Community Police & First Responder Initiatives | Flutie Foundation

Community, Safety and Inclusion

Every person and family with autism deserve to feel safe in their home and community. Our robust partnerships with local law enforcement and first responders builds best practices for community safety.

Together, we are able to build more inclusive communities.

Police Patch Fundraising Initiative for Autism Acceptance

Hundreds of police departments have partnered with the Flutie Foundation to raise funds for autism acceptance through the sale of police patches during April, Autism Acceptance Month.

It’s easy to raise funds and acceptance through as a Police Patch Partner. The Flutie Foundation will build a webpage and help design a patch for autism acceptance and inclusion!

Complete the form below to become a partner!

Become a police patch partner

For questions, please reach out to safety@flutiefoundation.org

Community Safety Initiatives

Law Enforcement & Autism Collaboration

Safety Resources

Locative Technology

ALEC

Law Enforcement & Autism Collaboration

In partnership with William James College

Annually, the Flutie Foundation and William James College convenes a group of first responders, law enforcement and community leaders to collaborate on current best practices on keeping the autism community safe and included.

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Safety Resources

Seat belt covers are just one way that first responders can indicate that the person may respond differently in a high stress situation. The Flutie Foundation distributes over 5,000 seat belt covers, Safety Stickers and Zippers Pulls to identify persons with autism. First responders distribute these resources to their local communities as a free resource to ensure safety, understanding and acceptance.

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Locative Technology

SafetyNet enables public safety agencies to more quickly find and rescue individuals with cognitive conditions who are prone to wandering and becoming lost. The service is comprised of a SafetyNet watch worn by a client that emits radio frequency signals, which can be tracked by local public safety officials via their SafetyNet Search and Rescue Receivers.

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ALEC

In partnership with ALEC, we work with law enforcement to provide funding and access to critical autism training programs that center around creating a comprehensive safety program in their community. Through training, local first responders and law enforcement become more knowledgeable about working with autistic families and community members.

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Police Patch Partners

Amesbury Police Department

Arlington Police Department

Dedham Police Department

Douglas Police Department

Endicott College

Ghost Patch

Halifax Police Department

Manchester by-the-Sea Police Department

Marion Fire Department

Marlborough Police Department

Northampton Police Department

Raynham Police Department

Swansea Police Department

Townsend Police Department

Truro Police Department

Tufts University Police

Wayland Police Department

Winthrop Police Department

“The Malden [Police Department] Safewatch Program has been in effect for several years now. It was designed to help MPD get to know all those in our community with autism. Families register with our program and add a detailed list of info about their child that will assist MPD if they should wander or go missing. This cuts down the time it takes to get photos and updated info out to searching officers to help find and bring them home. Some of the info includes places where they like to wander and special words to comfort them if located by officers.”
Sergeant John Kelley
Malden (MA) Police Department

“I noticed another department nearby in Walpole had a [community resource] dog that they were using to reach out into the community, and I thought that would be an idea we could use [in Sharon]. When we ran into the situation of financing it, it became an issue. We proposed it to [the Flutie Foundation] and talked about the possibility of bringing a dog like [the one in Walpole] to Sharon and it worked out amazing. Since we’ve had this program up and running. . .it gives us the opportunity to meet one on one with families with family members on the spectrum that have sensory issues [and] gives us the opportunity to open up a line of communication we’ve never had before, because I may intimidate them, but if you look at [our service dog] Flutie, he’s not really intimidating. He is also trained to comfort, unlike a search and rescue dog who may bark. [He] has been an incredible asset to us and has quite a following [in Sharon].”

Seargeant Adam Leavitt & Flutie the Community Resource Dog
Sharon (MA) Police Department

“We started [our Autism Acceptance Patch Program] in 2019 . . . we started wearing them and selling them at the same time. I found that having officers wear them generated a lot of awareness and it has worked really well so far. I have family members with autism and I also work in the Wilmington Middle School as a resource officer, working with kids with autism and getting to know them, and thought “we should do something for them.” [Wilmington PD] chose [to work] with [the Flutie Foundation] because I really like the program [they] run and [their] local work and it quickly expanded.”

Officer Emily Stebbins
Wilmington (MA) Police Department
$4,300+ Raised for autism acceptance through patch sales since 2019