Police learn to bridge language gap
Wednesday, May 6, 1998BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- The rookie police officer sat for 90 minutes in his department's training room Tuesday, forming his arms and fingers into every imaginable shape.
Covington Police Officers Matt Hugenberg and Sgt. Tom Epperson express the letter K in sign language as they begin a 10-week sign language class.
(Patrick Reddy photos)
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Cradled arms rocked back and forth for baby. The peace sign for the letter "K." Sign language.
Covington Police Chief Al Bosse thought it might help his department work with the community a little better. He's requiring it for all dispatchers and office personnel, and suggesting officers take it, too.
But Officer Kevin Sumner showed up, on his off-day, for another reason -- his safety. On the force just a little over five months, he has been on about 10 calls involving deaf people. One, a couple of weeks ago, showed him how his lack of understanding could have hurt him.
Instructor Steve Padgett shows Covington police personnel how to ask for a person's phone number in sign language.
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The deaf man was trying to explain how an assault had happened. But because Officer Sumner couldn't understand him, he wasn't certain about the man's intentions when the man went for a knife. "They were trying to demonstrate what happened," the officer said. "But it gave us a real tense situation."
On another recent call about a missing juvenile, he had to gather information about the juvenile by writing out dozens of questions. The parents responded in writing, a process that took much longer than it would have if Officer Sumner had known sign language then. The department made the classes mandatory for dispatchers and records personnel because "they're in the building all the time," said Lt. Col. Steve Schmidt, department spokesman. "And if somebody should come into the lobby, we should have somebody here who can at least do some basic form of communication with them."
The city paid about $600 for books to pass out. Teacher Steve Padgett, of Fort Wright, is donating his time for the 10-week classes.
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