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As part of a statewide initiative, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office announced on Jan. 17 that they have joined the national Blue Envelope Program.
Introduced by the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, the Blue Envelope Program is a new safety program for drivers with autism.
In the past, there have been traffic stops of autistic drivers in which a driver’s behavior have been misinterpreted by an officer, or the driver was unable to respond to an officer’s directions, Sheriff Maciol said in a statement.
“This has sometimes led to an escalation of the situation and resulted in a bad outcome,” Maciol said.
With the Blue Envelope program, drivers with autism could now keep documents such as license and registration inside a Blue Envelope. If pulled over, the officer would be “immediately alerted to the driver’s autism” when presented with the envelope.
“This initiative is another tool for law enforcement to use when interacting with vulnerable populations to ensure a better outcome and we say thank you for that,” said Kathy Caruso, a parent advocate and lead facilitator of Better Together, in a statement.
Drivers interested in enrolling in the program could contact the Sheriff’s office at 315-765-2200 to receive their Blue Envelope.
