With the recent shooting of a deaf Charlotte motorist, police departments across the U.S. are coming under scrutiny for their treatment of deaf and hard-of-hearing civilians.
The shooting having occurred only a little over 90 miles from Columbia city limits, news of Daniel K. Harris’ death spread quickly through Soda City’s deaf community. In the aftermath, deaf advocates were quick to praise local authorities for their willingness to work with the deaf community in Columbia. However, they were concerned about the circumstances surrounding Harris’ final moments.
On Aug. 18, North Carolina state trooper Jermaine Saunders attempted to pull Harris over for a speeding violation on Interstate 485 outside Charlotte. According to the Charlotte Observer, Harris, 29, led Saunders on a seven-mile pursuit before pulling over in a residential neighborhood. Initial reports by the New York Daily News and The Daily Mail claimed that witnesses saw Saunders pull his weapon as Harris was attempting to use American Sign Language to communicate his deafness.
According to The Daily Mail, Saunders has been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.
Harris’ death sparked outrage across social media and renewed interest in police procedures regarding the deaf. But little information on policing the deaf is available aside from high-profile incidents such as Harris’. No comprehensive statistics have been compiled on police encounters with deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals.
The Daily Gamecock reached out to Anita Steichen-McDaniel, executive director of the South Carolina Association of the Deaf, for her thoughts on Harris’ story.
Through an interpreter, Steichen-McDaniel said she lamented Harris’ death and wished that Saunders had been more perceptive when evaluating Harris’ actions. She noted that the Columbia Police Department has partnered with SCAD to train their officers to properly interact with deaf civilians.
Specifically, Steichen-McDaniel stated, CPD has been working with Dave Bitters of the Hearing Loss Association of America. Bitters, who is legally deaf, worked for IBM as a recruiter of deaf and hard-of-hearing employees prior to founding the HLAA Midlands Chapter in West Columbia. He has worked with the deaf for much of his life.
When flash floods took the lives of 19 South Carolinians in October 2015, Bitters considered the obstacles faced by deaf individuals in emergency situations and decided to take action.
“I jumped in and said, 'Well, I’m going to have to get out there and just make those people aware and make everything a lot easier for them,'” Bitters told The Daily Gamecock.
Bitters reached out to local first responders, including CPD, and offered assistance with ASL and establishing communication with deaf and hard-of-hearing persons. The response, he said, has been encouraging.
“Believe it or not, I’ve gotten everybody enthusiastic and they want to know, they want to learn,” Bitters said. “So, it’s been going very good.”
In addition to his work with local police departments, Bitters also teaches ASL to firefighters and residents in assisted living centers.
When asked for his thoughts on the Harris incident, Bitters said he had read several reports about the incident but refrained from drawing any conclusions.
“If you are deaf or hearing impaired … there’s almost no way you could not hear about that,” Bitters said. “The whole story is not out there yet, so I’d like not to take any sides until we hear the final investigation.”
This article has been altered to comply with the National Association of the Deaf terminology standards. The Daily Gamecock apologizes for any offense the original article may have caused.