It might be difficult for police officers who are pointing a gun at a potential suspect to put it down and use
sign language which usually requires two hands. Did they know this individual was hearing impaired?
@jym626 I don’t think that the majority of police know sign language. Training in simple sign language might have helped, although the officer shot this person without listening to bystanders, maybe the officer was hearing impaired since the neighbors, according to reports were telling the police that he couldn’t hear.
@jym626 no they didn’t despite the neighbors desperately trying to tell them.
Also I repeat again: there is NO WAY to tell if someone is deaf. All the training to work with the disabled in the world isn’t going to be helpful if you don’t know the person is disabled.
Good point @romanigypsyeyes. This reminds me of the situation in South Florida where the therapist who was with his autistic client was shocked even know he was desperately trying to tell the police that the individual was autistic.
I haven’t read the details of this incident yet but I already feel that the police were not justified in firing their weapons. It was a pipe/stick his was holding vs. their guns, for goodness sake.
And one of the cops had a taser. No need for lethal force as a first option
Oh good grief… 8-|
And for anyone who is victim blaming saying he should’ve known better than to walk forward: I’d bet a dollar he was trying to get closer so he could lip read. I lip read. It can be difficult at distance.
This is an awful situation, but why would you approach police while holding a metal pipe, if they are pointing guns at you? It seems to me that tasing him was appropriate. Note: what language were the witnesses shouting in?
@Hunt It is a tragic end to a life. According to news reports the witnesses stated clearly, not in sign language, that the person holding the pipe couldn’t “Hear them” . This person might have been disturbed, upset, who knows? This person didn’t need to die. “Protect and serve” should be a more valued saying.
Was his hearing really the problem here? He was carrying a pipe with a leather loop on the end, something he used to fight off dogs when he went for walks, according to neighbors. I’m not sure what kind of dogs are in that neighborhood, but that sounds…odd. In addition, he could see cops in front of him with guns drawn.
I agree that the taser was a much better approach than the gunfire, but don’t see much likelihood that he could have been confused about what they wanted him to do. At least from the article in the OP. There is always more to the story.
One further note on this case: the article suggests, but doesn’t clearly state, that the officer with the taser and the one with a firearm fired at the same time. This could matter, because if the taser was fired first, and didn’t stop the person from advancing, the shooting becomes more defensible. These are the kinds of facts you need to know before you make a complete judgment about a case like this.
Well said. Common sense 101: If cops are pointing guns at you, it is probably wise to STAND STILL and obey their orders, not continue to move towards them. If you can’t hear the cops orders, then try your best to tell them you can’t hear.
it is interesting that in England, where most of the police force is unarmed (not including the special armed response teams) that they are able to de-escalate and diffuse these situations without killing people. Perhaps our officers need more and better training to handle these types of situations. I am also thinking about the referenced GA Tech student who was shot and killed.
@fractalmstr: err, how could a deaf person “tell” officers? Even signing could be considered threatening by frightened officers.
Some deaf people can still speak to a limited extent. You could also point to one of, or both of your ears and shake your head. There are ways to signal it…
The man who was killed was deaf, couldn’t talk, and had developmental disabilities:
I think if police officers were aiming guns at me, I’d drop whatever I was holding, and put my hands up in the air, and stand still. Isn’t that what most people would do? As with others, though, I don’t understand why this person was shot, when a taser was available.
Apparently a neighbor says Sanchez was also developmentally disabled: