Joe Ingles Pushes For Increased Police Training In Wake Of Linden Cameron Shooting

For Joe Ingles, the Linden Cameron shooting felt personal. He knew he had to act. If you aren’t familiar with the Linden Cameron story, he was the 13-year-old boy with Asberger’s that was shot by Salt Lake City Police last month.

Cameron remains in critical condition. Due to Cameron’s disease, he acts out and can be uncontrollable. During one of Linden Cameron’s episode, his mother called the Salt Lake City Police Department for help. That’s when a chase occurred and ended with several shots at Cameron.

The bodycam footage shows the chase between Cameron and the police. It is unclear whether the 13-year-old had a weapon, or if the officers felt their lives were in danger. The community was heartbroken and enraged, including Joe Ingles.

Joe Ingles’ Call For Action

The Linden Cameron story hit home for Joe Ingles because he can relate. Joe and his wife Renae found out in 2019 that their son, Jacob, has Autism. Ingles has been working hand in hand with Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall to ensure that cops receive proper training when dealing with kids who have special needs.

Today, Joe Ingles joined Erin Mendenhall to help unveil a new training program for police officers and first responders.

I'm at the Public Safety Building, where SLCPD is about to announce that all SLC first responders will receive training from KultureCity, an org that teaches how to best interact with those with sensory needs.

Joe Ingles is here to help mayor Mendenhall make the announcement. pic.twitter.com/HSF83EqhzF

— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) October 15, 2020

Joe Ingles took the podium at the meeting.

Joe Ingles says he “annoyed them a little bit too much” in calling, texting Erin Mendenhall in trying to get SLCPD to get this training. He says the story of Linden Cameron “hit really hard. That could easily be a situation Jacob could have been in.” pic.twitter.com/hpF3gKD810

— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) October 15, 2020

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Erin Mendenhall was quoted saying,” “On that night of Sept. 4, a tragedy happened in our community that turned our attention again to what can we do to train our officers to better handle situations like that.”

The training will happen at Vivint Arena, where the Utah Jazz play. The training will include occupational and behavioral therapists to help train police officers, fire fighters, and 911 dispatchers. Trainings are set to begin in November.

Good for Joe and Renae Ingles for making something positive happen in the aftermath of such a tragic event. They have handled their own personal situation with such honor and courage. Thankfully, it seems like their son is on the right path.

“We wouldn’t change him,” Joe said of Jacob last year. “As we go along this journey, we’ll figure out what he needs. Every kid is different. Along the journey, we’ll find out different things and keep adjusting.”

Let’s all hope that the Ingles family and their work in Salt Lake City will go a long way in ensuring that nothing like the Linden Cameron shooting will ever happen again.

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