What would you do?

But what do you do if someone lost their life or got scars from this?

Tell em, sorry it's just a misunderstanding and cop was just doing their job? It can't be helped and that they will pay for all medical and damage done to you and your family.

Eh...Looks like I got my answer...
 
Silentwolfdog said:
But what do you do if someone lost their life or got scars from this?

Tell em, sorry it's just a misunderstanding and cop was just doing their job? It can't be helped and that they will pay for all medical and damage done to you and your family.

Eh...Looks like I got my answer...
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I'm not saying that makes it okay or right. The cop probably should have tried tapping one of them on the shoulder first, but what if the drug dealer the girl was mistaken for is really dangerous, can you really blame the cop for tackling her instead? And most certainly the police owe an appology and should pay for any medical expenses.
 
ASLGAL said:
At your service SilentWolfDog :) ask me anything :)

While training is much much better then when I started in police work there is still a horribly large gap - at least here in Ohio - where communication between any branch of government and the D/deaf are concerned.
I am sure other Ohioans in here will agree.
As spouse to HOH (ran256, remember him :)) ASL person, and so on and a D/deaf advocate type person in my area I am always trying to enlighten and educate the hearing to the D/deaf and vice versa.
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As a fellow Buckeye, I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one!
 
ASLGAL said:
Your first scenerio has several flaws.
We can sit and What If all day long....
If the D/deaf people were noticing in front and to their sides that others were looking at them strangely then why wouldn't they have looked behind themselves too? The police would've made a ID and the D/deaf folks would have stopped and spoken with the officers - This would have solved the situation


Very nicely put ASLGAL i was reading thru all the input, cause the scenerio just didnt seem suitable. so you put it very nicely.

if everyone is looking at these people, its cause they are signing ASL. so its obvious they are deaf. and so would police officers should have recognized too.

Undercover cop? at first glance probably wouldnt notice. but quickly should be able to indentify. then im sure could make some sort of notion to inform officer of hearring impairment.

Kodiak
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Eh assuming is a dangerous thing to do. You can't assume that every deaf person or person itself for that matter would react in the same way. Sure maybe the majority would react in the way you guys mentioned, but there may be many different factors that play into a role that caused person not to be aware of his surrounding.
 
For one I would probably fight back - just going to be natural instinct to fight back if your'e getting pounded for no appearent reason. This would be the case for anyone - hearing or deaf.

second - I would make the police issue a public statement and apology and ask that the officer be suspended indefinitely without pay or at least he completed a course on dealing with deaf individuals who may not respond to vocal commands.

Third - like pek1 - I would make this leak out to the media so that everyone in all jurisdictions get the opportunity to learn from the mistake. I would not try to publicly crucify the officer - it sounds like it was an honest mistake and poor judgement.

Fourth - ask the police to pay me resistution and damages including but not limited to my medical bills and any lost-time wages for any work missed.

LAst but not least - use the opportunity to give LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) the REQUIREMENT on how to deal with deaf/HOH civilians who may or may not be suspects of crime. And obviously deafness is not appearent - its a hidden handicap - so LEOs should start making a visual effort to stop the person before pouncing on them like lions.

Also - perhaps there is something the deaf can do to help the situation - wear a bracelet or necklace similar to the medical alert tags that diabetics wear to alert them to their condition. Instead it would be blue and have the Deaf accessibility symbol on it.

I too have encountered a similar situation but it was taken care of at the scene. I was driving on 22 from Dardanelle headed south. I had been driving for 3 hours from Stuttgart and had just gotten off the interstate. When I got on the 2 lane roads I was not paying attention to my speed and I was going 70 in a 55 mph zone (my mistake). I happened to look into my rearview mirror and saw blue lights so I pulled over at the safest spot - a church parking lot. I stopped the vehicle and turned it off and started digging for my insurance card and registration. The officer came up and had his hand on the glock - and said - put your hands up. I was like what?? What did I do officer?

