NYPD Officer Raised By Deaf Parents

400 new NYPD officers, including one who knows American Sign Language, sworn in under new commissioner.

NEW YORK CITY -- The NYPD now has 400 new police officers on the force.

The new recruits were sworn in Friday by Mayor Bill de Blasio and new police commissioner Dermot Shea at the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side.

The new class is the first to graduate under the new commissioner.

The latest class represents 21 different countries, and the new officers speak 34 languages, including one who knows sign language.

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Twenty-one-year-old Angel Familia signed his way through the national anthem at Friday’s NYPD police academy graduation, right before he graduated himself.

Even though an unwavering number of NYPD’s graduates’ second language is English, he is one of the first whose native tongue is spoken with his hands, and one of 10 officers who knows sign language.

The rookie cop was raised by two Deaf parents in the South Bronx. Familia is not Deaf himself, but he told CBSN New York’s John Dias sign language is the only language he knew until he was 7 years old.

Growing up, he had to translate for his parents, even at parent-teacher conferences.

“There was this one time, this teacher is saying, ‘He is throwing paper balls in class,’ and I told my mom, ‘Yeah, no. I’m getting all As.’ And my mom noticed the facial expression of the teacher, that she seemed upset, and so she caught on,” Familia said.

He attended speech therapy sessions until he got to high school and even taught his younger siblings to speak English and use sign language.

“I’m very proud. Also, my parents are very proud of me. We came a long way,” Familia said.

Familia translated his mother’s sign language, saying, “She felt the chills rushing through her body and she is happy that my son has become a New York City police officer.”

Now as an official American Sign Language linguistic for the NYPD, he wants to bridge the gap between police officers and the Deaf community living in New York City.

“The Deaf community is not acknowledged, so it’s important that we reach out and, you know, make public events and even if it’s just knowing the basic signs, to make conversations,” Familia said.

The most recent numbers show 208,000 New Yorkers are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

“He is going to help the NYPD to relate to and connect to many New Yorkers who need help but wouldn’t know where to turn to unless there was someone who had that gift,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

His badge may show a sign of bravery, but his hands show a sign of unity.

Familia will be stationed in Manhattan’s 19th police precinct on the Upper East Side.

SOURCE - CBSN

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Deaf Woman Sues NYPD For Wrongly Arrested

Deaf News: Deaf woman denied interpreter by cops who arrested her after car accident sues city and NYPD.

NEW YORK CITY -- A Deaf woman was mocked and wrongly arrested by New York City Police Department cops after a minor car accident - all because they refused to get an interpreter to hear her side of the story, a new Manhattan federal lawsuit alleges.

Tanya Ingram's alleged ordeal began around 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 26, 2013, when she and another car collided at the intersection of Second Ave. and E. 120th Street.

The other driver got out of her car and rushed toward Ingram, apparently angry and shouting, the suit claims.

Ingram felt threatened by the other driver’s behavior so she "picked up a small metal pipe that she had in her car and exited the car, gesturing to (the other driver) to back away with her free hand. At no time did Ms. Ingram swing the pipe, nor did she ever attempt to strike (the other driver)," the suit states.

The cops who arrived on the scene some 45 minutes later spent considerable time speaking with the other driver in the accident, the suit says.

They refused to provide Ingram with the means to communicate, however - though she repeatedly pointed to her ear and shook her head to show her hearing impairment, she says.

One of the responding officers asked Ingram for her keys and opened the trunk. He then made several gestures to indicate a pipe, and she retrieved it from the car.

As the officers mulled about the scene of the accident, an EMT dispatched to the intersection approached Ingram. She explained that she was Deaf through gestures, and he gave her a piece of paper and pen so that she could speak with him. The officer who had opened her trunk was 10 feet away.

"You did not understand me. That's not right. I know she's lying to you. How can I tell you my story? I want my rights. Call interpreter," the note stated.

Ingram, 51, tried to show him the note, and while he glanced at it, the cops "expressed visible annoyance" and ignored her.

She then saw several officers speaking with each other and they "appeared to be mocking her use of gestures."

When the cops moved to arrest her, Ingram had no idea what was happening and became "extremely frightened and utterly bewildered as to the reason for her arrest began crying and repeatedly tried to audibly shout, 'Why?,'" her lawyers maintain.

Ingram was ultimately detained for 24 hours and never received an interpreter as required by law, she alleges.

She had been charged with four misdemeanors menacing, criminal possession of a weapon, harassment, and resisting arrest but all charges were dropped in July 2013, the suit contends.

Ingram is seeking unspecified damages.

Asked about the lawsuit, a city Law Department spokesman said that: "The complaint will be reviewed."

Ingram’s lawsuit is one of several recent false arrest claims in which Deaf individuals allege they were denied an interpreter.

Also Thursday, Susan Herman, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Collaborative Policing, said the department is hosting an outreach event for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing this March at the former police academy building on E. 20th Street.

