Tim Sutton is a 31 year veteran Law Enforcement Officer. After spending 4 years as a patrolman for the Chesterfield County Police Department VA, he was hired by a Sheriff’s Office in the Richmond Metro area of Virginia. Tim then worked as a patrol deputy for two years and then spent four years as a Street Crimes Investigator. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1999 and has been a patrol Sergeant ever since. In 2003, he implemented his agencies Project Lifesaver Program to address the issue of individuals wandering or eloping due to cognitive impairment. He continues to run the program. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from James Madison University.
While overseeing his department’s Project Lifesaver Program, he has interacted extensively with hundreds of families dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease/Dementia or Autism/Intellectual Disabilities. He has attended and instructed numerous seminars on both topics. In 2007, Tim was asked to travel throughout Virginia for the Department of Criminal Justice Services as an instructor for the “Alzheimer’s for First Responders” training. He assisted with the training the training until 2011. In 2011 he was approached by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to assist in teaching the “Alzheimer’s Initiative” throughout the country. As the “Alzheimer’s Initiative ended in 2017, he has continued to travel the United States training public safety officers and conducting Train the Trainer courses on Alzheimer’s Disease. He has partnered with Next Generation Training in co-teaching many of these courses
In 2009, Tim was asked to join the Public Safety Workgroup of Virginia to help develop an Autism Training curriculum for Public Safety in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In the fall of 2010, the pilot class was presented at the Project Lifesaver International Conference in Virginia Beach. He became a member of a team traveling across Virginia conducting the Critical Autism Training (CAT 1). The team was featured in the Washington Post during the spring of 2011 when they trained members of the Fairfax Police Department. As the CAT 1 training ended in 2016, Tim has continued to travel throughout Virginia and different areas of the country conducting Autism/Intellectual Disability Training.
In 2011, Tim’s Law Enforcement agency was involved in one of the largest search and rescue missions in Virginia history. A nine year non-speaking boy with Autism had eloped in a very rural area of the county. For six days a 24 hour search was conducted with the child subsequently being found alive on that sixth day. As the search progressed, there was a pouring out of citizens wanting to help. Tim was assigned to conduct 20 minute classes on Autism for all of the citizens who showed up to help with the search. Over the course of 4 days, Tim trained over 6,000 citizens on the unique characteristics of Autism.
Tim continues to work in law enforcement as a patrol supervisor and formed A Better Understanding LLC (www.a-betterunderstanding.com) in 2011 to raise awareness in the area of Special Populations. He continues to travel the country teaching and presenting on topics such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Intellectual Disabilities, and Developmental Disabilities. Tim has been deemed a subject matter expert by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and The International Association of Chiefs of Police on Alzheimer’s as it relates to Law Enforcement. The Virginia DCJS has also declare him a subject matter expert in the area of Autism/Intellectual Disability as they relate to law enforcement. Tim’s goal with A Better Understanding LLC is to bring a better understanding of these special topics. He is dedicated to promoting “peaceful interaction, leading to positive outcomes”.
Tim lives in Central Virginia and he is married with three children.