You have been fleeing at 70 mph for the last 5 miles. Why didnt you stop before? I explained to him that I was HOH and apologized for not being more aware. Because I was calm and even allowed him to search my vehicle as he didnt believe me, and he looked at me and said - Now I know you, your'e Mr. T-----'s daughter aren't you?

Yes sir I am.

Well now I believe you - I remember your dad telling us you were born deaf in one ear. I sure am sorry to ruffle your feathers like this ma'am.

Then he helped me to put my stuff back in my truck and let me off with a warning instead of a ticket.

It was nervewracking to say the least but I think what helped the situation was that I was calm, open and honest about it, instead being combative.

A week later I received an apology card from the officer in the mail.
 
But what would happen if he did not know you or your family? Would he still treat you same way?

I don't mind wearing some kind of bracelet to let police or emergency workers know that I am deaf and I need special services (such as an interpreter, etc.)
 
What would have happened then? Well for one he'd would have found absolutely no contraband or firearms in my vehicle (all I had was myself, my dog, and some luggage from the 2-day trip.) Then likely he would have called up the YCSO K-9 unit to sniff for stuff - still would have found nothing, probably cuffed me up, ran my license for any violations, found none, and probably would have realized that I was in fact telling the truth and would have made an even bigger ass of himself. I would have just complied and answered any questions truthfully. Even if he didnt know me, someone from the SO probably would have and would have backed up my statement.

But I have to admit, he probably thought I was fleeing and was trying to formulate an escape plan when that wasnt the case at all. In the police academy they are made to be aware of any sudden changes in the situation whether it is good or bad.

If things did get serious - which they didnt, I would have contacted the ASP Headquarters and filed a complaint and the officer probably would have been investigated and the whole thing of course on tape, and it also would have been reviewed. And after many interviews statements and whatnot, I would have come out in the right, asked for monetary reimbursement of lost wages, and sought damages incurred due to the embarrassment of being accused of fleeing and being charged as a hardened criminal. The officer would have been suspended until the investigation was complete.
 
Kodiak said:
if everyone is looking at these people, its cause they are signing ASL. so its obvious they are deaf. and so would police officers should have recognized too.
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Actually, they would most likely be staring because there was a cop yelling and the people kept walking. However, if the couple noticed people staring, it would have made sense to look around and see what they were staring at. But then, life doesn't always make sense

Anyways, I think it would be a good idea to have a bracelet or the ribbon thing on the car. And cops shouldn't just assume that a driver can hear them anyways. With noise from traffic, the engine, the air conditioning, and any music, even a hearing person won't hear a cop car all that well. That is why I have to check my mirrors all the time, because my car is noisy and I can rarely hear anything outside of it.
 
rockdrummer said:
Oh Lord Pek1... I am sorry that you are friends with a racist bigot.
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Heath has recently learned that he is of Jewish descent, so he's trying to get rid of that racist stuff. I don't agree with everything he says, though. Some of his ideas are quite far-fetched and beyond my comprehension. He feels that the cops are always right, of which I and many others, disagree.
 
pek1 said:
Heath has recently learned that he is of Jewish descent, so he's trying to get rid of that racist stuff. I don't agree with everything he says, though. Some of his ideas are quite far-fetched and beyond my comprehension. He feels that the cops are always right, of which I and many others, disagree.
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good for him. I don't believe that your heritage has anything to do with being a racist. That's more of a personality trait or flaw depending on your perspective. I also don't agree that the cops are always right just because they are cops. Heath just needs to realize that people are people and there are good and bad in ALL walks of life. Not just blacks, whites, asian, latin etc but in all. We are all of a single race. The human race!!
 
This may be a bit off = but Hitler himself was partly of Jewish descent on his mother's side of the family.
 
