Larissa Theodore, Beaver County Times Staff
07/23/2005
Rochester police had a life-and-death situation on their hands.
They had responded to a double-fatal shooting in Freedom, and the shooter was still in the house. The problem was that police couldn’t talk to him directly because he couldn’t speak or hear.
Officers tried to contact the man, Thomas Simich Jr., 45 (see previous story), over a telephone equipped to be used by deaf people, and via a computer in the home.
Simich eventually surrendered in the May standoff, but to obtain the man’s statement, police had to bring in an interpreter from the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services in Pittsburgh, an organization that Director Diane Gallagher says sends out 50 to 80 certified interpreters each day.
Throughout his experience in law enforcement, Joe DeLuca, Rochester’s acting police chief, said he had never had a situation before in which American Sign Language would have proved useful.
A Rochester councilman, who has a deaf family member, suggested to DeLuca that officers learn. So DeLuca asked whether any of his officers was interested.
“Based on what happened in Freedom,” DeLuca said, “we figured it would be helpful. It would have been a little bit more helpful then to know sign language, but it never occurred to me before.”
So far, three officers have signed on for an October class through the Beaver County Rehabilitation Center in New Brighton. One is Rochester Patrolman Frank Mercier, who wears a second hat as an emergency medical services worker, and was among the first medical responders to arrive at the Freedom shooting scene. Among the 30 other officials who responded, Mercier said none could sign.
“We knew right away that he was hearing-impaired,” Mercier said. “He was reading our lips, but none of us knew how to communicate.”
Mercier said a retired Rochester officer, Curt Koah, was fluent in sign language and skillfully talked to deaf people when other police officers couldn’t. He said there are at least three deaf families in the Rochester and Freedom area.
Besides being a useful tool while on the job, Mercier wants to learn sign language so that he can converse with his nephew, who has a hearing impairment and is now learning to sign.
Bill Pasquale, director of operations at Medic Rescue, said one or two medics are schooled in signing and another knows Spanish, but usually they just rely on interpreters. He said the 911 Center keeps references on file and provides resources in cases of language barriers or mental health issues.
Many genetic factors can bring on hearing problems, but by building a bridge between the hearing-impaired and those who can hear, both sides gain “full access to communication,” said Mary Ann Stefko, a mainstream and sign language coordinator at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Pittsburgh.
“Right now, I’m almost positive it’s the third most common language,” Stefko said. “We see it as a language that’s used often, not only by deaf people, but by a lot of folks. Even if they can just finger-spell, it opens the door for communication, and there’s no telling where that can go.”
Karen Ross of Lisbon, Ohio, whose daughter was born deaf and began learning sign language as a baby, understands that signing can be difficult to pick up.
“I learned little by little, and I’m still learning. It’s harder, especially as an adult, but it was important for me to learn,” Ross said.
At Hope Christian Fellowship in Lisbon, where Ross’ husband, Mike, is pastor, the church has taken strides to become more accommodating for the deaf and hard of hearing.
“There are a deaf mother and son, who is 6 years old,” Ross said. “If they come, we try to either have someone there to interpret or we drag out a computer so that someone can type what’s going on.”
Congregants showed interest when the church began offering sign language sessions as well. Though not all have the knack, several are now able to sign. This summer, Ross said the church will release an instructional video.
The Beaver County Rehabilitation Center is primarily a vocational training, employment and work activity service for the disabled, but the center has a sign language interpreter service and has run spring and fall sign language classes for eight years. Frank Shialabba, project director, said lately there have been more inquiries from community members and professionals on the two-hour, eight-week classes.
“It is a very interesting, beautiful and expressive language, and I’ll tell you, one class will not make you fluent or an interpreter. They go through years and years of training,” Shialabba said.
Maryjean Shahen, assistant professor of deaf studies at the University of Pittsburgh, was born deaf and teaches hearing students in all types of professions.
She said though it isn’t spoken, linguists fought in the 1960s for official recognition of the ASL structure and grammar much in the way of Spanish or German. She applauds the Rochester police for making that step and says it behooves everyone to learn.
“The important thing is to encourage hearing people to keep an open mind,” she said. “Some need to get language through the eyes and hands, and don’t recognize language through their ears.”
Larissa Theodore can be reached online at ltheodore@timesonline.com.