- Many departments don’t provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions with the deaf community- Many police officers are not trained with someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, or even trained to deal with the deaf community at all. Police see random hand movements and shoot. The shoot first ask questions later is a major problem, instances where law enforcement shines a flashlight in the deaf or hard of hearing person face, and they are unable to read lips and follow the directions given is when the miscommunication starts. Most officers don’t know basic signs such as, “im deaf, “emergency”. They don’t pay attention to stickers on cars, or someone pulling out their “Im deaf” ID card. The shootings might have been prevented if police had received training on Deaf-interactions, and their respective squads had implemented procedures and protocols on how to interact with Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Force law enforcements hands by signing this petition advocating for better training. Let the deaf community finally be heard.