Two years ago, a 16 year-old James with autism was arrested by the police in Kajiado for breaking the law.
He was locked up in the cell until later in the day when the neighbours raised concern.
When asked, the officers at the station acknowledged that they did not know the boy had autism, neither could they recognise a person with special conditions like James.
This gave birth to the idea of organising a five day conference to create awareness among the police officers on the rights of persons with disabilities and their access to justice.
The event that targets 40 officers majorly from the ranks of the inspector will begin on Monday with those trained expected to further disseminate the teachings.
The workshop is organised by Orione Community Training Centre in Kajiado for children with intellectual disabilities, the Embassy of Chile and the Strathmore Law Clinic.
“We are really abusing them just because of ignorance from us. Bringing 40 officers together for this is not easy but we have received support from the authorities especially from the commander from kajiado county,” Fr Carlos Alejandro Ruiz, the director OCTC said.
During the workshop the officers will be able to have a practical encounter with people with intellectual disability, interact with them, see how they behave and see their activities.
“In the same way we will give to the police the legal framework because it is not about charity, it is not about compassion, it is a right that we as a society we need to respect,” he said.
“They are members of the society and sometimes they can have issues with the law the question is how the law reacts in front of them.”
The training will be conducted in-person at Strathmore University Nairobi and at the Orione Community Training Centre, Ongata Rongai.
