A Pilot Study of Autism Training for Specialist Police Investigators: Development, Impact and Practitioner Perspectives

There is a significant gap in the recognition and appropriate support of autistic people within the criminal justice system, highlighting the need for autism-specific training for police officers. The present study aimed to assess baseline levels of autism knowledge and self-esteem of specialist investigators in Australia, explore whether this knowledge can be enhanced, and examine whether tailored autism awareness training leads to an increase in autism-supportive policing practices. A total of 39 Australian investigators took part in a two-phase training program. Of these, 39 completed a pre-training questionnaire, 18 completed a post-training questionnaire and 3 took part in a follow-up interview. The use of a specifically tailored autism training program was effective in increasing investigators’ knowledge about autism, their self-esteem and their ability to adapt their behaviours to better support autistic offenders. This enabled investigators to consider their interactions with autistic offenders in order to reduce the likelihood of autistic offenders reoffending. Such training could be adapted and delivered to other specialist police areas and frontline emergency personnel who frequently interact with autistic people.