A junior at The University of North Texas has teamed up with campus police to create a special card to let law enforcement know whether a person has special needs.
Christianna Walker, a native-Oklahoman who lives on the autism spectrum, moved to Denton to attend college at UNT where she is a Rehabilitation Studies major.
"I'm from a really small town back home," she said. "Everybody just knows me."
But moving to a new city presents challenges. Something she learned first-hand in the spring. Walker said she was the victim of a crime. When police responded, she froze.
"I may not be completely processing what's going on around me," said Walker. "When you have police officers or people around you raising their voices, I'm more likely to just shut down."
Drawing on that incident, Walker approached UNT Campus Police Officer Kevin Crawford to discuss her concerns about the incident, even though it did not happen on the UNT campus or involve his department.
"It can be difficult, because there's a lot of moving pieces when you respond," said Crawford. "Especially if you're already in a situation where tensions are up and things can appear aggressive."
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Walker and Crawford came up with the design of a small card a person with special needs can carry which spells out to first responders that the person may need special accomodations, due to autism or some other condition.
The card also includes instructions, and contact information in case of emergency.
"When she was telling me her story, we talked about how helpful it would have been if those officers had known what the situation was," said Crawford.
Walker keeps her card with her driver's license. Even something as seemingly minor as a traffic stop can cause issues for her.
"We're not telling officers to sacrifice policies or sacrifice their safety," said Crawford. "We're just giving them a tool to make those informed decisions."
Walker hopes the cards can help prevent an interaction with a police officer from turning into a negative experience.
"I've always been one to, if I find a problem," she explained. "I want to help fix it."
