BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick Police Department hopes a new registration program for people with developmental disabilities will help police, fire and rescue personnel better respond to emergencies.

Beginning March 31 and continuing on four Saturdays throughout the month of April — Autism Awareness Month — police will hold voluntary registration events to collect information about Brunswick residents with a variety of developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, vision impairment and intellectual disability, as well as mental illness.

With that knowledge available in an instant, police expect first responders to be better prepared and act more quickly in emergency situations.

Brunswick Police Detective Rich Cutliffe, who is leading the program for the department, teaches other law enforcement personnel how to respond to situations involving people with developmental disabilities. Cutliffe’s 8- year- old son has autism.

“That’s obviously been a passion in my life,” he said Wednesday.

Along with a photograph, parents or other family members can provide such information as likes and dislikes, type of disability, relevant medical conditions and possible triggers.

In a worst-case scenario — for example, a child standing at the edge of a pond — an officer might be able to find out whether the child can swim and whether he or she is afraid of police officers.

“If you know he’s a huge Red Sox fan, and he’s not listening to you, you can say, ‘I heard you like the Red Sox. My favorite player is Kevin Youkilis,’” Cutliffe said. “The more you know about a person’s interests, you might be able to redirect their focus away from something that could be dangerous.”

Communications dispatchers would access information as police and other emergency personnel were responding to the scene, and be able to read it over the radio.

Children with autism typically like water, “or have no sense of boundaries when it comes to heights,” Cutliffe said. “If a kid is missing and there are quarries out behind the house, the first place to check is the quarries.”

Brunswick resident Chesley Flotten plans to register her 9-year-old son, Alec, who has autism, in the program.

“From a family perspective, it’s not just a great source of comfort, but in an emergency situation, it’s a great source of information,” Flotten said Wednesday.

“With autism, you have a greater chance of wandering among these children,” Flotten said. “ Sometimes they just get distracted and they decide to leave the house, but they may also get overwhelmed. Some children are non- verbal and unable to answer when called. Some have no fear of fire, and maybe will go back into a (burning) building — that has happened before. Or they may be frightened by certain ways of talking, or by blue lights. If you do have a 911 call go out from your house, to know (police) dispatch is going to have that information come up on their screen … and the officer will know to turn down his blue lights … The more information a first responder has about a child, the faster they’re going to be able to help them.”

Flotten said she met Cutliffe when she approached the police department about “ starting to form partnerships” between officers and children with autism to make them more comfortable with each other.

“Finding out someone gets it because they live the same life … it is really hard to get it unless you live it every day and know what it’s like to have this amazing person in your life whose brain processes things in a little different way and needs a little more time … and to get very wellmeaning people to see what you see and help them help you,” Flotten said. “To have someone who automatically gets it is fantastic … They’re doing a wonderful thing for the developmentally disabled community.”

The program is open to Brunswick residents, those who attend Brunswick schools and those who are in long- term treatment programs in Brunswick.

Registrations will take place from 9 a. m. to 1 p. m. March 31 and April 7, 14, 21 and 28 at the Brunswick Recreation Center, 30 Federal St.

For more information, contact Cutliffe at 725-6623 extension 163 or rcutliffe@brunswickpd.org.

bbrogan@timesrecord.com