Police and the deaf community...

Taylor

Taylor

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Every once in awhile, the topic of police come up within the deaf community. I wanted to solicit the opinions of folks here in how their local police work with the deaf within their jurisdiction.
Perhaps to clarify a few items:

When it comes to dealing with police, is there really a difference between the deaf and the hearing community? From my own experience, there is a difference, but how do the deaf feel about it?

For instance, a member here recently mentioned his car being stolen and the police didn't really do a whole lot...didn't even try for fingerprints. My experience in law enforcement says to try and get prints if it is possible to do so (a car that has been burned or has been sitting a long time will not get results). Is this how the department handles most stolen cars or was it because the officer could have had trouble communicating with the deaf victim and so he let things slide a little?

Another item that comes to mind is calling 911. In our department, we get a lot of 911 hang-ups...and oftentimes it is kids playing with the phone. Because of the amount of hang-ups we get, we cannot send police lights and sirens to all of these calls (both the officers and general public are put at risk when responding lights and sirens).
We have a deaf couple that live in our city that have some sort of device that continually calls 911. There is no voice contact and no background noise. They claim they are not instigating the phone call in any way...this device seems to dial 911 whenever it feels like it.
My concern is that we get a lot of hang-ups from this house and I'm worried about what happens the one day they have a true emergency.
No matter how many hang-ups we get from there, we will always respond and in a timely manner. My concern is that in a true emergency, there will be no voice contact and we cannot determine the nature of what is taking place.
My question is really in regards to how the deaf here communicate their problems to the police and is there anything our officers need to be concious of when responding to a call involving a deaf person.
Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated!
 
Good thread Taylor! :thumb:

I think first off, the most noticeable difference between Deaf and Hearing people in terms with the police would be their 'rights' either not being followed through, used accordingly, initiated or simply ignored...and I believe most Deaf/Hoh people are growing tired and leery of pressing on despite making such awareness or other viable ideas or ways known which surely can improve the overall qualities and conditions that would warrant such reviews and actions necessary....

I've heard of stories from Deaf friends who have been pulled over for 'speeding' and once the police officer realizes the driver is Deaf, they'll either just simply wave them off on their way or give such facial expressions warning them to slow down....

From my own personal experiences, I never had trouble communicating with the police during times when I've called them for such incidents such as my car twice being broken into, rude and obnoxious neighbors, etc.,....

As for the device such as the TTD/TTY mentioned, it may be reasonably possible that there is a malfunction in the device that is dialing out the '911' number constantly...or there's a ghost living there.... :smoking:
 
Is this how the department handles most stolen cars or was it because the officer could have had trouble communicating with the deaf victim and so he let things slide a little?
Click to expand...

No deaf victim must request for interpreter that they can provide one for deaf victim.
 
In mass Our Relay number we only dial 711....


Once I accidently dial 911 not 711. I didn't mean to.. I hang up then ran outside to inform my husband He just laughed then the phone rang I looked on caller id ( I had cordless phone with me) and I told him *it's the mashpee police I didn't mean to* He laughed again and explained to police there was no emergency or anything She was just trying to call relay and it's the number 711.. The dispatch said ok no problem.. so It was a big relief that they didn't have to come over..

Perhaps some state has their own quick number now like we do have. we used to dial 1 800 blah blah.. they decide to change it to 711.. I think it's bad idea what if you were *sleepyhead* and dial by an accident Like I did :( I worked lots of overtime that time..

Wendy
 
Oh yes.. I just remember that we also have system called E911.. I Hope you do remember these thing if you knew.. If not..
what it works... E911 you just phone down or leave tty on and they will see it mean emergency to come over but they prefer if you press 1 for fire. 2 for police 3 for ambulance..


Everyone should check with their state to find out their system..

this E911 is good for people who can't speak or can't move due of domestic volience.. etc..


Wendy
 
Awesome Thread!! :thumb:

From my experiences, I haven't had a problem calling 911, police or fire department since they do have a tty there and they always answer the tty calls...One time, I was very sick and I knew I wouldn't make it, so I called 911, they put me on hold, soon as I started getting really dizzy, sweating and not seeing things clear, so I hunged up and called the police department thru the tty, and that was the last thing I remember until I woke up in the hospital, I believe that our city where we live seem to take every calls, I personally think it works both ways when you have an emergency you should never hung up , just put the phone off the hook until someone arrives to help you, that way it can help the police know that there's really an emergency going on!!...

