Police?

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Texan Guy

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Hey, I wondering if I could work for the police department? If it is not, then why I couldn't have a hearing partner? I wear the cochlear implants. I could read the people's lip a little bit.

BTW, thought this link would interesting.....

DeafNationTV: Richard Bean, Deaf Police Patrolman

Thanks.

Why the police? Cause I love to protecting the innocent people and community.
 
There are other jobs within the police department where somebody who is deaf could work. I would not recommend it on the street for a number of reasons...the big thing is safety. I use my hearing for so much other than communicating with somebody. For instance, I have had people try and sneak up behind me...but I stopped it because I could hear them coming. I was also on a traffic stop one time and as I'm approaching I hear the passenger say to another passenger to 'Hide it...Hide it' referring to a loaded gun. There are also times where I am having a conversation with somebody and listening to another conversation going on near me. This comes into play when talking with witnesses or a suspect on the scene. I can be discussing what is going on with another officer while two witnesses are nearby talking about what they saw.

Again though, my big thing is safety being a top priority. We had an officer who was deaf but wore hearing aids. As his hearing got worse, he decided it was time to retire. He was an excellent officer that I looked up to, but towards the end he was missing a lot of things. For instance, there was a burglary in a building and went inside. The bad guy was upstairs and officers could hear the guy walking around upstairs. This is something that he missed and could have easily been ambushed if somebody else did not point it out to him.
 
Thanks for the explaining, Taylor. But what about having the hearing partner?
 
Texan Guy said:
Thanks for the explaining, Taylor. But what about having the hearing partner?
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It still becomes a safety issue. What if you and your partner get seperated? How would you hear his call for help on the radio or other officers? How would you know where those shots were coming from?

The reason I mention this is a few years ago, we had a gunman that barricaded himself in an apartment building. Officers arrived in the area and immediately began taking on fire from him. Officers needed to take cover immediately...and officers were sometimes out of site of each other (one behind a dumpster, another in a stairwell). This shootout lasted for about 1/2 of an hour. Fortunately, no officers were injured and the gunmen killed himself in the stairwell of the apartment building.

It is unlikely that this would ever happen again, but you need to be prepared for it. Just like traffic stops...many officers go through entire careers without having major issues on traffic stops, but you need to be prepared for that one time when somebody starts shooting with no warning. You take cover one way and your partner takes cover at another spot.

There is no reason to be discouraged however, because there are MANY positions within a department where somebody who is deaf could do quite well.
 
Texan Guy said:
Thanks for the explaining, Taylor. But what about having the hearing partner?
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no offense but I'm a cochlear implant user- the CI is not 100% reliable, its not fair to the hearing partner as its his life on the line, not just yours too.

as a civilian myself, I would like the police who's assigned in my area to be 100% capable of doing their jobs in order to save my life if such situtation comes up

I used to want to be a cop or in the airforce when I was a kid. I realized that it was a selfish move on my part so I changed my dreams and pursued a career in other fields that still helps others.

As you mentioned that you want to help the innocent people and the community, there are many different jobs as police is just one line of defense, there are so many other jobs that doesn't have the glamour as the sirens or the cold steel hanging on your belt. But there are countless defenses for the good of the community. Those in the mental health field should be applauded for their contribution to the community.

Innocence and the community makes me think of a social worker that works with children, even though you're a guy I see that you have a benefit as from my experience, some children looks up to a good male role model?

Wanted to add one more thing, if you wanted to truly help the community- dont commit any crimes, haha
 
I wouldn't recommend a CI user to become a beat cop -- there's a real risk that in critical situations, your implant would run out of battery, or become separated from your head in a scuffle. You're trying to arrest or wrestle someone, the implant comes off, you can't hear important events happening.

The military doesn't allow their fighter pilots to have anything less than 20/20 vision -- you can't be fumbling around in the cockpit with glasses that have been knocked off or contacts that have popped out in your million dollar dogfighting plane.

I guess you could make the same argument for cops who wear glasses or contacts though -- if they get knocked off, are you going to be completely blind or at least still be able to see well enough to protect and serve?

There are other police jobs than a beat cop, though -- I have a deaf friend who has served in the CSI sections of a few different city police departments. Still a cop, just no handing out tickets :)

When CIs become self contained enough for the battery and forced removal risk to be minimal, I'll fully back CIs becoming policemen on the beat.
 
Thanks for the telling, guys. How about the small town (least than 15,000 population) police departments?

Can I take the criminal justice degrees in college? I still haven't deicde what is the major should I take.
 
Texan Guy said:
Thanks for the telling, guys. How about the small town (least than 15,000 population) police departments?

Can I take the criminal justice degrees in college? I still haven't deicde what is the major should I take.
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Even smaller agencies would be an issue as far as patrol goes. Remember, smaller agencies work on smaller budgets so you would be more likely to be alone covering a larger area.

As for criminal justice degrees, I would first explore the options available to you in the law enforcement field outside of patrol. Contact some agencies and see what positions they have available, and what positions they have (even if not hiring). It will help you gauge what the availability is. I spoke with an instructor at a college offering criminal justice degrees. His words to me were that everyone in his class had no chance of ever becoming police. A degree does not mean a job. I would explore what your chances would be PRIOR to forking over the money for criminal justice. With that said, it was previously mentioned that there are a lot of fields that would be better suited for you...and if education will take you places in that, then go for it. Just dont get the impression that a CJ degree means a law enforecement position.

I think this is true for other fields as well. Prior to becoming law enforcement, I was a disc jockey on the radio. I would frequently see people come in to intern that had spent a lot of money going to broadcasting school. The problem is that degree does not land you a job in radio. I saw many people with the attitude that if they spent a few thousand going to school, they would come out being the next Howard Stern...and that could not be further from the truth. A lot of people paid their money and then had a rude awakening of what it was really like to work at a radio station. On the other hand, I never went to broadcasting school. My career started by writing a letter to a disc jockey back when I was in high school. He actually responded and invited me in...and I landed my first radio job.

I am not discouraging you at all for furthering your education...just be sure to do your research and make sure that your college dollars are well spent on what would be beneficial to your career choice.
 
Taylor said:
Even smaller agencies would be an issue as far as patrol goes. Remember, smaller agencies work on smaller budgets so you would be more likely to be alone covering a larger area....
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That's true. Almost all the patrols in our tri-county area are single. I almost never see two officers in one car.
 
I meant to add to be sure to check with different agencies in your area. Different departments have different needs. Our crime lab will be different from those in the surrounding jurisdictions. Our department acts as its own entity seperate from other agencies in the state. Because one department does not have a certain position, it does not mean other agencies will not. My advice is to explore with the larger agencies rather than the smaller ones. I would say you are more likely to land a career at a larger agency and would probably be more likely to hire someone who is deaf than a small agency with very limited personnel and resources.
 
Here’s an interesting hypothetical question: what kind of obstacles would a deaf person face if he wanted to become a prosecuting attorney?
 
woot woot I am shock damn Before I can't read this, now I am reading this news shocked damn we live Turkey in Istanbul don't have the police deaf

Richard Bean, Deaf Police Patrolman congratulation!
 
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