Two deaf people have filed a lawsuit against the city of North Las Vegas and its police department, claiming their civil rights were violated when authorities repeatedly failed to provide a certified sign language interpreter and ignored requests to communicate in writing.
Jeffrey Beardsley and Melissa Ward, who were arrested in separate traffic stops in 2003 and 2004, claim they didn't understand why police officers had pulled them over or hauled them off to jail, according to the federal lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants, who include a number of city officials, did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
When his vehicle was pulled over on Aug. 14, 2003, by North Las Vegas police officer William Silva, Beardsley took out a pad and wrote the words, "What did I do?"
"Officer Silva became visibly angry and threw the pad into Beardsley's car," according to the lawsuit. "Then officer Silva grabbed Beardsley by the arm and pulled him out of the car by his wrist."
The officer then handcuffed Beardsley, who was later placed in a police squad car so he could be transported to the North Las Vegas Jail.
At the police station, Beardsley claims he again tried to convey to authorities that he was deaf. "I need a paper and pen. I need an interpreter," he attempted to communicate to them, according to the lawsuit.
Beardsley, who is alleged to have failed to stop at a stop sign, was incarcerated for nearly a day, attorney Marina Kolias said.
Ward, 34, spent nearly two days in the same facility following an August 2004 traffic stop, according to her attorneys.
Kolias said the North Las Vegas police officer who pulled over Ward's vehicle, Steven Baker, yelled at her because she had failed to comply with his order to stop. Ward was unaware of such a command because the officer did not flash his cruiser's lights and she could not hear the vehicle's siren, her attorneys said.
Ward was pulled over because she was driving with expired tags, Kolias said. There was a warrant for her arrest in connection with a failure to produce car insurance.
Neither Ward nor Beardsley has a felony record, according to their attorneys.
Officer Baker initially wrote out some questions on paper for Ward, but failed to write down much of what he was saying, Kolias said.
Ward was handcuffed and taken to jail, unaware of her infraction and authorities continually ignored her pleas for written communication, according to the suit.
In court, a Municipal Court staffer attempted to communicate with Ward via finger spelling, but the staffer was not proficient in sign language, Kolias said. No one proficient in sign language was summoned to help, she said.
"If she was able to communicate and explain her side of the story ... then she would not have been taken to jail," Kolias said.
North Las Vegas police spokesman Tim Bedwell said his agency does not discuss lawsuits.
But as a general policy, he said, "Our first line of communication with deaf individuals is written notes. That's what we teach our officers and that's what we practice."
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More Information:http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Apr-19-Tue-2005/news/26323542.html
Some police have to realized that written notes take much more time than getting an interpreter. I hope they would change how they were practice.
If the police work for the Government? Then the Police should know the laws even the ADA laws?
Jeffrey Beardsley and Melissa Ward, who were arrested in separate traffic stops in 2003 and 2004, claim they didn't understand why police officers had pulled them over or hauled them off to jail, according to the federal lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants, who include a number of city officials, did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
When his vehicle was pulled over on Aug. 14, 2003, by North Las Vegas police officer William Silva, Beardsley took out a pad and wrote the words, "What did I do?"
"Officer Silva became visibly angry and threw the pad into Beardsley's car," according to the lawsuit. "Then officer Silva grabbed Beardsley by the arm and pulled him out of the car by his wrist."
The officer then handcuffed Beardsley, who was later placed in a police squad car so he could be transported to the North Las Vegas Jail.
At the police station, Beardsley claims he again tried to convey to authorities that he was deaf. "I need a paper and pen. I need an interpreter," he attempted to communicate to them, according to the lawsuit.
Beardsley, who is alleged to have failed to stop at a stop sign, was incarcerated for nearly a day, attorney Marina Kolias said.
Ward, 34, spent nearly two days in the same facility following an August 2004 traffic stop, according to her attorneys.
Kolias said the North Las Vegas police officer who pulled over Ward's vehicle, Steven Baker, yelled at her because she had failed to comply with his order to stop. Ward was unaware of such a command because the officer did not flash his cruiser's lights and she could not hear the vehicle's siren, her attorneys said.
Ward was pulled over because she was driving with expired tags, Kolias said. There was a warrant for her arrest in connection with a failure to produce car insurance.
Neither Ward nor Beardsley has a felony record, according to their attorneys.
Officer Baker initially wrote out some questions on paper for Ward, but failed to write down much of what he was saying, Kolias said.
Ward was handcuffed and taken to jail, unaware of her infraction and authorities continually ignored her pleas for written communication, according to the suit.
In court, a Municipal Court staffer attempted to communicate with Ward via finger spelling, but the staffer was not proficient in sign language, Kolias said. No one proficient in sign language was summoned to help, she said.
"If she was able to communicate and explain her side of the story ... then she would not have been taken to jail," Kolias said.
North Las Vegas police spokesman Tim Bedwell said his agency does not discuss lawsuits.
But as a general policy, he said, "Our first line of communication with deaf individuals is written notes. That's what we teach our officers and that's what we practice."
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More Information:http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Apr-19-Tue-2005/news/26323542.html
Some police have to realized that written notes take much more time than getting an interpreter. I hope they would change how they were practice.
If the police work for the Government? Then the Police should know the laws even the ADA laws?
to LV police dept. I think they need to go back to police school and learn how to communicate with deafies and mutes as well...
