Greenville Co, SC: Autistic man wins $600K judgment against police; training lacking
- The end of childhood
- May 20, 2024
- 3 min read
May 16, 2024, Fox Carolina, Greenville, SC: Lawsuit claims Greenville Co. deputies lack training in dealing with suspects on the autism spectrum
Kenneth Langford's family, along with State rep Jerry Carter are advocating for change after Langford was injured during an encounter with deputies
VIDEO:
Fox Carolina Investigates one man’s encounter with Greenville County deputies ends with a $125,000 stay in the hospital.
Advocates say it illustrates a gap in law enforcement training.
Reporter: Across the state there has been a movement to train law enforcement officers in how to identify and communicate with people who may be on the autism spectrum.
Depending on the person, they may be slow to react, hesitant to make eye contact, or may even have trouble complying with an officer’s request. . . .
The video showed six deputies subduing and arresting a man.
Twenty-one months later, a personal injury lawsuit filed on Langford’s behalf alleging th deputies overlooked a critical detail: Langford is mentally disabled.
The lawsuit says, “It would apparent to any reasonable and competent responding officer.”
Langford’s attorney says, the incident shows there were clear gaps in the deputies’ training.
ATTORNEY: “His behavior did not warrant the level of force that was used against him.”
The incident led to a sixteen day stay in the hospital, four of those in the ICU, fractured ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Altogether Langford racked up more than $125,000 in medical expenses.
ATTORNEY: A law enforcement officer has to make split second decisions, and if they don’t have the training they need and the muscle memory they need to make that split second decision in a way that results in a good outcome as opposed to a bad outcome, then you can have something like this happen.
ADVOCATE: It’s disturbing conduct and it’s deeply troubling. The officers involved should seriously reflect on what they did. . . .
That could have been my son. He’s 26 and has autism, and although he does not drive, many people with a developmental disability do drive and I could just see that happening to him.
It would be so easy for someone to misinterpret his confusion and not understanding about what’s going on
REPORTER: Bloom helps train law enforcement agencies across the state on what to look for and how to better serve people with different disabilities, helping first responders better identify signs that someone is on the spectrum.
ADVOCATE: I think the whole situation with Mr. Langford is a wakeup call for major changes in our public safety systems.
REPORTER: A handful of states require this kind of training. South Carolina is not one of them, yet.
State representative Jerry Carter is trying to change that.
This year he co-sponsored House Bill 4950 that would require officers would “complete continuing law enforcement education credits in autism spectrum disorder.”
However the bill never made it out of the House Judiciary Committee. Carter says he’ll be reintroducing it next year.
CARTER: There’s all sorts of indicators and signs, which I think, if we just make those available to law enforcement. Hey, just pay attention. This is what it could be, and if it is, here’s a method for potentially addressing that. . . .
REPORTER: Langford settled his case last summer, getting $600,000 in a disputed settlement with the sheriff’s office. Because it was disputed, that means the sheriff’s office did not admit any liability.
We asked a spokesperson if they’d changed their training policies since the incident.
He told us, “No, our deputies have undergone and continue to undergo training in handling emotionally disturbed individuals and those living with mentally illnesses. The training and education that sector is nothing new and certainly one of our top priorities in helping deputies recognize signs and strategies to help navigate these occurrences.”
They also launched OPERATION SAFE OUTCOMES in 2021, one year after the incident with Langford. It’s a voluntary registry that people can sign up for to alert the sheriff’s office that they or a loved one has autism, Down syndrome, Alzheimer’s, or if they are deaf or blind.
The sheriff’s office said more than 360 people are currently registered. . . .
According to a study from the U.S. Department of Justice, about 20 percent of people with autism have police contact by the time they turn 21, and almost five percent of those interactions end in an arrest.
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