Deaf Police Brutality

Police Brutality and Deaf People “In the last five years There is an unmistakable gap between police officers and the deaf culture. Most states require that all police officers are required to take some training in communicating with deaf people however, there is a gap between the training and what happens in the field. Because many deaf people rely on body language, sight and signs to communicate there is a break in the communication when an officer stops a deaf person. There is a desperate need for a way to better bridge the gap in communication. Officers are supposed to take appropriate measure to communicate effectively with deaf people, either with an interpreter or an auditory device or even just writing out the conversation if necessary. Unfortunately there are too many times where an officer feels threatened by a deaf person because of the signs or gestures made by a deaf person and retaliate before taking the time to understand and realize the person is deaf and only trying to communicate. In this paper I am going to share three different situations where police brutality against a deaf

Then I will discuss how departments can take steps to ensure their officers are aware of deafness in their area and steps that need to be taken to ensure the safety of deaf