Autism training for police will help
Thank you to “whomever,” at least to Bart Barta, regarding autism training for police officers, “Training helps officers better understand autism,” (AJC, April 7). Encounters by police officers with persons on the spectrum of autism certainly need to be quickly recognized as such rather than presumed to be with subjects who are “not cooperative” with police instructions.
Sudden police encounters with people are frequent in traffic, and autistic persons are not able to be as immediately cooperative as the police might demand. Tragic injuries or deaths have occurred when police did not recognize the need to approach and encounter certain individuals differently than they usually would.
Some police training is so focused on controlling an individual that their mental or emotional conditions are initially overlooked.
Psychologists are not available to ride along with every officer to every encounter. A fast assessment of a situation is needed to prevent subjects from injuring police or others, but so is a rapid assessment of any mental or psychological factors. This training will help.
TOM STREETS, ATLANTA
Voters to have a say on a cleaner Georgia
We must elect people who represent our actual interests to the Georgia PSC. Caleb Groves’ April 7 article “Georgia’s Public Service Commission faces first election in five years” correctly points to the rarity of this opportunity to change the makeup of a panel that controls not just the prices we pay for our electricity, but also how our utilities generate that power.
So many of us want to live in a cleaner Georgia that doesn’t rely on the extension of fossil fuel projects to generate our electricity. We want to keep our utility bills low and to ensure that the power-hungry data centers popping up all over metro Atlanta don’t become our responsibility to pay for. The way to do this is through energy generated by renewables like solar. We want a cleaner, more affordable future. Let’s not allow business as usual on the PSC.
JULIA REIDY, MABLETON
Working together for climate is challenging
Erica Bibbey’s op-ed on April 6 about climate change affecting Georgia is a great summary of the causes, problems and solutions. The challenge is working for the common good and overcoming the fossil fuel inertia.
Most endeavors involve a direct cause-and-effect relationship: If one does this, one can expect that. With climate change, the whole world is at risk, but individual, corporate and governmental actions must combine unselfishly to prevent disasters here and around the world.
Even though renewable energy is cheaper, old ways prevail by default. The Georgia Public Service Commission (supported by Georgia Power and consumers alike) needs to do what is right for Georgia as part of a world community.
JOHN W. SHACKLETON JR., ATLANTA
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