The Autism News | English


The police need better training when it comes to dealing with people with disabilities and mental impairment, the head of Autism New Zealand says.

Police have been criticised for their handling of a Christchurch man with Asperger’s syndrome who was arrested for alleged looting after the February 22 earthquake.

But Autism New Zealand chief executive Alison Molloy said the case of Cornelius Arie Smith-Voorkamp’s case was just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Some parents and family members of people with Asperger’s and autism had contacted her since Smith-Voorkamp’s case came to light, saying they had also had negative experiences in dealing with the police, she said.

Close to 50 people, some the parents and grandparents of autistic and Asperger’s children, also wrote to the justice and police ministers’ offices calling for Smith-Voorkamp’s case to be closed, and several questioned police training.

Smith-Voorkamp was charged with taking light fittings from a damaged Lincoln Rd property, and possession of tools for burglary, after the quake.

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