This summer, the NYPD is hiring 32 deaf and hard-of-hearing young people to be paired with officers across the city - part of the youth employment program.
"Those officers that know sign language are going to be working side by side with these young people and engaging them for the summer," says Alden Foster, Director of Community Engagement Bureau."I am a child of deaf adults - both of my parents are deaf. My first language was American Sign Language, and I had to attend school to learn how to speak," Officer Familia said.
Police say every precinct is equipped with either a sign language interpreter or technology to communicate with people who are deaf. "Every officer has a smartphone. On that smartphone, even if the officer doesn't know sign language, they can click on that 'Our Language Line' app they'll be able to pull up an interpreter to engage with deaf community," said Foster."It is important for the deaf community to know we have deaf employees, but we also want to continue the outreach with them," Foster added.
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