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An Orem police officer hands a balloon to a man during the "Picnic With Police" Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Orem police officers play Connect Four with a boy at the "Picnic With Police" Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Orem police officers hand out ice cream at the "Picnic With Police" Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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An Orem police officer bumps a volleyball during the "Picnic With Police" Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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When Kamryn Wilson first joined the Orem police as the department’s psychologist in its mental health department four years ago, she went on a ride-along with an officer and encountered a family with an autistic child at a traffic stop.

Nothing was wrong — it was a routine stop and no ticket was handed out — yet the child had what Wilson described as a “very escalated response” just because of the police’s presence.

She remembers being bugged about the situation.

“If something actually happens, he’s going to shut down and be terrified of the police,” she told her lieutenant.

His response to her was, “Okay, how are we going to fix it?”

So Wilson started the “Picnic With Police,” an activity where special needs children, their families and other community members could interact with Orem police officers in a comfortable setting.

The fourth-annual event was held last Thursday at Orem City Center Park.

“The goal is to just have positive, low-key interactions between law enforcement and people with disabilities,” Wilson said. “Because statistically, they’re far more likely to have incidents with the police, and it’s usually super likely for them to go awry, just because of how the brain works, essentially, and how crisis situations work.”

The event has steadily grown each year and saw a large turnout Thursday, with free food, activities and booths ran by the police, fire department and local sponsors scattered around the park.

Police officers showed off their vehicles, held a game of volleyball and handed out Legos and balloons to kids and families. Others dished out soft-serve ice cream to people or took turns booting a kickball around the park.

ScenicView Clinic counselor Aaron Ridenour, who ran a booth at the event, said giving kids with disabilities a chance to interact with officers can be valuable in reducing any potential apprehension they may have about police.

“It’s nice for them to just interact with law enforcement and get to know each other, where it’s like, ‘We’re just human beings, and it’s okay,'” Ridenour said.

The time spent together benefits the police, too, Wilson said, because familiarity with disabled individuals can help officers know how to de-escalate situations.

“A lot of times, when they get called to crisis situations for individuals with disabilities, they’ll get calls from people saying, ‘This person’s on drugs. This person is violent. They were screaming, shouting, throwing things.’ They don’t necessarily know that there’s a mental health component to it,” she said. “So I want our officers to be able to identify those things so that they can change lanes if they need to change lanes, to take some time, to reduce any sensory inputs, to slow down, give further instructions. Just anything that we can do to keep them safer and to keep us safer.”

Some studies have indicated autistic individuals are seven times more likely than other people to come in contact with law enforcement.

A recent incident occurred in Pocatello, Idaho, when Victor Perez, an autistic boy who was nonverbal and had cerebral palsy, according to his family, was shot by police April 5 and died April 15.

According to police body cam footage, Perez was holding a knife in his yard when police arrived on the scene. After one officer ordered him to drop the knife several times, Perez stood up and stepped toward the officers, who were separated from the boy by a chain link fence, and police fired at him.

An FBI study from 2001 said people with autism are unaware of their behavior’s implications, including aggressive actions, and that officers should not interpret autistic people’s failure to respond as a lack of cooperation.

Wilson said the Orem Police Department’s objective is to keep everyone safe, and that having a good understanding between law enforcement and citizens is important.

The annual picnic is one way Orem strives to foster that relationship.

“I think there’s a little bit of danger in not treating people like humans, regardless of a job or a situation,” Wilson said. “So if we can all just treat each other a little bit better, I think things would go really well. And we’ve seen that time and time again, that our community keeps us involved and keeps us engaged, and it’s better for officers and the citizens.”