Get out the brooms – the Deaf Community Basketball team is on the verge of a clean sweep against the guys in blue at the first citywide NYPD versus Deaf Community basketball tournament.
After earlier wins against the NYPD basketball teams from the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, the Deaf Community team handily defeated the cops from the Brooklyn team 53-28 despite home court advantage at the NYPD Community Center in East New York on Aug. 13, and is now leading the series 4-0.
The tournament is not only a show of skills on the court in a fun setting, but also serves to connect the NYPD with the disability community.
NYPD Detective Angel Familia of the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau, the first NYPD officer fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), is the NYPD liaison to the deaf community with Community Affairs.
Familia, whose parents are deaf, was instrumental in including deaf and hard-of-hearing youth in the NYPD’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), pairing them with police officers who know American Sign Language. After a successful launch, young people with physical disabilities and vision impairments are now also part of the program -this year, the NYPD hired 55 young interns with disabilities, 22 with hearing impairments.
Familia noted that programs like SYEP showed young people with disabilities that there are job opportunities for them at the NYPD, and also teaches cops how to interact with people with disabilities effectively.
“As we expose ourselves to people with disabilities, we become more aware and we become more culturally sensitive,” Familia told amNewYork.
Heriberto Almonte and David Perez are students at the Rochester Institute of Technology for the Deaf and interns in the NYPD Summer Internship Program.
Alden Foster, the assistant commissioner of the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau, told Brooklyn Paper that his office collaborated with Almonte and David on meaningful ways for the NYPD to engage the deaf community.
They told Foster that many young people didn’t have a relationship with cops, and suggested a citywide basketball matchup between cops and the deaf community.
“The whole point of the tournament is for the deaf young people to be able to meet the cops, and it’s been very successful so far [and] the cops are enjoying it,” said Foster, noting that the cops were learning sign language.
“I think when the cops are on patrol, it’s going to be a great experience for them to just know some basic signs,” Foster said.
With Det. Familia interpreting sign language for Brooklyn Paper, Almonte and Perez said that the tournament was an opportunity for young deaf people to not only learn about the job possibilities within the NYPD for the deaf community, but also to build a connection between cops and the deaf community.
Almonte, who is majoring in business administration, also participated in the NYPD Summer Youth Employment Program prior to the NYPD Summer Internship Program.
Working for the NYPD, Almonte said, inspired him to “do great things.”
“It really led me to make a change in my life. The NYPD has supported me through things that I can’t even describe. So it was really a big step for me when I got hired into the NYPD, although I was deaf,” Almonte shared.
Perez, whose major is business and administrative support technology, was concerned about job possibilities after graduating due to his disability. The NYPD internship program, he noted, had a positive impact on his life.
“It really shows that the NYPD has deaf access, and deaf people are able to work in the NYPD. So [the internship] has given me the thought that after graduating from college, I could work for the NYPD,” Perez stated.
Perez and Almonte told Brooklyn Paper that their teammates appreciated the opportunity to play against the cops and for introducing them to possible mentors.
“It makes them realize that there is an opportunity for them. For them, as a deaf individual, they feel impressed because they get to be involved in the community with the NYPD,” Almonte explained.
The young players shared that winning against the NYPD was all about enjoying the game and strategy, and the only obstacle between the Deaf Community team and a clean sweep is the NYPD’s Staten Island team, which they are meeting on Aug. 14 in the final game.
“The word is out that we are losing badly,” Foster admitted. “These kids are in shape.”
