By Randal C. Archibold
Published in the New York Times on December 18, 2012
Published in the New York Times on December 18, 2012
Deaf officers keep watch of crime in Oaxaca. |
The officer, Gerardo, 32, is part of
a cadre of 20 deaf officers formed several months ago to help keep an eye on
this tourist hub. The suspicious man that he spotted on a security camera
turned out to be a prime suspect in a murder. Officials here concede that getting
units quickly to the scene is only part of the struggle. Crime victims often
decide not to file complaints, lacking faith in the justice system.
The state refurbished its police
command center this year, but found it needed extra help monitoring the 230
cameras, a time-consuming, monotonous task. There was another problem: because
the images lack sound, officers had trouble determining what people were
saying.
He said their heightened visual
attention had enabled the deaf officers to see trouble developing on the
screens faster than other officers who can hear and speak but are frequently
distracted by the buzzing of phones, police scanners and chatter in the command
center.
Mr. Villalobos said the deaf
officers — “our silent angels,” he called them — had helped solve or assisted
in several cases, though he declined to provide specific data, pending a future
evaluation of the program. He called the murder case, from last summer, the
biggest success. Read full article here.
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