The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says deputies are becoming Sensory Inclusive Certified through a partnership with Kulture City.

Kulture City is a local nonprofit organization promoting sensory awareness and inclusion for people with Autism or PTSD.

The training is intended to help deputies serve people on the autism spectrum.

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Sheriff Mark Pettway says “This training has allowed us to raise awareness and get a better understanding of how to communicate with those on the spectrum. A lot of times, as trained law enforcement, we look at someone’s body language and we look at what they’re doing. This training will help us to be mindful of those things and what to look for differently now.”

Kulture City is also providing sensory bags for deputies to keep in their patrol cars. The bags will have things like noise-cancelling headphones, fidget spinners, and nonverbal communication cards.