Posted on 02/18/2014 7:24:56 AM PST by BenLurkin
HAWTHORNE (CBSLA.com) — Jonathan Meister was retrieving some stuff he was storing at an ex-roommate’s home when he looked up to find several members of the Hawthorne Police Department approaching.
The South Bay man claims officers didn’t give him a chance to explain what he was doing before placing him in handcuffs, beating him and using a stun gun to shock him into submission.
The problem began when police reportedly misunderstood Meister’s attempts to speak in sign language as threatening gestures.
Moreover, officers didn’t realize that when they handcuffed Meister, who is “profoundly deaf” and non-verbal, they took away his ability to communicate.
Now, the architect from Manhattan Beach is suing the city of Hawthorne, its police department and several of its officers for what happened that day.
The incident began on the evening of Feb. 13, 2013, when Meister arranged to get some things his ex-roommate was holding for him on his back porch. Someone saw Meister hauling items, thought it looked suspicious, and called police.
Officers met Meister on the sidewalk, where he “tried to tell them that he was deaf, using gestures to explain that he was there to pick up his stuff, but it didn’t seem like they understood,” Meister’s attorney Anna Rivera said.
The situation deteriorated from there.
Police put Meister in handcuffs and officers say he began struggling.
“If the primary way you communicate is to use your hands, and you’re looking at somebody when you speak, when you go to grab somebody without explaining what’s happening and take that method of communication away from them, Mr. Meister became afraid,” Rivera said.
The suit claims the officers’ response was excessive. The suit alleges police used a stun gun to bring him to the ground and beat him.
He was arrested and taken to the Hawthorne police station, where he communicated in writing.
Police initially charged Meister with assaulting officers but those charges were eventually dropped.
Meister filed his case Wednesday with the Disability Rights Legal Center, suing for compensatory, statutory and punitive damages.
“It’s a civil rights case about officers discriminating against someone just because they have a disability, and that they don’t recognize someone is deaf,” Rivera said.
Hawthorne police provided a copy of the police report showing they recognized Meister was deaf early on and that he tried to resist.
Meister’s hand-written account to police says he didn’t mean to resist.
River says officers should have tried to communicate with Meister using a pen and a piece of paper.
Police released a statement that said, in part: “Officers make every effort to communicate effectively…In almost all cases, it is the person’s behavior and actions who we contact that dictate police response rather than the communication barriers present. That is certainly the case in this specific matter…”
Hawthorne police also say they officers already receive training on handling situations where communication proves difficult.
What has happened to “law enforcement” in this once great country makes me sick.
Some cops have only two modes of action: donuts and get the a$$ho!e.
Not being very skilled in communication, observation or empathy, they make a quick decision: good guy or a$$ho!e.
Once the adrenaline sets in, they carry out the true reason why they became cops: to legally beat the $h!t out of citizens.
Annoyed by this posting? TS.
Telling a cop “don’t assault me” is considered “resisting”, isn’t it?
Hey.......you should consider going into law enforcement!
Your post illustrates exactly the problem I’m talking about.
Standard ASL is too complex for what I’m thinking.
A better gesture would be to point the index finger to an open mouth repeatedly. We do need PSAs to go with it.
Happened on an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. Ray makes fun of his brother (who is a cop) for arresting a deaf person because he thought he was throwing gang signs.
What jury would convict for “resisting arrest” anymore. Every time I see someone charged with a crime they throw that in there and I have seen so many cases where it is an outright lie. Why would anyone trust a cop anymore?
oh well,
Why does a town of 50,000 have a five man goon squad hanging out in theater parking lots?
Over staffed and bored law enforcement start trouble where none exists.
The ‘problem’ is that the ‘signs’ could be interpreted as an obscene gesture.
What would you think of a guy coming up to you with his index finger pointing to his open mouth?
Even the signs I posted could be misinterpreted as such. Aside from wearing a patch on clothing stating that ‘I Am Deaf’, which is demeaning in and of itself, there isn’t much I can do except point to my hearing aid when in a public situation, like at a cashier’s station waiting to pay for something. That seems to be the only way to communicate that I can’t hear well.............
Morterforkers!!!
Who do I talk to about letting these thugs wear badges, carry guns and use tasers. Better yet, I want their home telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.
My sister was born profoundly deaf and the thought of it just makes want to get on a plane and fly all the way to California to kick some bad-ass cops’ asses!
This is a case where “sensitivity training” would definitely be in order.
I know that there are many decent police officers, but the police force as a whole is completely worthless to the people of the USA anymore.
Police no longer “protect or serve”. They no longer “fight crime”. They are IRS revenue collectors for local government. That’s it. Their job is to steal money from average taxpayers. Nothing more.
Time to abolish them as well as so many other governmental organizations.
The qualification exams specifically weed out applicants that are too intelligent. Not kidding.
Would something like, "Please communicate with ASL or written word." be offensive on a button?
It’s really up to the individual as to whether it’s offensive or not. If it were me, I’d make a button that simply says:
MUTE, NOT DEAF.................
I disagree. Revenue collection is a big part of their job but with all the SWAT, no-knock and brutality, I think their main job is to control the public. It's no longer protect and serve the public. It's control and tax the public.
ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.