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County police offer voluntary special needs registration

Brunswick News - 9/30/2021

Sep. 30—The Glynn County Police Department is offering a voluntary program to register residents with special needs, a system that could make encounters between officers and such people go more smoothly.

The Special Needs registry announced Tuesday would allow people to voluntarily submit basic information about residents who live with such conditions as autism, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, dementia or "other mental/developmental concerns," the police department said.

The announcement comes nearly three weeks after police had a difficult encounter with a man who struggles with non-verbal autism. Police officers Tased the 21-year-old man eight times while attempting to gain compliance to commands he did not appear to understand, according to police body camera footage of the incident. The man was taken by police for medical clearance at Southeast Georgia Health System'sBrunswick hospital, where he was released to his mother without charges.

Police would not comment Wednesday on whether there is a connection between that incident and the new program.

However, police say the program could help diffuse tense situations such as the Sept. 4 encounter with the autistic man in Beverly Shores.

The registration form includes information such as the person's name, age, address, emergency contacts, physical traits and medications. Police also request a photo of the person to keep on file.

Police said all such information is confidential, private and will only be accessible to law enforcement and first responders.

The voluntary, free registration is open to all residents.

The program is available on the Glynn County governmental website at: https://glynncounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/72844/Special-Needs-Form. Participants are asked to complete the form, download it and email to: gcpdrecords@ glynncounty-ga.gov.

Questions can be directed to the police department's community outreach liaison, officer Earl Wilson, at 912-554-7847, 912-269-4365, or efwilson@glynncounty-ga.gov.

Police said the information will be valuable to officers responding to an incident involving a person with special needs who cannot easily speak with or interact with law enforcement officials.

"The goal of this program is to give emergency personnel quick access to critical information about a registered individual in the event they are unable to effectively communicate their needs, if they go missing, or if the person is found and unable to provide information," police said in a statement.

Police posted officers' body cam video of the encounter with the young man earlier this month. Police received a call at 8:24 p.m. that night regarding a man with "blue basketball shorts walking on Stafford Avenue with a crow bar or knife in his hand" who was allegedly startling motorists on the roadway.

On video, the large shirtless man can be seen walking toward an officer with a large metal object in his hand, ignoring the officer's demands to "drop it." The officer hit him with a Taser probe, at which point he dropped the object.

The object turned out to be a large ladle.

Several officers surrounded the man, ordering him repeatedly to "get on the ground." The man did not respond but cried out several times after being Tased. A woman can be heard on the video telling police, "He is non-verbal! He has autism!"

The situation ended when an officer tackled the man, who was handcuffed. Police can been seen speaking calmly to the man afterward and calling him "buddy" as they placed him in the back of a patrol car.

The News has not released the name of the man because he was not charged. Another media outlet is reporting that his mother has requested disciplinary action against the officers involved.

The police department is conducting an administrative review of the incident. The News has made a public records request for results of the administrative review when it is completed.

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