Autistic person here. im looking for some advice incase i have a meltdown in public. if i become violentv (during the meltdown), would the police be called and would i be arrested for it? for me at least, i dont want to have a meltdown at all, let alone in public.
us autistics know that we're unable to control what we say and how we "act" when we're going through a meltdown but im curious if the police would understand or would they just see the violence side of things?
It depends what violent means. If you hurt others, yes. If you damage property, probably.
If you scream and shout and rage, you might be arrested with the intention of putting you in front of a nurse at the station or a MH worker in A&E.
The police aren't mind readers - they have a duty to protect the public and also you.
Legally, you can probably defend yourself out of prison, and in the long-term, you won't be arrested for something that happened years ago unless it involves bigotry or sexual creepiness or someone hates you, and, but literally in the moment, yes.
You most likely won't be arrested for dropping furniture or getting angry with family members in public, but if you get angry or literally violent even in self defence, or you force yourself past someone, or someone official asks you to leave and they don't, or you argue and raise your voice with an official stranger such as a restaurant owner or a shop assistant, they might threaten to call the police.
However, they are more likely to use it as a last resort. Unfortunately, people like that are very good at being violent to you, letting you react, and then denying everything and calling the police after all when they have enough evidence to pin on you, knowing that the police and the public will believe them over you.
The other risk is looking suspicious to the police themselves. If you run away from home or something like that, always have a plausible alibi so that the police and nosy strangers will leave you the fuck alone, and have a safe person to phone up in an emergency, preferably including extra backups in case your emergency contact is a fickle friend or relative, a 9 to 5 carer or a "neutral" neighbour, or an abusive parent or partner.
You won't be arrested in schools as a minor unless you carry a weapon or something like that.
Yes if you've hurt someone or caused damage but my experience is that the police are generally more aware(only speaking for my local force). You can always call it a mental health crisis to make the right people aware.
if you do get arrested, ask for the duty solicitor and don't say anything until you've spoken with them.
and make damn sure to ask for an appropriate adult, so you can understand your rights as a detainee in custody.
been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. it is not a nice place (and that's coming from someone who's not even a criminal - check my post history if you want the full details!)