On Tueday evening June 26, Chief Floyd Simpson and members of his staff attended a town hall meeting hosted by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center at 515 McArdle. Chief Simpson was the opening speaker and took the opportunity to discuss his policing philosophy and some of the department’s new initiatives. The chief introduced Ronald Sepulveda, the MetroCom manager to explain how the department currently receives 911 calls from deaf and hard of hearing citizens and communicates with them. Mr. Sepulveda also talked about what’s in the future for MetroCom such as the next generation of 911 technology that will allow the call center to receive and participate in two way communications via texts and e-mails.

CCPD Detective Eddie Alvarado also spoke to the group about how investigators might better communicate with the deaf and hard of hearing community.  Some may be surprised to know that through his own initiative, Detective Alvarado has been studying sign language and is working towards a degree in that discipline.  Through his involvement with the deaf and hard of hearing community, Detective Alvarado has positioned himself as our department liaison with this community.

Several questions were posed about the possibility of providing some additional training to officers so that they might better recognize and be able to communicate with deaf and hearing impaired individuals. Chief Simpson acknowledged that there is more that can be done to improve communications and understanding between the police and the deaf and hard of hearing community.  He extended an invitation to representatives from the center to make a presentation to the next academy class.

Anyone who would like more information on the services provide by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center can visit their web site at: http://www.deaf-hh.org/ .