Dennis Debbaudt

Dennis Debbaudt is the proud father of Brad, a young man who has autism. In the 1980’s, he wrote for the Detroit News and worked with network television current affairs programs in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. A professional investigator and journalist since 1977, Debbaudt turned his attention to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 1987 after his son was diagnosed with this condition. His acclaimed 1994 report, Avoiding Unfortunate Situations, became the first published chronicle of police and autism related interactions.

He has since authored or co-authored over 40 articles, books and chapters, including Autism, Advocates and Law Enforcement Professionals: Recognizing and Reducing Risk Situations for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders for Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London UK (2002), Contact with Individuals with Autism: Effective Resolutions for the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (Debbaudt & Rothman – 2001), Patients with Autism and Other High Risks for the Journal of Healthcare Protection Management (2009), Autism in the Criminal Justice System (Taylor, Mesibov & Debbaudt – 2009), and Autism: Managing Police Field Contacts – Training Key 678, International Association of Chiefs of Police (2013).

As managing partner of Debbaudt Legacy Productions, LLC, Dennis produced and wrote the scripts for the training videos Autism & Law Enforcement Roll Call Briefing (2004) and Autism, Fire-Rescue and Emergency Medical Services (2009).

Over the past 21 years, Dennis has instructed and developed training materials for law enforcement, first responders and criminal justice professionals throughout the United States, Canada, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland and United Kingdom. His recent sessions include the NYPD Academy, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Annual Training Symposium, Palm Beach County Florida Sheriff’s Office, Virginia Association of Crisis Intervention Teams conference, Florida Child Abduction Response Team (CART) conference, and for the Police Service of Northern Ireland in Belfast.

Dennis completed the NYPD Emergency Services Unit (ESU) 40-hour Emergency Psychology Technician Training Program: Managing Situations Involving Mentally Disturbed Persons. He developed and upgraded their Autism Trainers Guide & Video Training and presented for the NYPD Academy in 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2015. In addition, he served as a consultant for the Chicago Police Department’s autism training module, and taught Department of Homeland Security instructors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).