It was a relationship forged over food that sparked a DeKalb County officer’s interest in sign language.
Officer A. Cochran picked up the basics of American Sign Language from her hearing-impaired friend over middle school lunch periods and continued her education later in life through a series of Google searches and library books. It’s a skill she has not called upon often in her 13 years with the DeKalb County Police Department.
That was until a few weeks ago, when a 45-year-old deaf man climbed over the railing from I-285 to I-85 at Spaghetti Junction and threatened to jump. On that day, it was a relationship forged by common ground that Cochran thinks saved the man’s life.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
The Conyers native had just begun her afternoon shift Jan. 12 when a call came over her police radio about the man on the interstate ramp. DeKalb’s North Central Precinct in Tucker is only a few miles from the interchange.
“The call started coming out that somebody was attempting to jump and was trying to climb over the wall,” Cochran said. “I just took it upon myself to go, because I was literally a minute or so away.”
The man was standing up against the wall of the ramp, near the bed of his Ford pickup truck, when Cochran arrived shortly after 2:30 p.m. She put her hands in the air so as not to spook him and introduced herself.
He pointed to his ears.
“I asked him, ‘Are you OK?’ And he pointed to his ears again,” Cochran said. “I was like, OK, he’s deaf.”
Cochran continued their conversation in sign language. She asked again about his well-being, and he put his hands together like he was praying to God, she said.
“I signed for him to sit back in the car because at this point I needed for him to be safe,” she said. She asked again if he was OK, and if he was about to jump.
“He said he wanted to give his life to the Lord,” Cochran said. “I just replied by saying, ‘Sweetie, no. Your life matters.’ He put his hand over his heart.”
By then, fire and medical crews had arrived to evaluate the man. Cochran said she helped him answer their questions by interpreting and got him into the back of an ambulance for transport to Wellstar North Fulton Hospital.
“I did the ‘I love you’ sign in sign language and he did it back and put his hand over his heart, and that was it,” she said.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
The police department has a call line that connects officers with translators in the event of a communication barrier. But there are no translators for sign language. Those interactions are often scribbled transmissions on the officer’s notepad.
It can make for missed connections, Cochran said.
There’s no way to know the outcome if another officer had answered the call that day, but Cochran feels she was able to relate to the man on a deeper level. She hopes she at least put him at ease.
“I’m a cop,” she said. “This is what I signed up to do, to help people.”
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