CENTERVILLE—The Centerville Police Department recently rolled out a program called “Big Blue Envelope” to help law enforcement when encountering a driver with autism. The envelope is kept in the glovebox and contains the usual things an officer might ask for such as their insurance and registration but it also has information about their autism, what their triggers are and an emergency contact. 

“What you’re dealing with is not always apparent,” said Centerville Police Chief Allen Ackerson. “The driving pattern of someone with autism can look like a driver who is impaired by drugs or alcohol. The (envelope) gives us a better understanding of the driver and can streamline the stop and affect the interaction."

Centerville Police Det. Troy Cash spearheaded the “Big Blue Envelope” program not only for Centerville but all of Davis County and for the state. 

“At the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025 (emergency manager) Louise McDonald said she had a friend who saw a Facebook post from a police department in Massachusetts that said they had rolled out a ‘Big Blue Envelope’ program. They had a short video showing a mock traffic stop.”

Cash said he had recently received an Autism for Law Enforcement certificate. “I help educate officers to identify the signs and tactics they can use to de-escalate the situation. It’s safer for them and for us.”

After doing some research, Cash found out that Utah didn’t have the program. “I talked to someone in Massachusetts to find out how they made and printed the envelopes. He told me to take their idea and make it our own with our logo, etc.”

Cash said he proposed it to the chief and his lieutenant and then gathered a little bit more information. “I talked to the driver's ed teacher at the Spectrum Academy (a school specializing in autism) and asked how many drivers there are in Utah. He said it was definitely something they needed.”

He kept working on the project. “I had to rein myself in,” said Cash. “I wanted to do it in the entire state but decided to start in Davis County.”

Cash said he went to the printer and found out that printing 500 envelopes was pretty expensive. “I met with Cheryl Smith from the Autism Council of Utah and proposed the idea. She thought it was fabulous but I needed funding. With her help I applied for a grant which provided the funds.”

Smith suggested a pilot of the program before he went statewide, said Cash. “I had bundles of 50 envelopes and over the course of several weeks made my way through the county to 19 law enforcement agencies. I delivered them with a flash drive with my instructions on it.”

The state also passed a law enforcement bill for the "invisible condition,” he said. “It’s a driver’s license division form for drivers with autism. It has to be signed by a clinician. They put a marker on their license for law enforcement letting them know that the driver has a condition.”

The applicant brings the form into the police department in their jurisdiction, Cash said. “We put that into our system and when we run a name we’ll get an alert and we’ll treat it differently because of this.”

Utah is the 13th state to start the program, he said. “It’s still very new. I’ve spoken to officers who had traffic stops and showed them the envelopes and asked them if it would have helped them and they said ‘yes, absolutely.’”

Cash said before rolling out the envelopes he got with Spectrum Academy. “We had four students and utilized the blue envelopes and had a mock traffic stop. When we started they were anxious. After two or three times you could see the anxiety level decrease even though we had different officers.”

The benefits of the program are huge, he said. “It made me happy to sit in the car and watch it in action. It was thrilling – I loved it.” 

For more information about how to get an envelope contact the local police department or visit Autism Council of Utah.