Alert Card Schemes

An autism alert card or passport is a document you can carry to help communicate your needs as an autistic/neurodivergent individual to police officers or other officials when you are away from home. The card typically contains your details and advice for the officer you are speaking to. Alert card schemes are run in most police areas across the UK.

Some police forces have similar initiatives:

  • Safe Places, as used by Avon & Somerset Police, assists the card holder to get in touch with police if needed, and links to a network of local safe locations such as police stations and council offices
  • The Pegasus system, used by Nottinghamshire Police and a number of other Forces, features a database shared with other 999 emergency services and a card with a unique PIN to allow emergency calls to be made quickly. Pegasus was developed by Paralympian Chris Channon
Attention Card supported by Cheshire Constabulary and Merseyside Police

Here is a list of alert card and safety schemes covering the UK – for information on how to join, click on your local police force in the A-Z list below. (Note that we have linked to the main police-accredited scheme where more than one is available. Forces without a clickable link do not currently have a local scheme in operation.)

The following national schemes are also available:

As schemes are constantly being developed and updated, links to external websites may change – in the event of any broken links or schemes not mentioned here, please contact us using the Media/Comms option – thanks 🙂


Last updated: 05/09/2023

England

Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland