Aspies For Freedom

STRUGGLE: His mother says the force was excessive. Investigators say the officers used only their hands.

By NATHAN MAX and DOUGLAS QUAN
The Press-Enterprise

Relatives of a 21-year-old autistic man who died after sheriff's deputies attempted to subdue him in the bedroom of his Perris home are questioning the use of force by the officers.

Raymond Lee Mitchell died Wednesday after his mother, Wanda Mitchell, 47, called Riverside County deputies to the house to assist her. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Sheriff's investigators said Thursday that there was nothing unusual in the response by the deputies, but Wanda Mitchell and her brother Willie Mitchell have accused the deputies of using excessive force. Wanda Mitchell witnessed part of the struggle, but Willie Mitchell was not at home at the time.

The deputies used no weapons when they were attempting to subdue Mitchell, said Sgt. Joseph Borja of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Central Homicide Unit.

"They were basically trying to physically restrain him with their hands," said Borja, who declined to elaborate on how the deputies restrained Mitchell.

None of the deputies has been placed on administrative leave, according to Borja.

"At this point, there isn't anything suspicious about any of the activity," Borja said. "There is nothing unusual about the way the call was handled."

An autopsy was scheduled to be performed Thursday, however an official with the coroner's office said Thursday night that she could not provide any information.

Call for Help

Wanda Mitchell said she called for help Wednesday because her son was throwing a tantrum, and she told him she would call police. She said that she had been taught that, when dealing with her autistic son, she needed to follow through whenever she made a threat. She said her son was prone to tantrums, and deputies had been called to the house in May.

At that time, Willie Mitchell said, the deputies spoke to Raymond, calmed him down and escorted him to an ambulance. Raymond was taken to a hospital and returned the next day.

When deputies arrived Wednesday, Wanda Mitchell told them that Raymond was the autistic person in the house. There also is a sticker in a window next to the front door that informs visitors that a resident of the house has autism.

When the two deputies first confronted Raymond in his bedroom, he said, "No police. I'm OK," slammed the door and ran into the closet, Wanda Mitchell said.

After Wanda escorted Raymond out of the closet and onto his bed, she said she went to get a shirt for him. When Raymond, who was 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds, reached for the shirt, the two deputies jumped on him, she said.

Borja declined to discuss Wanda Mitchell's comments, citing the continuing investigation.

A struggle ensued between Raymond and the deputies, and the deputies called for backup. A third deputy showed up to help handcuff Raymond, and two other deputies arrived later to provide medical assistance and perform CPR, Borja said.

Wanda Mitchell, who said she was outside the bedroom during the struggle, said she saw six deputies on top of her son at one point.

"These officers did a lot to escalate the situation inside the house," Willie Mitchell said. "We called for assistance, and we ended up with an overwhelming response for what we believe is an agency that was not prepared to handle what they walked into."

Encounters With Police

The number of autistic people who die after law enforcement encounters is not tracked, but the anecdotal evidence worries national autism experts.

"We hear about it more often than we want to," said Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America.

Grossman said it's become a priority for the organization to work with emergency personnel.

"We need to make sure police and first responders know of the unique needs and characteristics of people with autism so the situation they're encountering doesn't become worse," he said. "It can escalate very quickly if they're not trained."

Cpl. Dennis Gutierrez, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, said that jail and patrol deputies are trained to respond to people with special needs, such as autism, mental illnesses and hearing impairments.

About 20 years ago, about 1 in 2,500 people was diagnosed with autism. Today, it's closer to 1 in 166, Grossman said.

Autism is a developmental disability that affects an individual in the areas of social interaction and communication, according to the Autism Society's Web site. As many as 1.5 million Americans are thought to have autism.

Nationally, people with developmental disabilities, such as autism, have seven times the number of run-ins with law enforcement that other members of the public do, said Dennis Debbaudt, who has been providing autism-related training to law enforcement agencies across the country for 11 years.

Grossman and Debbaudt spoke generally about autism.

Sometimes, emergency responders have to adjust their tactics when dealing with an autistic person, said Debbaudt, the author of "Autism, Advocates and Law Enforcement Professionals: Recognizing and Reducing Risk Situations for People With Autism Spectrum Disorders."

Officers are taught command presence, such as putting hands on hips, to establish authority, Debbaudt said. But when dealing with an autistic person, officers might consider a softer approach: lowering their voices, taking a step back and engaging that person in a chat about the things they like.

When an autistic person's adrenaline starts going, it can be hard to regulate, Debbaudt said. If a struggle ensues, officers can expect to encounter a lot of resistance, he added.

Wanda Mitchell said the deputies prevented her from calming her son, and they jumped on him for no reason.

"I believe that I could have talked to him, but the police put me out of the room," Wanda Mitchell said.
From pe.com/localnews

Incidents like this scare me - I respond VERY badly to restraint, mostly though it's been a lone teacher, or some schoolkids, and being up on adrenaline I'd always break free or overpower them.

But if a team of law enforcement guys jumped me, I'd fight back until they either broke off (sensibly) or seriously injured, even killed me, and there'd be nothing I could do, I'm not a violent person, I never hrut anyone, the only time I react violently is subdued and police seem to use it as an excuse to use overwhelming if not lethal force on people.  :cry:

If he died when being restrained, they were doing it improperly and illegaly.  It's that **** simple.  

