When NYPD Detective Angel Familia of the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau graduated from the police academy in 2020, he was the first NYPD officer fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming an NYPD liaison to the deaf community with Community Affairs.
Familia’s first language was ASL because his parents are deaf and ASL was the only language he knew until he was seven. He always dreamed of becoming a police officer. However, growing up in a high-crime community in the South Bronx, he thought this goal was out of reach until he met NYPD Assistant Commissioner of Community Affairs Bureau Alden Foster, who became Familia’s mentor.
Familia, who was recently promoted to detective and received his master’s in Disability Studies from CUNY School of Professional Studies last week, recalled the day he met Alden Foster when amNewYork Metro met up with him and Foster at their alma mater, St. Raymond High School for Boys in the Bronx.
Familia had applied for a scholarship at St. Raymond since his parents couldn’t afford the tuition. Part of the application process was an interview with a St. Raymond alumni.
“I remember being in front of the library, and there was a last-minute switch on who was going to interview me. And that last-minute switch happened to be Alden Foster,” Familia shared.
Foster, who graduated from St. Raymond High School in 2005, remembered that Familia only talked about his living situation during the interview but never shared that his parents were deaf.
“Angel just told me that his dream was to be a cop. But he didn’t really know how to go about it,” Foster said.”[Familia’s] story alone, separate from knowing the parents were deaf, was definitely just a compelling story enough where we voted to give him the max of the scholarship.”
Foster eventually learned about Familia’s parents’ deafness when he needed to seek permission from them to have their son participate in an NYPD ride-along.
When Foster and Jimmy Sturges, director of guidance at St. Raymond High School, called Familia’s parents, both were unaware that the phone conversation went through a video relay service that connects with a sign language interpreter. The interpreter speaks to the hearing person and then, via video, signs the conversation to the deaf or hard-of-hearing person, who then signs back their answer, which the interpreter relays back to the caller.
After the conversation, Foster told Familia that he felt his mother didn’t want him to do “this police stuff,” thinking that the interpreter was Familia’s mother.
“The delay, then the interpreter I was speaking with [was] totally emotionless, it was just like, ‘Yeah, you know, he’s okay.’ It was just weird,” said Foster, and suggested that Familia might want to look into a different career.
It was at that point that Familia finally told him that his parents were deaf and ASL was his first language.
“What Alden Foster was hearing was the delay of communication. So you first have to speak into the phone, the interpreter has then to interpret to the deaf person, which is my mother. And then my mother has to sign in sign language back to the interpreter, and the interpreter speaks to Alden,” Familia explained.
Once Foster realized that Familia’s mother supported her son’s endeavor of becoming a cop, Familia got an insight into how the NYPD is run by visiting the Special Operations Division and the NYPD Harbor Unit and joining cops in a few ride-alongs.
“I really didn’t understand the deaf and hard of hearing community and how viable that would have been to the NYPD until a couple of years later,” Foster said.
Familia said having Foster as a mentor was important since there was no verbal communication or career guidance at home.
“[Foster] was able to guide me and really implement my skill set and talents of knowing the deaf and hard of hearing community, and being that my first language is sign language, we’re able to incorporate that into policing,” Familia said.
When Foster served on Mayor Adams’ transition team, he sought new, innovative ways to connect with the community. He reached out to Familia to brainstorm new ideas for youth engagement. Familia suggested hiring deaf and hard-of-hearing youth for the NYPD 2022 Summer Youth Employment program, and the young people were partnered with NYPD officers versed in sign language and civilian deaf staff.
“[Familia] became our disability liaison in the Community Affairs Bureau. We never had this before where a person laser focuses on just the disability space,” Foster shared.
Last year, the NYPD hired over 32 deaf, hard-of-hearing, and young people with vision loss for its Summer Youth Employment program, and this year, the NYPD wants to hire more students with disabilities.
Hiring young people with disabilities is not only a great experience for the staff, Foster explained, but it also shows young people that the NYPD offers job opportunities for people with disabilities.
“We did partner up with the Department of Education, the students that are deaf and hard of hearing in public schools, but also the institutions around the city that are all deaf and hard of hearing,” said Familia, who created an outreach plan for the disability community.
Besides launching the first “NYPD American Sign Language Initiative” in February by the NYPD’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, the goal is for every NYPD employee to know the tools they have when interacting with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Outreach includes teaching recruits basic sign language, visiting precincts with deaf and hard-of-hearing schools in their confines, and teaching cops what to expect in case of an emergency and how to dispatch police officers who know sign language. Officers can also use the 24/7 language line, available on all officers’ phones.
Foster and Familia also talked to some St. Raymond High School students about their career goals.
Jimmy Sturges, director of guidance at St. Raymond High School, said the school provided students with many opportunities.
“I think we’re very lucky at this school,” Sturges said. “Mr. Forster has been by my side for over 12 years. These gentlemen I brought in want to meet him and talk about their futures. So, every time I need to do something about the community, I call this gentleman, and he gets involved.”
18-year-old Enmanuel Castillo has a full scholarship to Columbia.
“He wants to be a lawyer,” Sturges said. “So this is a great fit.”
Foster shared that he also talks to students about issues like cyberbullying and drugs, and Familia and Foster help out with career day. Foster organizes NYPD ride-alongs for the students and has helped many students join the NYPD. He shared that even students who are skeptical of the police change their tune after the ride-along because it’s an eye-opener.
“[On] some of those ride-alongs you see some real stuff, and some of the students, they would see some real incident, some real action,” Foster explained. “At the end of the night, even the ones that were skeptical of the police say, ‘I like the police now. I get why they do things.'”
Foster met 18-year-old Michael Cornieo at career day. When he learned that Cornieo wanted to be a detective, he arranged a ride-along with the 46th Precinct.
“The special thing about the NYPD is [that] we have some of the greatest men and women that really care about helping young people,” Foster said.
Corneio’s uncle is a homicide detective with the 41st Precinct and aspires to be like Angel Familia.
“I like what [police work] consists of, helping the community, and I want to make my community a better place,” Corneio said.
At a recent ride-along, Corneio got to experience what it was like to be a police officer, and the cops explained what was happening in the neighborhood. However, Corneio reported, “Nothing crazy happened. It was raining. People stayed inside.”
