BERLIN – A new program will aid local law enforcement in working with special needs citizens.
The Berlin Police Department has implemented the Special Needs Assistance Program (SNAP) to provide officers with information that could be critical in a situation involving an individual with special needs.
“It has worked in a lot of other places,” Chief Arnold Downing said. “It’ll definitely benefit this community.”
Downing received approval for the new program from officials during Monday’s Berlin Town Council meeting. The program, which is in place in other jurisdictions throughout the country, was suggested by Officer Aaron Titerence.
“It’s not anything new. It’s just new to Berlin,” Titerence said. “It’s something other departments have used with great success.”
He said he’d seen firsthand how every situation was different, particularly when officers were working with someone with special needs.
“This will give us a heads up,” he said. “It’s one more tool for us.”
Through the new initiative, individuals or family members of individuals are invited to fill out a form that will be kept on file at the police department. It includes a photo of the individual with special needs and information that could be pertinent in an emergency situation. Downing said “special needs” means anyone who could be better served by sharing a health issue with the police was invited to complete a SNAP form.
“The Special Needs Assistance Program is the ability for us to have information on people who might have special needs within our community,” Downing said. “We’re talking about young people who have special needs, we’re talking about people with dementia or Alzheimer’s, we’re actually talking about people who might be in wheelchairs and not able to walk out of a house that might be on fire.”
He said the department planned to share the form with residents of several group homes in town and that it would also be available on the police department’s website, www.berlinmdpd.org. The department’s goal is to have 25 individuals registered by the end of the year.
“We really feel good about initiating this program,” Downing said.
Councilman Thom Gulyas said his wife was the principal at Cedar Chapel Special School and that she’d been involved in situations that would have been made easier if first responders had the information that will be provided through SNAP.
“I think it’s an excellent idea,” Gulyas said.
Though one resident asked how the program fit in with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Downing said, “There’s no issue if they volunteer the information.”
Downing also told the council he’d had Jack Ferry, director of the Worcester County Developmental Center, review the SNAP form and offer feedback. Ferry said the program was a fantastic idea.
“If police and first responders know someone has a disability, they’re armed with that information going in there,” he said.
Ferry said there were too many times when bad things had happened during emergency situations simply because law enforcement wasn’t aware of an individual’s needs or condition. During a fire, for example, a person scared of loud noises could be hiding. With the SNAP program, responders will be aware of that possibility.
“For the family too it will give them a little more peace of mind,” he said.
Ferry says Berlin is the first local jurisdiction he’s seen implement the program.
“I’d like to see it go countywide,” he said.
