COLUMBUS (WCMH) – A proposed law to help people who can’t always speak for themselves is gaining support at the Statehouse.
Representatives heard testimony today from supporters of a House Bill 115 inspired by an autistic man, Chris Page, who was arrested for an OVI, despite being sober. Page’s OVI charge was eventually dismissed by Dublin Police.
“I will fight for it and make something better out of your incident and it will become a positive,” said the man’s mother Diane Page.
She said being at the Statehouse has taken a year of hard work.
“It’s long overdue. It needs to be in place,” she said. “I told my son, ‘I will make it better. This incident that you had that traumatized you so much…I will not stop until we have something like this in place.'”
She’s testified in support of proposed legislation that would allow people with communications disabilities, like autism or deafness, to put their names on a voluntary registry visible to law enforcement in case of a traffic stop.
“More knowledge for law enforcement is very crucial,” said Page.
Her son was pulled over for speeding and charged with an OVI last March, after failing field sobriety tests. But, he wasn’t drunk. He’s autistic.
“Autism has a lot of the same signs of an impaired driver,” said Assistant Westerville Police Chief Paul J. Scowden.
Scowden also spoke before the committee in support of the proposed legislation.
He said as an officer and father of an autistic child, this bill would make interactions with police much more positive.
“Any information that the officer can know ahead of time when dealing with the public makes the encounter safer for all and can even help de-escalate tense situations more quickly,” said Scowden.
Dublin Police Chief Heinz von Eckartsberg also supports the bill and submitted this written testimony:
Good afternoon Chair Ginter, Vice Chair Conditt, Ranking Member Boyd, and members of the House Community and Family Advancement Committee.
My name is Heinz von Eckartsberg. I am the Chief of Police at the Dublin Police Department. I am submitting testimony in support of HB 115 on behalf of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.
The Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police believes that this legislation will benefit members oflaw enforcement, as well as persons diagnosed with a communication disability. Providing a voluntary process, by which persons with a communication disability can register to be included in a statewide database could help to de-escalate encounters with police by providing a quick way for officers to recognize a diagnosed disability. Including a person’s driver’s license (or State Identification Card) and license plate information in the database will provide information about an affected person’s diagnosis quickly to officers, potentially even before any face to face contact is made.
The Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police is also in favor of the provision in this bill that would stipulate this information would not be a public record. Thank you for your consideration and for allowing me to provide written testimony to the committee.
