NBC News: State trooper Jermaine Saunders shot Daniel Kevin Harris to death on Thursday after what North Carolina Bureau of Investigation described in a statement as "an encounter."
[A] neighbor of Harris', Mark Barringer, who witnessed part of the confrontation, criticized the trooper's handling of the pursuit.
"They should've deescalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation," Barringer told NBC affiliate WCNC. "You're pulling someone over who is deaf. They are handicapped."
Too often, Rosenblum said, officers order deaf people to comply with verbal commands — then act aggressively when they don't.
"This has led to many physical altercations between law enforcement officers and deaf individuals over the years, with some resulting in death," he said.
23 comments:
Let me guess:
Poorly trained diversity hire.
The deaf are more at risk. A sharp cop can pick up the person is deaf. Stupid cops, and they come IN ALL COLORS, do not pick up the clues. This is pretty sad.
Deaf lives don't matter, well at least not as a voting block, so expect to hear crickets.
How can you tell at a moments glance if someone is deaf?
Doesn't it seem a bit dangerous for a deaf person (not just hard of hearing but deaf) to be driving on the roads? They can't hear sirens or other emergency vehicle sounds.
If you are deaf, wouldn't you make sure to not do anything that can alarm the cops, like getting out of your vehicle or making sudden moves or trying to get away?
If I were deaf and driving my car, I would sit in the car, hands on the wheel, wait for the cop and THEN have handy a placard or other type of written notice that I am deaf to hand to the cop or to be readily seen when they approach the vehicle.
Should deaf people have a code that when cops run the plates they know that they are dealing with the hearing impaired?
Dang it, Evi! There you go offering solutions.
Evi, Good ideas, unlike DBQ who wants deaf to stay home and watch closed captioned TV. I have a brother-in-law who was born deaf. He went to ASD in Hartford and Gallaudet U in DC. He's driven for over 30 years and had only one accident, which was not his fault. The insurance industry will tell you deaf are no more likely to be involved in accidents than the gen pop. Cars can be equipped w/ sensors that blink on the dashboard for car horns being blared, sirens, and other loud noises. Deaf driven vehicles are required to have special mirrors that expand the field of vision. In the literally THOUSANDS of accidents I have investigated over almost 40 decades, NOT ONE involved a deaf driver.
I remember when I was a calf a man came to the door selling stuff and would not tell my mom who he was. She would not open the door. He kept trying to show her a sign. She eventually figured out he was deaf (and to make it worse he could not speak).
I still feel bad about it today. It is tough situation.
nick, I am not sure DBQ was saying that. But there are risks to driving while deaf.
Not all handicaps are the same.
Suggestion: Press pause on the outrage until/unless we know the facts.
Facts matter.
DBQ's placard idea is what I thought of immediately. How could a deaf person NOT have such an identifier with him in the car and in his wallet?
Evi, It is a tough situation. Like I said, deaf people are more @ risk and almost all are keenly aware of that, and take steps to mitigate the risk. They of course have the most to lose in a situation w/ a cop. But, unless we want them to wear a scarlet D on all their shirts, we can't eliminate all the risk. Amartel makes a good point. I will admit I may have been too quick on the draw[as it were] w/ the cop. But, this incident involves 2 groups that I know pretty well. I know both the deaf and cops strengths and weaknesses. Facts do matter. But it is a FACT deaf can drive quite safely.
Showing I can be objective even though I have a soft spot in my heart for the deaf, there are militant deaf. The deaf, like most all disabled, have their own culture. The militant deaf are adamantly opposed to cochlear implants. If it's for themselves, I completely agree w/ their militancy. It's when it comes to deciding for children that I can have a problem.
Doesn't it seem a bit dangerous for a deaf person (not just hard of hearing but deaf) to be driving on the roads? They can't hear sirens or other emergency vehicle sounds.
It didn't hurt Tommy. Ain't got no distractions, can't hear no buzzers and bells, don't see no lights a flashing, plays by sense of smell.
Pinball's one thing, but can you drive by sense of smell?
it should come as no shock to critical thinkers that the deaf are MUCH more visually aware of their surroundings. One of the biggest reasons for auto accidents is distraction. Even before cell phones, the radio was a big distraction and cause of many accidents. Well, the deaf are not on cell phones nor are they listening to the radio. I surmise that's a major reason why I have never worked a case involving a deaf driver. The last 15 years or so, one of the first things I do is get the cell phone records of drivers involved in accidents. I've investigated accidents where I interviewed a witness who were in their office, talking on the phone w/ a driver, when he was killed.
We played ASD[American School for the Deaf in Hartford] in football when I was in high school. They did their snap count by bass drum. A drummer followed their offense along the line of scrimmage on the sideline. The QB would signal the drummer the count, and the drummer would pound the drum. They could feel the vibration. Some players on our team whined. It was a pain to have a drum beating for the defensive players. Most of us realized it was a righteous adjustment. They weren't very talented, but they played hard and were good sportsmen.
There are risks in everything and no guarantees, other than none of us will get out of this alive. That and taxes.
Let's see, Barney Fife, how would you handle this unusual and delicate situation?
Stop
or
me
will
shoot
(speaking of delicacies, I'm afraid this entry violates the adSense agreement.
* breaking bones
* getting hit by trains or cars
* people receiving serious injuries, ding ding ding
* News about freak or tragic accidents, ding ding ding
please consider removing it. thank you for your cooperation.)
Incidentally, 'me' instead of proper English 'I' is one of the first clues to knowing if the person signing is hearing or deaf.
A hearing person will initialize the movement by placing an "i" on their chest. A deaf or CODA will point to themselves.
And people like me screw up the system of knowing. And that's why we are asked right off the bat every time. Even in dreams. Even in dreams about deaf in the future. So there you go. Now you know.
And also incidentally, doesn't everyone have cell phones nowadays? Deaf will text and all the rest. And when not they'll have pocket tablets to scribble.
Aaaaaages ago Jeff brought his early model portable TTY (disconnected from the phone) with him to the bar and everyone had a blast using it to talk to Jeff. It was an unwieldy thing to carry around. So it didn't get carried around very much.
That was fun. Everyone had fun. What a tremendous device. Oh, how we laughed and frolicked and drank. Mostly drank.
Also also incidentally incidentally, a few weeks ago there was an item about a psychiatrist of negroid persuasion sitting on the grass with a deaf patient. A cop misread the situation as menacing and shot the hearing psychiatrist. What a bummer! For everyone involved. Oops. Sorry. I have that wrong. Autistic, not deaf.
Chip, You're correct. Texting has become a great way for deaf to communicate. And, I'm sure some text while driving. But I know deaf are more defensive and cautious because they have to be.
I remember riding the subway in Philly and some supposedly deaf people used to hand you a pre-printed little card that explained they were deaf and mute and the card asked for donations. They waited til you read the card and then took it back and handed it to the next passenger.
Those were "deaf" gypsies.
It does make sense that it is good to be deaf if you are going to friends with the peeper.
In fact it is almost a requirement.
This story finally made it to the local communist news organization, and the story concludes with the following line:
Harris is white, and authorities said they did not know Saunders' race.
Right. Because it is not germane to the story.
This story is so devoid of facts that it leaves me guessing as to how a deaf man is killed by a cop on a traffic stop. What were the details, those really do matter.
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