INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana University Police Department (IUPD) recruits are receiving training in American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf culture.
The 52nd recruit class is the first to participate in this training, which aims to improve communication and awareness when interacting with members of the Deaf community.
“This class is not going to make officers proficient in ASL, but it is going to open their eyes to what to do in a situation where someone is using sign language,” said Major Nick Luce of IUPD.
Recruits did learn basic signs like “police,” “pull over,” and “are you OK?”
The idea for the training came from Officer Brennan Cox, a part-time IUPD officer who studied ASL for two years as an undergraduate.
“I wanted to learn a language that would be valuable for my career,” Cox said. “I knew I wanted to go into law enforcement, and I didn’t know any officers who knew sign language. That made me look into it, and I kind of fell in love with it.”
In Indiana, there are more than 500,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing residents. Cox began conversations with colleagues about the training two years ago, and it eventually took shape with help from an IU professor who teaches ASL.
“A lot of times, deaf individuals say that officers come to the window and don’t know what to do,” Cox said. “If there’s a hearing person in the car, they’ll ignore the deaf individual and talk to the hearing person. That makes them feel unseen.”
“I’ve been on calls where someone speaks another language, and it’s stressful not knowing what they’re saying. This gives them a baseline awareness for when they’re interacting with someone who’s Deaf,” said Luce.
The department’s goal is to expand the training beyond recruits.
“We want to offer this to our in-service officers, about 160 IUPD officers across the state,” Luce said. “The long-term goal is to work with other academies in Indiana .”
Cox hopes the initiative sends a clear message to the Deaf community.
“We just want to know more about their culture and serve them better.”