At the event, they hope to distribute visor plaques for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing so they can better communicate with police officers, she said.

These plaques would say that the driver is Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing and the driver's preferred method of communication, as well as various symbols and words, to explain things such as why an officer has stopped the driver.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing drivers will also be able to indicate whether they're having a medical emergency, Herman says.

The NYPD will soon launch a pilot program in three precincts to increase access to in-person and tablet-based American Sign Language translation. The department also worked with the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community to create a roll call training video, she told The News. SOURCE

Related:
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Deaf Woman Sues NYPD For Denying Interpreter

Deaf Woman Sues NYPD For Denying Interpreter

WATCH [CC] - Deaf woman sues NYPD for denying sign language interpreter for nearly 24 hours after she was arrested, locked up.

NEW YORK CITY -- A Deaf woman who is also speech-impaired has sued the New York City Police Department for denying her a sign language interpreter for nearly 24 hours after she was arrested and locked up overnight, according to papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court.

Opal Gordon was arrested Sept. 21 as she left Manhattan Family Court for allegedly violating an order of protection. She was at court for a custody case about her daughter.

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Gordon, of Manhattan, who is “profoundly Deaf and speech-impaired,” said cops didn’t tell her why she had been arrested nor did they provide her with an interpreter. They also didn’t read her Miranda rights, she said.

Police brought Gordon, 53, to the 45th Precinct stationhouse in the Bronx and held her there for two hours, she said. “The boss who runs the precinct signed to me and asked if I am Deaf. I said ‘Yes,’” she told the Daily News. But none of the officers called for a sign language interpreter or gave her anything that would help her communicate with them, she said.

“Not even a piece of paper,” Gordon added.

The officers brought her to a holding cell in Bronx Central Booking and she was held overnight, according to her lawsuit. Gordon claims she repeatedly tried to communicate her need for a sign language interpreter but was ignored.

“No one would listen to me,” she said.

It took the NYPD 21 hours to get a sign language interpreter to help Gordon, her lawsuit said.

The city’s Administration for Children’s Services visited Gordon’s home in October as part of its Manhattan Family Court case. Even though ACS knew Gordon was Deaf, the agency didn’t bring an interpreter upsetting Gordon because the visit, part of a court-ordered investigation, could affect her custody case.

“This is nothing new for the city,” said Gordon’s lawyers Eric Baum and Andrew Rozynski, who represent many Deaf clients.

Deaf Woman Sues NYPD For Wrongly Arrested

Their law firm said the NYPD has a 2009 consent decree with the Justice Department to improve its treatment of the Deaf community. But the city and the NYPD continue to violate the civil rights of Deaf people, according to the lawyers.

The city Law Department didn’t comment on the pending litigation. “We will review the suit and respond accordingly once we are served,” a spokesman said. SOURCE - NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

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Deaf Victims Sues NYPD For Wrongly Arrested

WATCH [CC] - Deaf News: Interviews: Deaf woman arrested by NYPD settles case against city for $750,000.

NEW YORK CITY -- A Deaf woman who said she was wrongly arrested by cops who ignored her disability settled her case for $750,000 Tuesday, a figure her attorneys say is the largest of its kind.

Diana Williams charged in her suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court that the New York City Police Department officers who slapped her in cuffs ignored police guidelines requiring them to request a sign language interpreter when interacting with Deaf people.

“Deaf individuals have rights, and they do not have to tolerate discrimination and injustices of any kind,” her attorneys Andrew Rozynski and Eric Baum said in a statement.

“Ms. Williams hopes that the settlement will send a message to all law enforcement agencies across the country that they should adopt proper policies and procedures to ensure full communication access for Deaf individuals.”

Two New Yorkers who can't hear or speak and communicate only by sign language claim they were wrongly arrested by NYPD officers in two separate incidents.

Williams’ ordeal began Sept. 11, 2011, when she called 911 for assistance evicting a difficult tenant from her Staten Island home.

Most of the people in the house were Deaf, but cops allegedly ignored training requiring them to request an interpreter.

Without being able to explain to Williams what was happening, Officer Christian Romano arrested her and the tenant for allegedly getting in a fight, and for the next 24 hours police ignored her attempts to communicate, the suit said.

Williams was so panicked she even wrote the letters “HOSP” on the window of a police cruiser in an effort to tell them she needed to go to the hospital, the suit says.

Romano checked the “No” box on the arrest report asking if an interpreter was needed, according to documents. He later checked “No” on different paperwork asking if Williams had a disability.

Williams’ attorneys, who run the Eisenberg and Baum Law Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, said they believe their client has received the largest payout ever to an individual alleging Deaf discrimination by a public agency. A Deaf advocate at the firm, Sheryl Eisenberg-Michalowski, also worked on the case.

“Settling was in the best interest of the city,” a Law Department spokesman said.

SOURCE - New York Daily News