(TRENTON) – To help the hearing-impaired in New Jersey, Assembly Democrats Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D-Hudson) and Carol Murphy (D-Burlington) sponsored a resolution which passed the Assembly 70-0 to enhance communication between law enforcement and the Deaf community.  The resolution (AR-35) encourages law enforcement agencies to continue to provide training to officers on how to approach individuals who are hearing-impaired.

The New Jersey Department of Human Services stated that 850,000 people in New Jersey suffer from hearing loss.  Greater access to hearing assessments and treatment along with evaluations and specific training programs for law enforcement will help.

Upon Assembly passage of the legislation, Chiaravalloti and Murphy issued the following joint statement:

“Interaction between law enforcement and the hearing-impaired is one small part within the structure of current training programs. A more comprehensive training program, focused exclusively on how to approach individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, could help to overcome the communication barriers between law enforcement officers and the Deaf community.”