Having lived in 7 differents states in the USA, I've had my fair share of rude, impatient and insensitive policemen/women whenever I needed their service. After dealing with a SWAT team that had a major communication breakdown in PDX OR, I stopped trusting police force in whole. 2010, moved to Greeley, CO - I helped an elderly Deaf neighbor who needed to ask a Greeley police for help. It turned out to be another disappointing and familiar scenario where the young impatient policeman got angry at us for misunderstanding him. I kicked him out with issue still unresolved. Year later, my father appeared to go missing in another state. I learned that the Miami police had to have me get help from the Greeley police. Office Paul Shannon appeared and I was admittedly very defensive. At first he offered to communicate on a cellphone, I mimed no, computer. He agreed. For over an hour, he displayed courtesy, patience beyond belief, & typed full sentences and even clarified things that I didn't understand. My trust in few cops were restored. Another cop in Greeley at a Safeway parking lot who had to deal with some homeless drunk man, started to speak to me. I signed 'Im Deaf'. He surprised me by fingertalking full sentences. I signed back, then realized he only understood fingertalking, so I fingertalked back. A coworker of his looked really surprised he knew fingertalking and he boasted of course I know how to fingertalk! I thought that was cute to see them boasting. Most hearing cops don't care about Deaf people, Deaf Culture and ASL or fingertalking. So, the Greeley Police Department made a positive impression on me. Thank you for those who went out of your way to communicate in a way that best served me without stress. It's truly appreciated.
