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. 2025 Sep 1.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-06994-7. Online ahead of print.

A Critical Exploration of Police Officers' Interactions with Black Autistic Youth and the Guidance Black Caregivers Hope Police Officers Will Follow

Ashlee Yates Flanagan  1 , Haley Peele  2 , Elsia Obus  3 , Keeana Dicette  4   5 , Trenesha L Hill  6 , Naomi Yu  4   7 , Grace Hicks  4 , Maggie Rose Pelella  4 , Ayana King-Pointer  4 , Jamiel Owens  4 , Dieu M Truong  8 , Aili Hauptmann  4 , Meredith Cola  4   9   10 , Nakaja Weaver  4 , Juan Pacheco  11 , Alison Russell  12 , Amanda Lee  4 , Sarah Schillinger  4 , Maxine Covello  4 , Meg Lyons  4 , Rita Solórzano  13 , Sinan Turnacioglu  13 , Vijay Ravindran  13 , Joseph P McCleery  4   11 , Judith S Miller  4   14 , Julia Parish-Morris  4   14
Affiliations

A Critical Exploration of Police Officers' Interactions with Black Autistic Youth and the Guidance Black Caregivers Hope Police Officers Will Follow

Ashlee Yates Flanagan et al. J Autism Dev Disord. .

Abstract

Interactions between Black children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and law enforcement officers (LEOs) raise significant concern for caregivers of Black autistic youth. The current qualitative study collected data from March 2021 to June 2022 and employs phenomenological methodology to understand Black caregivers' wishes regarding ideal policing behaviors toward Black autistic youth and to uncover Black autistic children's interactions with police, in order to better inform policing practices. The sample (N = 43; 93% mothers, 7% fathers) includes participants who self-identify as Black or African American and are caregivers of Black autistic children (M age: 16.5). Regarding caregivers' desired policing behaviors, findings demonstrated three primary themes: (1) a virtuous approach to policing, (2) use of nonthreatening body language, and (3) the use of basic helpful communication skills as preferred policing techniques. Findings also revealed policing interactions were thematically clustered as Negative, Neutral, and/or Community Centered and took place in the School Environment, Close to Home, or On the Road. Findings demonstrate necessary interventions for interactions between Black autistic youth and LEOs.

Keywords: Autism; Black; Caregivers; Law enforcement; Police; Qualitative.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: Rita Solórzano, Sinan Turnacioglu, and Vijay Ravindran are employed by Floreo Inc., and Joseph McCleery is a paid consultant. There are no other conflicts of interest to disclose. Ethical Approval: The Institutional Review Board of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia provided approval and oversight for this study. All participants provided consent to participate in the study.

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