Everything You Need to Know About Maine’s New ‘Blue Envelope Program’

Recently, the Augusta Police Department announced something new that pulled me in.

The Blue Envelope Program is a new program geared towards having a better level of interaction between officers and folks with disabilities or special needs, including down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, dementia, and even anxiety and depression. The program was created by the Down Syndrome Advocacy Project of Maine.

What does Maine's Blue Envelope Include?

According to the post:

• The person's specific needs or disabilities
• Identification of whether the driver is verbal or nonverbal.
• Tips for the driver, like keeping hands on the steering wheel and expecting flashing lights or police radio sounds.
• Information for officers about possible behaviors, such as anxiety or unusual eye contact.
• An emergency contact list.

For example, if a police officer is performing a traffic stop and the person behaves unusually, giving the officer this blue envelope can explain why the situation may seem atypical. This will help the officer better understand and meet the person's needs.

Maine State Trooper Seth Allen worked to create this program, and said,

This gives us the ability to very quickly identify that they have some sort of diagnosis, that could be an explanation of why they're doing this stuff that's abnormal, on a traffic stop.

According to the Chief Lully,  

We are committed to making Augusta a safer and more inclusive community for everyone. The Blue Envelope Program is an excellent tool that will help our officers better understand and accommodate individuals with disabilities, ultimately leading to more positive and effective interactions.

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This is a refreshing new program that will hopefully help invite better communication and understanding between officers and people with special needs.

What do you think? 

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