Port Authority Cop Uses Sign Language To Bridge Communication Gap

HOBOKEN, NJ — To truly understand the value of a police officer like the Port Authority’s Dana Fuller – the only certified sign language user on the force - you have to put yourself in the shoes of someone that can’t hear.

According to the Port Authority, Fuller was on patrol at the Lincoln Tunnel in December 2015 when officers from the Hoboken Police Department called, requesting assistance with a car accident involving a deaf person.

The Hoboken officers had been met with silence, but Fuller’s arrival put the victim at ease and helped defuse the situation because the two men shared the same language… signing.

Fuller, a four-year veteran of the Port Authority Police Department, is nationally certified in American Sign Language (ASL) with the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Inc. It’s an issue that hits home for the hearing-capable officer, whose parents and siblings were all deaf, according to the Port Authority.

Taking on his defacto role as his family’s interpreter at an early age, Fuller accompanied his parents to doctors’ appointments and during errands, acting as a communication buffer and sign language-to-spoken English translator.

It was an unconventional upbringing, but it helped to make Fuller the invaluable community asset that he is today.

“I owe it all to my parents,” he said. “They were the ones who taught me this beautiful language, and with that, I’m blessed to share my language, my culture and my story to those I come in contact with.”

Read Fuller’s complete story here.

The Seton Hall University alum – a former ASL teacher at Bergenfield High School and part-time ASL professor at Kean University in Union – spends some of his free time providing ASL services for deaf patrons of Broadway shows as a member of the Theater Development Fund.

“I’ve had two passions growing up, one being in law enforcement and the other having to do with my work in the deaf community,” Fuller said. “I’m fortunate enough to have merged the two.”

See a clip of Fuller at work below.

• Related Article: Ex-MLB Pitcher Joins Port Authority Police Force

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Photo: Port Authority of NY/NJ