10 supporters are talking about petitions related to Police!
As an autistic youth myself, I agree will force that this man did not have to be killed. I looked for a petition on this website to speak out about what happened to Victor Perez. That's because my mom recently told me about him, and that she's worried now because the way my autistic meltdowns look could apparently be a death sentence. No one deserves to die because of a who they are or what they look like. This is why I believe that education on autism and other physical, mental, and developmental disabilities for emergency responders like police is a necessity.
My youngest brother is on the spectrum so this hit me really hard. Victor didn't deserve this. Not just Idaho police but ALL police should be trained to handle situations such as this better. Victor should still be here. This was preventable and could've been de-escalated if the cops would've just had better training and stopped to listen to Victor's family members. Do better. Be better.
Through the years I have gotten the chance to meet many autistic children and adults. They're the most amazing souls I ever met. I hope that Idaho can see the wrong that was done and actually do something to fix it. We are all just people trying to live life with the difficulties that we were dealt, things need to change.
This was reprehensible. The police made a choice, with a choice comes consequences. They should encounter the hand of the law and be convicted. The education is good for new recruits, let’s make Pocatello a safer place. This is incompetent in the police oathe to serve and protect. Victor died, this never ever should happen again. Prayers for this family, my deepest condolences
My daughter is expected to be autistic and we are going through the process to get properly diagnosed. This is something that I wouldn’t want to happen to her or any other autistic person due to police force ignorance.
Where I live, we have a Crisis Intervention Team (first responders) with special training for situations the police might not handle properly. Great idea, but the training doesn't cover meltdowns or anything else related to ASD.
This story was awful to me and someone who has a brother with autism this hit close to home. I think it would greatly benefit our community if all Idaho officers were mandated to take a class on how to better hand these situations.
This should have never happened!! Officers should already be trained in this area!! As the Mom of 2 boys with autism... Absolutely horrific and heartbreaking!!
I work with children/teens with Autism. This was an unnecessary loss of someone’s life. There didn’t seem to be any de-escalation efforts made. How many officers with guns and bullet-proof vests vs. a young man with a knife and a fence between the officers? There was time to de-escalate. Again, this was an unnecessary death. We expect better.
I have family with disabilities and they have already been victims of excessive police force. I believe that if the police have better knowledge and access to these trainings it would help make a safer future for our communities.