The family of an autistic child, who was assaulted by a police officer in school, have called for officers to receive mandatory training on how to deal with children with similar conditions.
One of the boy’s relatives, who we can’t identify for legal reasons, told Channel 4 News: “I am so angry.
It should become legal that they have this training when they go into the police force.”.
A Home Office spokesperson said they “continue to work closely across government on a national neurodiversity strategy”.
Merseyside Police say since this case, all of their officers based in schools have been given extra training.
The ‘Neurodiversity in the criminal justice system‘ review highlighted training as a significant gap with most staff reporting “little or no training”.
The review says specialist training should be developed and delivered to staff working within criminal justice services, including mandatory training for front line staff. »