The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is starting a voluntary registry program for people with autism and special needs that gives deputies relevant information when responding to calls.
The Project Guardian program allows people or caregivers to register those with mental illness, learning differences, cognitive issues or special needs to alert deputies interacting during a call. Project Guardian participants will receive stickers to display on their vehicles and in the front window of their residences for easy identification. The deputies would have access to communication preferences, triggers, fears, hiding places and a photograph. San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said dispatch could tell a deputy they are responding to a Project Guardian home, at which time a deputy can go onto the system and get more details about the person and what to expect.
Corpus said the program would allow for better interactions, de-escalate situations and ensure deputies can better communicate with people with different needs.
“It really helps us understand our community members better and helps deputies better understand the person and how they communicate,” Corpus said.
Corpus said deputies would also have toolboxes with flash cards to communicate with someone who is nonverbal or tools to help people with sensory issues. She views the program as another tool to have safeguards in place to help the community.
“We can get the individual the services they need rather than thinking that someone is not being cooperative,” Corpus said.
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Corpus first learned about the Project Guardian program in 2021 after hearing about how a police chief in Texas started the program to help law enforcement. The San Mateo Police Department launched a similar Project Guardian program for San Mateo residents in September.
The Sheriff’s Office will also receive formal training through Dr. Lauren Gardner from Johns Hopkins University in June. Gardner and her staff train law enforcement on how to recognize if someone is on the spectrum or may have Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The team will work with deputies to find better outcomes through training and scenarios. Deputies will train on response situations similar to incidents they might see at a Project Guardian home.
The program will officially launch in late April. People can go to smcsheriff.com/project-guardian to fill out an interest card. People will get more information and instructions later in the month. Once people have been added to the system, the Sheriff’s Office will send a letter and stickers confirming involvement in the program.
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