Board Matter
January 27, 2015

Implementation of a Smart911-Style System

Madame Chairman:

There are thousands of people with disabilities living in Fairfax County and, for health or behavioral reasons, they are statistically much more likely to interact with the 911 system. Since many people with disabilities often have a limited ability to communicate, they are left especially vulnerable in emergency situations. The implementation of a Smart911 system, or a system with similar capabilities, would allow safer emergency responses for both people with disabilities and law enforcement officers.

Last week, Neli Latson, a young man with autism, was granted a conditional pardon after being in prison for over a year.  In August 2013, Mr. Latson was incarcerated due to an incident that occurred outside a Stafford, Virginia public library where he stood waiting for it to open.  Responding to a report of a suspicious person, a police officer arrived at the scene, and the situation escalated.  As a result, Latson was later incarcerated.  Latson’s case should serve as a reminder of just how important it is that officers are properly trained on how to respond to individuals with disabilities.

By implementing a system like Smart911, incidents like what happened with Neli Latson can be avoided. While some County officers have received training on how to respond to individuals with autism, the training’s usefulness is minimized if the officer is unaware that the individual even has a disability. With a system like Smart911, residents could create secure profiles at no cost containing photographs and critical health information, including how best to respond to that particular person, that could be seen by any 9-1-1 operator or first responder receiving a call.  Having such personalized information on file to be used at such critical times like these could save lives, and could provide law enforcement with the tools they need to respond more safely and effectively.

Therefore, Madame Chairman, I ask, without objection, that this topic be referred to the Human Services Committee for further discussion.