In the ongoing effort to continue to provide residents with the best and safest service possible, the Friends of Jackson Parish Sheriffs Office Approach with Care program has been initiated to help keep people with special needs and first responders safe during interactions.

Residents in Jackson Parish with special needs can now register with the Sheriff’s Office and list their special needs condition, triggers, calming measures, or other behaviors likely to be seen during an interaction with that person. That information is then stored with the dispatcher and can be relayed to first responders during an event.

Once a person is registered, specially marked stickers are given to that person to stick on the back of their vehicle and the door of their home. This provides an extra way for first responders to know that the person they are about to interact with is a person who has special needs.

“Also anyone wanting to enroll a child or teen that has medical or special needs should come to the Sheriff’s Office and fill out the form,” said Jackson Parish Sheriff Andy Brown. “Once that is done the stickers will be given. All information is kept confidential and filed in our CAD system.”

As the emblem for the program (shown in the banner above) identifies, some of the conditions that a person is dealing with that should be considered for enrolling in the program are Alzheimer’s, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Down Syndrome, Dementia, and other medical issues.