SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A service designed to help people with autism, anxiety, dementia or other conditions successfully interact with law enforcement personnel during emergencies, traffic stops or other potentially stressful situations will soon get underway in the San Diego area.
Participants in the Blue Envelope Program, which will launch Oct. 16, will be able to present written materials bearing a logo identifying them as citizens with special needs that should be taken into account during law enforcement contacts, officials said.
The documents contained in the namesake colored envelopes may include medical data and instructions regarding communication preferences, along with identification, contact information, and proof of vehicle registration and auto insurance.
The materials will alert law enforcement personnel to any condition or disability requiring special assistance or accommodations during a service call or other police contact, serving as a means of preventing potential confusion or misunderstandings, according to organizers.
The program -- which is strictly voluntary and self-implemented, requiring no official registration on the part of those using it -- is a collaboration among various community organizations and the county Board of Supervisors, Sheriff's Department, and Police Chiefs' and Sheriff's Associations.
The following agencies are participating in the service:
-- Adjoin
-- Alzheimer's San Diego
-- American Diabetes Association
-- ARC of San Diego
-- Autism Society of San Diego
-- Braille Institute San Diego
-- Deaf Community Services of San Diego
-- Gigi's Playhouse
-- Home of Guiding Hands
-- Metropolitan Transit District
-- San Diego Center for the Blind
-- San Diego Brain Injury Foundation
-- San Diego Regional Center
-- Social Impact Services
Area law enforcement personnel will receive information and instruction on the program as part of their ongoing training to ensure familiarization and successful implementation, according to county officials.
In related action, Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved making their government "A Blue Envelope County," as part of their consent agenda, and directed the chief administrative officer to work with the Sheriff's Department to implement program and find funding sources.
Supervisors Jim Desmond and Terra Lawson-Remer, along with Sheriff Kelly Martinez, made the proposal. Before supervisors voted, they watched a promotional video on the program, and heard from law enforcement representatives and an advocate for the disabled. Monique Ball, executive director of Deaf Community Services of San Diego County, said via a sign language translator that she wanted to "emphasize the thrill and excitement we have to collaborate with the Sheriff's Department for our deaf community."
Ball said that it has been "a big struggle" for hearing-impaired residents, in terms of communication, in dealing with the Sheriff's Department and police departments.
She added that it has been a goal to provide sensitivity training to law enforcement agencies to help them improve their communication.
Bernie Colon, assistant chief with San Diego Police Department, said the program "will give our officers another tool to help de-escalate situations during one of our several hundred-thousand contacts that we have each year."
Colon added that he is serves as a law enforcement liaison to the Special Olympics Southern California, and the Blue Envelope Program "will help give our athletes a great opportunity to be confident when they interact with law enforcement in the field."
County sheriff's Lt. Nathan Rowley said as the Blue Envelope Program concept makes its mark across law enforcement agencies nationwide, San Diego "stands unique, in that this program took a holistic approach, by taking it "beyond servicing just individuals with autism at a traffic stop."
Rowley thanked supervisors, and various community and governmental organizations, for their partnership on the program. He also credited one of his colleagues, Heather Mitchell, for bringing Blue Envelope to the Sheriff's Department's attention.
Rowley credited Mitchell for her dedication to the program's success, based in part on her family's personal experience with autism.
Mitchell, a Sheriff's Department crime prevention specialist who works in Fallbrook, said after first hearing about the program and then presenting it, she "had no idea what to expect."
However, Mitchell said the program was streamlined and thanked the county for its support.
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