Programmes promoted on police service websites to safeguard autistic individuals in Ontario, Canada: an inductive content analysis

Purpose This study (1) explores what programmes police services promote for autistic individuals on their websites and (2) describes how autistic individuals are constructed in the information about these programmes. Design/methodology/approach All 53 official police service websites in Ontario, Canada, were examined to determine which programmes were promoted for autistic individuals. Inductive qualitative content analysis was used to identify and describe how autism was constructed in the information about the programmes. Findings About 64.8% of police services in Ontario, Canada, promoted at least one programme to autistic individuals and their caregivers. These programmes included Vulnerable Person and Autism Registries, MedicAlert™ and Project Lifesaver™. Autistic individuals were described as vulnerable using medicalised and tragic narratives of autism. Originality/value Autistic individuals and caregivers have suggested several interventions to improve police-autistic individual encounters. Little is known about which interventions police services have adopted and which representations of autism are used to describe autistic individuals.