16 Officers Investigated In Jailing Of Deaf Man

Star Tribune ^ | 12.09.06 | Herón Márquez Estrada

[wallcrawlr]

At least 16 Ramsey County deputies and correctional officers are being investigated for allegedly keeping a jailed deaf man incommunicado by denying him an interpreter or communication device, Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Friday.

The 16 are still on duty, but Fletcher said he is looking into how they dealt with Douglas Bahl, an internationally known deaf advocate who was arrested Nov. 17 in St. Paul for running a red light.

"We are taking this very seriously," said Fletcher. "Mr. Bahl seems very credible. If one or more of our employees have failed to act in the appropriate way, we will deal with it."

At a news conference Friday, Bahl said that he notified jailers upon being booked that he was deaf and that he repeatedly requested an interpreter or a TTY (teletypewriter) device during the four days he was held at the Ramsey County jail.

"They absolutely knew that I was deaf," Bahl said through a sign language interpreter. "I was disregarded entirely."

[wallcrawlr]

Deaf/Hard of Hearing ping list
with interests in health and society

[Rakkasan1]

they probably thought he was flashin' gang signs...
so it's all good.

[Gideon Reader]

Chalk up another sterling example of the disaster in waiting when the selection of personnel for Police agencies is poor.
For every good selectee accepted there are twenty that should never get close to the authority and means of enforcing that authority.
Bad selectees, ordinarily finish probation and then become seriously flawed Law Enforcement supervisors, which apparently occured in this case.
The same applies to politicians. Both have similar applications for abuse of trust and danger to the public. I speak from experience and empathy. I am a retired LEO and hearing impaired.

[stickandpucknut]

WHEN AND WHERE DID RUNNING A RED LIGHT BECOME A JAILABLE OFFENSE?Was there a accident did someone get hurt.A little extreme dont ya think?

[Lokibob]

Read the full article. He was jailed for resisting arrest and interfering with a police investigation. It started with a red light stop, but the guy resisted so badly he had to be treated in the hospital. but that isn't the poine....
he should have been allowed the tools to communicate.

[babygene]

He's lucky he wasn't shot. Not obeying directions would make it a "justifiable" shooting...

[driftdiver]

"he is looking into how they dealt with Douglas Bahl, an internationally known deaf advocate who was arrested Nov. 17 in St. Paul for running a red light."

hmmm, I wonder if this internationally known advocate set out to make an issue from the start.

[driftdiver]

"Not obeying directions would make it a "justifiable" shooting..."

Does Judge Dredd run your local police force? In my state police can't shoot people for failure to obey directions. Thats normally called a homicide here.

[patton]

Hmmmm. Advocate, St. Paul, resisting arrest...

I think I want to see a film of the incident, if such exists.

[4yearlurker]

Maybe he couldn't hear the cops directions.

[Kimmers]

My brother was a cop in Mpls. and pulled over a car that was weaving thinking this was a drunk driver. It turned out that it was a car full of deaf people and they were having an argument, including the driver...... He managed to communicate with them by writing notes and he sent them on their way without a ticket and a suggestion that the driver not be involved in any arguments while driving.

I am proud to say that my brother was one of the good guys in the police world, he loved his job and really loves his retirement.

[Lokibob]

Nobody, not even his lawyer is argueing about the arrest, they are just talking about his not being allowed to communicate. The article even says that huis girl friend was happy he was just in jail.Read the article, this guy isn't lily white. But again, it isn't the point.

[patton]

Also says he turned down a TTY that wasn't web enabled.

Of course, that may be a lie...or not.

[Old Professer]

Given the requirments of the ADA, I'd say the police have stepped on their equipment here; on the other hand, I think Mr. Bahl has found himself a goose with a peculiar talent and is going to "milk" him for all he's worth (apologies to metaphorists the world over).

[Old Professer]

"...the guy resisted so badly he had to be treated in the hospital."

Failed the attitude test.

[MinorityRepublican]

Even if that's true, the Cops still had no rights to deny him the rights to communicate by accessing an interpreter.

Now the police department have to worry about a possible lawsuit. For this, heads should roll.

[Scutter]

There are a lot of really good people who are police officers. Unfortunately, it also attracts a lot of the high school bully types.

[Popman]

Based on the story, this police dept looks completely inept, if not corrupt.

How can a deaf man be in jail for four days and nobody understand his rights were being violated by not being able to communicate?

A piece of paper and pencil was not available???

[CGTRWK]

but the guy resisted so badly he had to be treated in the hospital.

That low down 54 year old punk viciously resisted that officer's fists with his face!