The Importance of Being Patient

By Lisa Danford 

On a brisk November morning, Fairfax Police Officer Lt. Rodney Naticchioni was driving through the village. He saw a 10-year-old girl walking alone near the Murray bike path.

Something didn’t seem right, so Naticchioni pulled over. “She would stop and talk to me for a little bit, but then she said, ‘just leave me alone,’ and took off,” he said. She headed toward the creek that runs along Bancroft Street, about a block from the bike path.

Fairfax Officer Nathan Staggs arrived shortly after with more information from Cincinnati police officers and her caregivers. He learned that the girl lived in Cincinnati, near the village limits. She had autism and ran off after an argument with her brother, who took her beloved golden Baby Yoda figure.

The officers followed her into the creek and tried to make conversation. “We asked what she was interested in, and she started talking about the rocks,” Naticchioni said. “She told us how she likes to go to the creek—that’s her calming place.”

Staggs added that they helped her search for interesting items in the creek as they tried to gain her trust. “We had time, so we were patient and tried to get her to agree to come with us,” Staggs said. “It’s all about building a rapport, and it ended up being like a little play date.”

After about 40 minutes, the officers convinced the girl to come out of the creek and show all her collected items to her mom, who was waiting up the street. While they had some training about interacting with people who have different disabilities, Naticchioni said being in a small village gave them enough time to just listen to her story.

“Things that may be very small to us, can be a big deal to some people,” he said. “There were no big calls we had to go to, so we were able to dedicate as much time as we needed to that child.”

 Staggs received a supervisor recognition for his calming nature and mindfulness that allowed the child to be reunited with her family without force or added trauma.

“A lot of times you might not know if somebody has communication difficulties or has a different perspective,” he said. “It just shows the importance of being patient.”