH Conference is a biannual conference which explores the different interactions between police and public health. The conference is attended by professionals from across different health and criminal justice services in the UK and internationally.
Posted on Friday 25th October 2019