You don't put an autistic at the bottom of a dogpile.  What the hell were they thinking?  

They should be off the foirce permanently. :evil:  :evil:

I don't think the police know this.  Better training needs to be advocated.  How do you all suggest the police respond?  Get a solid suggestion out there and included in police training.  I don't want to ever see something like this happen to my son.  Granted, I know better than to call the police on him, but what if I'm not around?  He's scary when he's in a tantrum.  So, what SHOULD be done?  GET A SOLID ALTERNATIVE OUT THERE so this kind of thing does not happen again.

Well, personally I have no time for the police at all - there has been a huge controversy in Britain over the shooting dead of a Brazilian who they mistook for a suicide bomber because he had dark skin. They then tried to cover up their actions by claiming the man ran away when the police challenged him and vaulted the ticket gate at the tube station (he didn't and they didn't challenge him - they just shot him dead). The family of the dead man are still campaiging for justice but of course, the police will protect their own.

Here in Northern Ireland, they beat up this young man (after invading his father's house, who he was visiting) purely and simply because he had made a complaint about police harassment and they recognised him. Frankly, the police cannot be trusted in my view. As the old saying goes, All Coppers Are Bastards

That's like when Exorcists would claim, that they weren't fighting the child..they were fighting the demon inside them, when they inevitably beat the child up in the process.

I tend to think that eight people would smother anyone to death.

A working alternative?  How about letting the poor guy BREATHE?  

They used lethal force.  That's a fact.  I consider these men guilty of murder.

Well, there's a lot more to the story than just that, but it'd be moving off topic to cover it fully =p

A few other points to remember:
- Only the day or two before, 4 suicide bombers had blown up 4 tube trains, killed 50 people and maimed hundreds of others, people were edgy.
- The police really thought they had a suicide bomber, when they confronted him he made one fatal mistake... he stood up and stepped towards the police, instead of just putting his hands up, all the witnesses agree to that. Seeing how they thought he had a bomb, and he then approached them instead of simply surrendering, they shot him before he could \"detonate\", and the rest as they say is history.
- We've had one accident, but how many other bomb making facilities have we now stopped? - Not to mention how many Police have been killed by actual terrorists during raids? - It's more than 1. (The police can't stop people and ask \"Excuse me, but are you armed?\" if they think they may be an actual threat, which intelligence suggested. If the police were reprimanded, it'd mean they would have to stop and politely ask potential terrorists if they are armed, and that is scarey. Imagine it - police stop a guy in a tube station \"Hey, have you got a bom- Oh SHI!\" *BOOM* - 50 or 60 passers by as well as the police team are all dead)

R,. an incident guy got shot dead for no reason. Nothing justifies that, even if the police were 'edgy'. And the argument that they had no choice because otherwise he might set the bomb off if they didn't kill him first is rubbish - have you never heard of a dead man's switch?

This whole argument about how 'difficult' it is for the police etc. is basically saying that because it's oh so difficult for them they should be above the law and allowed to shoot people dead and get away with it.

Interestingly, on the news this evening here in Australia, a man won a case against the police.  He'd been on his way to work in a club on New Year's Eve 2004 and had asked the police who were apparently restraining some revellers to let him through.  They didn't, and when he tried to explain that he'd be late, they overreacted and overpowered him, arrested him, and put him in jail for the night.  The police case was that he got aggressive and starting pushing the police, then threw a punch at one of the officers.  Then some surveillance film came to light that showed the whole event, and the man who was arrested had his arms by his sides the whole time and didn't shove or push anybody.  The judge threw the police's case out of court and the man has now decided to sue for illegal arrest and imprisonment.  
Another case of police overreacting to a situation, I think.
Alison

Put simply they are murderers. He was alive before they went in, dead when they came out. It's as simple as that. And in response to Ryuujin I think I would have to agree. It's the only time I am ever violent, and it's like all my sense of everything just goes. Sort of like survival instinct.

As a criminal defense attorney and mother of a 19-year old Aspie son who has had too many contacts with police, I have concluded that most police are fundamentally bullies, cowards or adrenaline junkies.  Whenever they get a call for some disturbance, they get all excited and anxious.  Their anticipation of an altercation is the emotional accellerant to spur an all out ruckus.  Most police are trained in pain compliance (inflicting pain until suspect submits unconditionally) rather than  non-injurious restraint or negotiation.  They believe anyone who appears to disdain or ignore their authority is inherently dangerous or deserving of punishment.  

My son has never been accused of physically injuring anyone.  Yet the local police have numerous warnings in thier database about him.  For example, they have him listed as "active gang member," "known to fight police,"  "drug user," and the list goes on.  None of the warnings listed next to his name are based upon actual convictions or even the truth, but are merely police conjecture.  Just last week, they came to my house to serve a warrant on him and brought 6 officers and a K-9 unit.  I had to subdue the police so they could take my son for processing without creating an incident.  (Oh, by the way, the warrant was for an underage alcohol possession citation that does not even carry jail time as a possible penalty. My son was detained in the jail for 24-hours before being released on $100 bond.)