My daughter was bullied by Indiana State police denied an interpreter, they would not allow her to wear her hearing aids and she was forced to read the officer's lips. Why do they think that every deaf person can read lips, especially in the dark with bright shining lights twirling around like a disco ball?
She was arrested taken to jail and all she was trying to do is help them out. She was accused of a crime she did not commit but we cannot afford to fight it so all we can do is take a trial diversion but the arrest record stays on file, she was a college freshman with 3 scholarships and big dreams, she was totally destroyed with anxiety she lost her scholarships and she got suspended from school. She has to go to drug counseling and she does not even do drugs, her misfortune came because she wanted to surprise me for Mother's Day and she could not afford a plane ticket. She accepted a ride from an acquaintance from school and on the way back to school they were arrested handcuffed with hands behind there backs. My daughter tried to get an interpreter and the state police said oh no big deal, she was trying to explain to them that she did not have anything to do with what they found and she would be glad to take a drug test, but they denied her the chance to communicate and for her friend to confirm what my daughter was saying. She missed a very important test that day and she was so distraught with how she was going to tell me she failed miserably, she finally had a breakdown during class in one of her summer courses.
Her deaf friend was left at the side of a dark highway with way to communicate for help, she waited there for almost 2 hours until the tow truck came, and then she had to sit at the tow place without really knowing what was going on.
Indiana State Police needs to be stopped and stopped now there is so many more stories out there I have spent a couple of days going through the Internet and if you don't do something to help the Deaf Community I don't know who will. I have tried to file a complaint with their Internal Affairs but have not gotten a response back, heck the Indiana Department of Justice is not interested. I will not stop telling this story until I have justice for my daughter and her deaf community.
