Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The Police Chief LISTENS

Today at 4:15pm there was a meeting with Police Chief Lansdowne regarding this incident and the response that was given to the Deaf Community by the San Diego Police Department.

Chief Lansdowne was very attentive to this issue and definitely paid attention to what we had to say the past two weeks.

He shared good news that they were very close to capturing suspects in this case and that they had identified one of them. He agreed that there was an obvious communication breakdown that occurred. He explained that there were a few police officers that knew sign language and that what should have happened was they should have assigned a police officer that knew sign language to this case. It could have improved understanding BIG TIME between the Deaf Community and the Police Department.

Chief Lansdowne was a BIG improvement over the response we had gotten from Officer Donelson. Chief Lansdowne was aware of the case and explained clearly what steps had been taken and what they would do next. He pointed out that they would let the District Attorney's Office determine whether not it would be a hate crime and they would do this after arresting them and questioning them to figure out if there is such a motive involved. This response alone was GREAT. Instead of getting a NO NO NO response, we got a clear explaination of how they were approaching this case and how they would let the DA's office make a determination after the arrest and questioning. As most of you will remember Officer Donelson avoided any possibility or mention of this being a possible Hate Crime. Even though now it has become apparent that it isn't a Deaf Hate Crime, the fact that the Chief is explaining how this will all work out and pointing out that it is still possible that it is a hate crime if they get more information from the suspects after arresting them and questioning them for more information is a VICTORY for the Deaf Community because at least we know they are listening.

Chief Lansdowne also expressed an interest in speaking to the Deaf Community in the near future, possibly in two weeks at the Deaf night gathering at the Coffee Bean in Mission Valley. He is looking into this possibility and we should have the suspects in custody by then so we can have a productive meeting between the Chief and the Deaf Community so he can understand that we have a huge Deaf Community that is concerned about our relationship with the Police Department.

I will also be bringing a big card on Friday this week to Deaf night at Coffee Bean at Mission Valley to sign as a THANK YOU to Chief Lansdowne and Councilwoman Toni Atkin's Office for paying attention to us about this issue.

MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SENT EMAILS AND GOT INVOLVED!

Will update you when Chief Lansdowne will meet with the Deaf Community to focus on improving the relationship between our community and the San Diego Police Department.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm glad to read what you had to say about Chief Lansdowne. He seems like he's in tune with the people of San Diego and is willing to have an open mind.

If enough Deaf people meet with him and he walks away impressed with us, he could become one of our allies in the City of San Diego.

I would like to sign that card- what time will you be there Friday night?

11:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Check out that website about Deaf beating...


http://www.dcsofsd.org/site/c.apLDJUOzHmE/b.2051139/k.AAF8/Statement_on_Beating_of_Deaf_Teenager__Update_09062006.htm

7:48 AM  

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