TRI-CITIES, Wash. – Project Guardian is making a difference in the Tri-Cities by helping law enforcement better assist individuals with special needs. This free, voluntary database allows families to register critical information, ensuring those with special needs receive appropriate care and attention when interacting with police.
Christine Lindgren, co-founder of Project Guardian and director at Responding to Autism, explained how the program operates.
“Project Guardian is a database that law enforcement kind of puts information in for high-risk individuals with autism and other disabilities,” Lindgren said. “So that allows officers to be able to recognize when a person has a disability and maybe they’re lost or confused or need to be found or just helped.”
Initially starting with the Arc of Tri-Cities and the Kennewick Police Department in 2012, the program has expanded to include Richland, West Richland, and Pasco. The database provides officers with access to a current picture of the individual, emergency contact information, and specific details about their disability.
Officer Jesus Contreras with the Kennewick Police Department emphasized the importance of this information.
“Such as if they react negatively to a high-pitched noise like a siren, or if they also react negatively to the strobing lights.” Officer Contreras said. “We can also make changes to how we’re contacting that person to make them feel safer and also be more approachable.”
Lindgren noted that hundreds of families have already registered online and offers peace of mind to parents and guardians.
“They might do something that a police officer may misunderstand and think that there’s aggression or non-responsive or noncompliant and and in actuality, that’s not the case,” Lindgren said. “I think there’s aspects of that that can really help a family or a parent feel more of a sense of safety.”
For more information or to register for Project Guardian, interested families can visit the program’s website.