The only problem I had with the police department is getting an interpreter when a situation is happening and not knowing what it going on at that moment, the police department won't work with you by asking what really happened but hearing it from others who CAN hear...then later finding out from the police report what the others had said and never really took place....I believe that the police department need to work more on this because we do have rights too and should be treat like others and when a Deaf person is involved in a bad situation, the police should listen to both sides then rathering to just deal with the person that they can easily understand and work with rather than wasting their time getting across to a deaf person....
 
i had once inadvertly dialed 911 when i was intending to call for the relay at 711 when i was at a friend's place and she had this TTY that was so different from the other TTYs ive been used to -- lo and behold expecting the relay i got the dispatcher LOL -- i told the dispatcher that i apologize for inadvertly calling them when i was intending for the relay -- thankfully the dispatcher was ok with that and nobody responded to my friend's place *relieved* LOL -- my friend and i laughed abt it then at 2nd attempt i MADE sure i dialed the whole nbr the 800 nbr to play it safe to be sure i got thru to the relay NOT using the 711 system grr -- i agree with WBHarley abt the newer 711 system -- i think the nbr 7 is a bit too close to the nbr 9 and ppl can inadvertly hit the 9 instead of the 7 if they mistyped :-/
 
i alway have plms wiht police i hate police and i think they are no good .... too many bad experiences with them. wayyy too many ... if i need their help... i would request for one... but i wont expect anything from them except frustrations and problems.

as for 911 i think people are overusing it... kinda abusing it and that kinda spoiled for people who truly needed it.
 
Oh one more thing I forgot to add ...

One night I was in a bad situation with my husband ( now divorce ), when things were going soo bad after he kicked, choked and beaten me up, so I called 911 cause he's kept hurting me, but he took the phone away from me and hung up, I had no where to go or no one to call , he wouldn't allowed me to leave the house...I don't know how this would help others who are in a situation like this when you make an emergency call and not knowing if the police or the 911 knew that there really was an emergency going on....That's gonna to be tough!

btw, No one really ever did show up that night! ..I dunno if they got the call or they thought it was a prank!
 
In florida sheriff dept dont care if youre deaf. I tried to start a campaign against st lucie county sheriff mascara. His deputy gave me a ticket because i had my brights on which i didnt know i had em on. It cost me $75 for ticket plus pay another $40 to attend traffic school. Well he won because old bats are stupid here they dont realize sheriff mascara is part of law enforcement corruption. Sheriff mascara belives in everyone is guilty but in our consitution is says innocent until proven guilty. I did protesting on an intersection on a busy highway holding a sign that says ARE OUR DEPUTIES TREATING YOU WITH RESPECT? (on the back it says) VOTE FOR RODNEY BLACK FOR SHERIFF. Well the shitgoat won.
 
Sorry for the delay in responding to this thread...Got tied up and wasn't able to check in. Thanks to all who took the time to respond.

I think first off, the most noticeable difference between Deaf and Hearing people in terms with the police would be their 'rights' either not being followed through, used accordingly, initiated or simply ignored...and I believe most Deaf/Hoh people are growing tired and leery of pressing on despite making such awareness or other viable ideas or ways known which surely can improve the overall qualities and conditions that would warrant such reviews and actions necessary....
Click to expand...

Great point. While I don't know if their rights are being violated per se, I can see where an officer would 'sluff it off' because of a communication barrier. I've seen similar things pop-up within our Hispanic community. We do, however, have many officers that can speak Spanish so it can be accomplished. I would be interested in hearing more about the qualities and conditions you mention as I will need to be armed with that material.

No deaf victim must request for interpreter that they can provide one for deaf victim.
Click to expand...
and
The only problem I had with the police department is getting an interpreter when a situation is happening and not knowing what it going on at that moment, the police department won't work with you by asking what really happened but hearing it from others who CAN hear...then later finding out from the police report what the others had said and never really took place....I believe that the police department need to work more on this because we do have rights too and should be treat like others and when a Deaf person is involved in a bad situation, the police should listen to both sides then rathering to just deal with the person that they can easily understand and work with rather than wasting their time getting across to a deaf person....
Click to expand...

