Getting Arrested

I was arrested by the police. Err... I mean the Criminal Justice Department at SCC. It was horrible because the handcuffs hurt. In addition, I couldn't communicate with my hands!!!!

Our ASL club, Shut Up and Sign, did awareness of deaf people for our Criminal Justice Program at SCC. Our first scene was a daughter and mother was in an argument because our things were stolen. They were jewelry, keys, and $10,000. They thought I was supposed to deliver the $10,000 dollars because they miss read my writing. I have bad writing and didn't care if they couldn't read it because that would make it more real. The first two were pretty good because they knew what they were doing and how to communicate with us. Then, the second scene was when I found my mom dead and was freaking out about it because I didn't know why she wouldn't wake up. Those two were alright; however, it took forever for information to get across. I had to come up with the idea to communicate with pen and paper because they were looking through a pamphlet trying to figure out what to say. The person who was monitoring told me to get closer to them. When I did, she told me to back off. Obviously, they have a policy of personal space. Plus, they wanted me to sit all the time.

Our third scene was with all of us: Nicole, Tara, and two other girls from Sinay's ASL III class, who were with me from the other scenes. First, we decided that we were having a party and being too loud in general. We were listening to music, the vibrations, and having a good time. The door bell rang and Tara answered the door. She thought that they were part of the party, so she invited them in and continued to dance. That's when they tried to break up the party and tell us to stop dancing. I saw that Nicole was handcuffed and haled away because she attacked Tara. I didn't know where Tara went after that.

So, the two other girls and I were dancing together. At first, we kept on dancing; however, the girls stopped when they turned off the music. I put my headphones on with my I-Pod because I still wanted to dance. Plus, I wanted to act more real because I couldn't hear them with my headphones on. Then, one of us was separated. They kept on telling me to take off the headphones, including the other deaf, red head girl. At one point she physically took off my headphones my knocking them off, which is easy to do because they are so big and heavy. That made me mad. So, I swung and and accidentally hit her with the headphones. At that point, a guy grabbed my arm and tried to put me in a wrist lock. That didn't work because he wasn't doing actually locking my wrist. I could have resisted and gotten out of the lock since it wasn't doing any thing.

I thought that the actual police officer who was supervising the whole situation was telling me not to resist. So, I resisted a fair amount because I wanted it to be hard for them. Since, I’m a purple belt in karate and know how to protect and defend myself. The guy was having trouble with me, so the girl officer got involved. Somehow, both of them knocked me down to the floor. As I went down, my glasses went flying and my pants ripped. I still didn't want to give up and have them handcuff me. So, I put my arms between my chest and the floor my I was lying on my stomach. They were trying to pull my arms back behind me, but that wasn't working because it's harder to pull a limb towards you and it's easier for the other person to keep it close to their body. That's why when I grapple, I try to keep my arms as possible. I don't want to put them in a lock.

Another guy trainee got involved by I think placing his knee on my neck. I remember him talking about my neck, but don't remember feeling any thing directly on it. However, he did do something around that area to help subdue me. They finally forced my arms around my back and handcuffed me because I wasn't stronger than all three of them pulling at my arms. The handcuffs sort of hurt because they were tight. I got up fast when he started tugging at them. When I was handcuffed, the actual police officer asked the other officer if he put them on too tight and he said no. I thought they were tight enough. Then, I was told to sit on the couch. I did what I was told because the tightness of the handcuff subdued me. Plus, I couldn't really see anything because I didn't have my glasses on. I could have tried to run away to make things more difficult; however, those handcuffs were very uncomfortable. I waited for a few more minutes. As I waited the girl officer asked me some yes and no questions while telling me to stay seated all the time. All I did was shake my head yes and no while making pitiful kicks towards the officer. She wasn't even alarmed at all by the kicks.

When the real officer called it off, I was immediately unhandcuffed. I asked where my glasses were because I couldn't see. So, someone gave my glasses. The police officer mentioned that I couldn't see and hear. Then, he called everyone to get in the room to talk about what had happened. I was the first one that spoke. I told them I could have resisted and fought a lot harder. He said that they could have subdued me a lot faster. When they were subduing me, he kept on telling us things. At first, I thought he was telling me not to resist. Then, I realized that he was talking to the trainees. That's when I started to resist a lot more, however; both parties were playing it safe. I didn't resist that much because they probably don't have that much control. They were playing it safe because they didn't want to hurt me. However, the handcuffs did take some skin off on both wrists. I didn't realize that until Tera said I was bleeding a little on my wrist right after I was unhandcuffed. Plus, I have good sized knot on my knee from them knocking me to the ground. A few days later, it turned into a nasty bruise and took a long time for it to heal and go away. I don't mind though because it's all fun and games.

The police officer first told them that at the beginning, they did all right. Then when backup came, their communication fell apart because they tried to talk in ASL to each other. Then, he said that all of their eyes were looking at me when they were trying to subdue me. That's bad because they have to keep their eyes on the deaf people. They could have done something. Then, a girl asked why I had my headphones on. I told her that I was listening and feeling to the vibrations. Later, I thought that I can still hear a little, just enough to dance to if I had my volume all the way up, which would cause damage to normal ears. After that the police officer asked them what they figured out. They said I was on LSD. The red head deaf girl said that she told the trainees that I was on LSD because I was so strong. I think that's very funny. Then, the police officer said that they should have taken the owner out of the house. Then, tell him or her that that they had their music too loud and were breaking a noise ordnance. If they resist, then they can take action. They can take action when I hit the other deaf girl with my headphones because they consider that assault. (Note: all of us actors were hearing.)

I thought resisting arrest was fun. However, I'm sad that my pants ripped. Now, my grandma has to sew them up. Those pants were the ones that I wear all the time too. I only have three pairs of pants that I can now wear. I think it's about time to get me more jeans; however, I don't have the money right now.