Cranberry Township’s Blue Envelope Program a hit in first month
For some individuals, an encounter with a police officer can be terrifying or uncomfortable even if they aren’t in trouble with the law.
This is why the Cranberry Township Police Department recently launched its Blue Envelope Program to assist individuals with autism or other developmental barriers in communicating with the police department through pre-written information contained in the envelopes.
The program was publicly unveiled in late September and has already received a positive response from the community, with around two dozen residents acquiring their own blue envelopes.
“We’ve had a good series of people interacting and asking about it and coming in to actually pick up the envelope,” said Mike Manipole, community services officer with the police department. “We already have 20 to 30 of these out on the street in a short period of time, so it’s been very positively received.”
Each blue envelope contains a number of important items for the individual to fill out, including pre-written forms which the individual can present to the police and fire department with full information about themselves, their condition and how to best communicate with them.
The outside of the envelope itself also contains a note for the responding police officer on one side telling the officer the individual has “a condition which may affect (their) communication abilities and (their) reaction to certain stimuli.” There is also a space on the envelope for the individual to fill in the name and contact information for an emergency contact.
Also contained in the envelope are two car decals: a reflective decal provided by Cranberry Township and another decal from PennDOT’s Yellow Dot Safety Program.
“The (Cranberry Township) sticker is displayed in the rear window on the driver's side of the person’s car,” Manipole said. “It’s activated by the strobe lights on the police car and will actually reflect back, so it tells the police officer it’s present when the police officer comes up.”
Manipole said the department has already received a positive response from special-needs groups in the township.
“There’s a lot of people very excited. Our autism groups are thrilled about this because they realize that things can be very overwhelming and a lot of times, if you don’t know the information, it’s very easy to misunderstand people,” Manipole said.
Those looking for a blue envelope can request one at the police department, which is located within the Cranberry Township municipal building on Rochester Road. Envelopes can also be obtained at the customer service desk at the municipal building.
According to Manipole, hundreds of blue envelopes have already been produced and more are on the way. In addition, the police department is planning on holding a public informational night to explain the blue envelope program in detail, although Manipole said it hasn’t been scheduled yet.
According to Manipole, Cranberry Township’s is not the first program of its kind.
“There’s other police departments throughout the state that do have the blue envelope program,” Manipole said. “The neat thing about the blue envelope program is, it’s not a copyrighted program. You’re actually given free leeway to make it what you want.”
Cranberry’s program isn’t the only, or even the first, program of its kind offered by an emergency services agency in Butler County in an effort to reach out to the neurodivergent population.
A number of police, fire and emergency services departments in Western Pennsylvania, including Butler County, have teamed up with 12 Months of April, a nonprofit headed by Baldwin High School teacher Kati Maas-Crawford, which distributes sensory kits to first responders.
According to Middlesex Township Police officer Rob Okavitch, who helped bring the program to that department, a sensory kit from 12 Months of April contains items such as crayons, coloring books, toy cars, Silly Putty, fidget spinners and teddy bears.
Okavitch said he was inspired to bring the program to Middlesex Township after another police department he works with on a part-time basis in Oakdale also got involved.
“Just about every police department in Allegheny County is involved,” Okavitch said. “I made some calls, there was a spot for me to get involved and so I did.”
Other Butler County emergency services departments working with 12 Months of April include the police departments of Penn and Adams townships and Saxonburg, as well as the Middlesex Township and Saxonburg volunteer fire companies and Quality EMS.