This is one of my concerns and one of the reasons I'm pushing this subject. We do have interpreters that we can use, but they are 'on-call' and must be called in. At 3am, this takes a phone call to their house or agency and time for them to respond. They are not police so they get stuck in any traffic or traffic lights. My concern is if somebody who is deaf is robbed. It is important to have a good description of the person. These critical seconds can determine if the bad guy is caught in the area or has had time to escape. I do give our officers credit because when it has come up (rare) they do a great job at communicating with the victim even if they don't sign.

Perhaps some state has their own quick number now like we do have. we used to dial 1 800 blah blah.. they decide to change it to 711
Click to expand...
This probably happens quite a bit. As I mentioned in my first post, we get A LOT of 911 hang-ups. Most people realize that they have made a mistake and hang-up. If you make a mistake, please stay on the line and tell the dispatcher what happened. It is common for us to get a 911 hang-up from a battered wife where the husband answers on call-back and says it was the kids playing or some other excuse. By staying on the line, it really helps us determine what is taking place, mistake or not.

Oh yes.. I just remember that we also have system called E911.. I Hope you do remember these thing if you knew.. If not..
what it works... E911 you just phone down or leave tty on and they will see it mean emergency to come over but they prefer if you press 1 for fire. 2 for police 3 for ambulance..
Click to expand...

E-911 also has a variety of other things, depeding on the phase. 911 call centers equipped for it can trace a cell phone to an exact location. Most call centers can at least get a call-back number, but cell phones are difficult to trace to a location (keep this in mind if you are calling from a cell phone..it is IMPORTANT to know your location and give that location to the dispatcher). Our dispatchers answer the line as '911, where is your emergency'. Location is important. Even if we don't know what is happening, we at least know where you are.

as for 911 i think people are overusing it... kinda abusing it and that kinda spoiled for people who truly needed it.
Click to expand...
Sorry to learn about bad experiences with the police. I'd welcome feedback on where the problems were and what can be done to correct them. While you would be at another department, its always helpful to know the general perceptions of the police department.
As for the abuse of 911, yes it is abused quite frequently. We get people that call 911 for driving directions or call thinking we can connect them to another number because their cell phone can only call 911. They call us thinking they can be transferred to their friend. If you need directions, we'll be more than happy to help, just use a non-emergency number to call :)

One night I was in a bad situation with my husband ( now divorce ), when things were going soo bad after he kicked, choked and beaten me up, so I called 911 cause he's kept hurting me, but he took the phone away from me and hung up, I had no where to go or no one to call , he wouldn't allowed me to leave the house...I don't know how this would help others who are in a situation like this when you make an emergency call and not knowing if the police or the 911 knew that there really was an emergency going on....That's gonna to be tough!

btw, No one really ever did show up that night! ..I dunno if they got the call or they thought it was a prank!
Click to expand...
I'm shocked to learn that nobody ever showed up without at least investigating it. That is kind of frightening and I'm glad our local departments have policies against ignoring such calls.
You do bring up a very excellent point. If you cannot talk for communicate, you can call 911 and leave the phone off the hook. Its OK to leave the line open. Operators can then hear background noise, such as an argument in another room or any strange noises. We've had people wake up to find someone had broken into their house. They call 911 and leave the phone off the hook and pretend they are still asleep. With an open line, it helps the dispatch on the other end and most will stay on the line until the first officers arrive.

In florida sheriff dept dont care if youre deaf. I tried to start a campaign against st lucie county sheriff mascara. His deputy gave me a ticket because i had my brights on which i didnt know i had em on. It cost me $75 for ticket plus pay another $40 to attend traffic school.
Click to expand...
Steve, you didn't know you had your brights on (but apparently did without your knowledge). You were committing something that was against the code (I hate to use the word crime for things like this), but you were guilty of doing it. I've often wondered why we pull people over for speeding and they get pissed at us. We don't write the laws but enforce them. If you were driving with your brights on and you got caught, I'm not sure how that makes them corrupt.

Anyhow, thanks to all for the great responses. I'm putting together some information to present to our department concerning our policies (or lacking in some policies) in regards to the deaf community. I'll continue to welcome feedback and ideas, even through Private Message. Feel free to contact me with your thoughts, :)
 
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