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St. Charles unveils 'Project Safeguard' to help officers identify and assist people with autism
Summary
The City of St. Charles introduced Project Safeguard, a voluntary registration and training program that lets families submit information about loved ones with autism to be linked to dispatch and officers. The program includes training, an online portal, CAD integration and optional residence/vehicle stickers.
The City of St. Charles unveiled Project Safeguard on April 7, a voluntary police registration program intended to help officers better recognize and assist people with autism during responses.
Mayor Daniel J. Borgmeyer introduced Lieutenant Daniel Gibbons, who outlined the two-part program: officer training on recognizing indicators of autism and de-escalation techniques, and an online portal where families can submit information that is linked to an address in the city's computer-aided dispatch system so dispatchers can relay relevant information to responding officers. The program will also offer optional stickers for residences and vehicles to indicate participation.
Interim Police Chief George Grove collaborated with the mayor and lieutenant on developing the program, officials said, and the city intends to use the training and the voluntary alert system to help identify individuals who may wander, be nonverbal, or lack identification.
Officials described Project Safeguard as voluntary and emphasized that the information would be used to support safer, more effective police interactions. No enrollment timeline, data-retention policy, or privacy specifics were provided in the meeting record.