Dixie said:
This may be a bit off = but Hitler himself was partly of Jewish descent on his mother's side of the family.
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WOW!!!! I have never knew that Hilter is part Jewish descent from his family ancestor. He must have been very ashamed and embarrassed of his Jewish heritage like that. No wonder he was crazy and sick because he was paranoid around him of having different faults with the color of skins, religions and creeds. He want to be like the pure white superior who is better than anyone who is different from him. Well, Hilter, you are no better than we are no matter what color or religion or creed, we are just human beings, period. Anyway, nobody would want to be the same like the white superior in the same uniform all the time. It is good to be different that God make us to be as we are never going to be normal that way that other people want us to be like normal person. Now you know that Hilter is not normal like they say. This is what happen when they are trying to change to anyone to be like them, like the Deaf, Native Americans, Blacks and Jewish People unless you can add if they were being discriminated from. The cops have no right to hurt us as we are not breaking the laws. They are suppose to protect us from harm. If they did not know that the deaf people who are walking down the street not hearing the cops callling us. Then they could have see them use sign language or when they turn around they should use the guster ( meaning using the shrung their shoulder and point your fingers to the ears while shaking your head sideways indicating that they could not hear). It is a very scary thing to get beat up like that. :rl:
 
If the Deaf couple noticed everyone else looking in their direction, maybe they should have glanced behind them to see what was happening. It could have been a car careening their way, a mad dog running at them, or some other dangerous situation. From the description, it was more dramatic than just people glancing at them while they signed to each other.

I don't think the police would be legally liable for damages. It's kind of the same situation where police have busted into the wrong residence looking for drug dealers based on information from an informant. The courts have previously held that if the police made the bust in good faith (even if it was incorrect) then they weren't liable.

An apology would certainly be a sign of good will from the department.

Cops are at risk if they just "tap someone on the shoulder" and that person whirls around with a gun for response. Also, if someone who has been pulled over starts reaching into a bag, how do you know they are reaching for a pad and pen, or a gun? Sometimes the cops who are too "nice" are the ones who get killed.

The sad truth is, the world can be a dangerous place and life isn't always fair.
 
Still I am sure there's some kind of insurance or back up plans, just something in police dept that cover damages that police caused to the innocent victims. I am sure that not every innocent victim can afford to pay the damage caused by polices.


Or I guess you can just pray that the police dept got some of kind-heart guys who will make sure that victim is being taken care.
 
I never did say the police should tap on the shoulder as Reba said that puts them in a potentially dangerous situation. This is why I said the cops should try to make a visual effort to get their attention if they are not responding to vocal commands to stop, such as flashing a light if its dark, or calling for another officer to approach them from the front and wave their arms and gesture for them to stop if its daytime.
 
rockdrummer said:
good for him. I don't believe that your heritage has anything to do with being a racist. That's more of a personality trait or flaw depending on your perspective. I also don't agree that the cops are always right just because they are cops. Heath just needs to realize that people are people and there are good and bad in ALL walks of life. Not just blacks, whites, asian, latin etc but in all. We are all of a single race. The human race!!
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I agree and Heath is learning this really fast. Hopefully, this will better him.
 
rockdrummer said:
good for him. I don't believe that your heritage has anything to do with being a racist. That's more of a personality trait or flaw depending on your perspective. I also don't agree that the cops are always right just because they are cops. Heath just needs to realize that people are people and there are good and bad in ALL walks of life. Not just blacks, whites, asian, latin etc but in all. We are all of a single race. The human race!!
Click to expand...

I apologize on the comments I make about in that particular thread. You are right and we are all of a single race whether we are good or bad. Thank you for backing me up on that. :ty:
 
There was a Deaf man shot and killed in my town because he didn't hear the cop say "Turn Around." The Deaf guy was going through the trash can and probably never knew what hit him..
That totally freaks me out because when a Cali cop comes near me I say FAST...hard of hearing...read lips..please put light on lips...This was especially important when a warrant was being served on my neighbor and the cop had the flashlight in my eyes wanting to search my house on accident...

scary stuff
 
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