Cheri...dispatch asks so many questions because we need to know whats going on. It is essential for us to know who is with you, where you are...etc. It isnt safe for us to just show up without any information. I do agree that relay takes..................a................really.......................long...................time! I was on the phone with a gentleman not to long ago using a relay service. The converstation lasted roughly an hour and I got the amount of information that a face to face interaction would have taken 5 min. I think this is a huge communication barrier that needs to be broken. Would it be a terrible idea for a deaf or HoH person to have an emergency box where they could type information quickly and it would go directly to dispatch? Is something like this already made available? This would save us both valuable time.
Kaitin... you have many many good questions. Without getting too much into firearm guidelines...it may have been standard protocol for them to pull firearms when a person doesnt respond to a PA. The PA system isnt so much used as pulling a person over, as it is used to give commands to a person who is non compliant with exiting the vehicle. Again, this is a barrier that needs to be overcome. As with the never ending stay in the car/get out of the car battle...stay in the car. There are many ways to show someone you are friendly. Being polite is one way. But please, getting out of the car will do nothing but upset officers. instead of having handicap plates (which I agree, would make a person feel vulnerable), would it be out of line to have, say, a colored piece of reflected metal (the size of a quarter) in the upper right hand corner of the license plate? How do people feel with that? <--Still, I feel on the fence about that one. This just helps law enforcement get through the communication barrier.
