[NFBOH-Cleveland] Ohio's 1st deaf police officer breaks barriers.

[smturner.234 at gmail.com]

Ohio's 1st deaf police officer breaks barriers in Highland Hills


19 News

August 5, 2026

HIGHLAND HILLS, Ohio (WOIO) - A Northeast Ohio village has sworn in a police
officer who spent 18 months and faced more than 150 job rejections before
earning his badge, becoming Ohio's first deaf police officer in the process.

Officer Carl DeForest is one of only seven Deaf officers in the entire
country. He is also the first deaf cadet to graduate from the Cleveland
Heights Police Academy and the first Black Deaf officer in the nation.

Officer DeForest, who grew up in Beachwood, said his interest in law
enforcement began in elementary school when a teacher brought a police
canine into class.

"As a young kid, I went to the school of Beachwood Elementary. There was a
teacher that brought in a canine, and that's what I fell in love with,"
Officer DeForest said.

After graduating from the Cleveland Heights Police Academy in June 2023,
Officer DeForest spent 18 months and faced more than 150 job rejections
before securing a position.

"It took me 18 months to land a job. I never gave up. I actually have a
team, a sponsor that kept me motivated," he said.

Officer DeForest worked security at Beachwood Mall before the Village of
Highland Hills hired and swore him in November 2024. He credited an
organization called
<https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/OHOOD/bulletins/40800a0>
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities with supporting him throughout
the process.

"They done tremendous things from the start of the Academy all the way up
until today. They helped supported the payment from the Academy or even with
the equipment as I'm using today," DeForest said.

Officer DeForest uses a device called "Roger On" to communicate over police
radio. The device connects via Bluetooth to his hearing aids.

"So, all I have to do is turn it on and it pairs up to one of my hearing
aids and all I have to do is use the cord and plug it in and hook it up to
the mic and I can hear whatever the conversation going on the radio," he
said.

For traffic stops citizen encounters, Officer DeForest reads lips and
communicates directly. He said he has accepted his speech impairment since
childhood.

"They might ask me to repeat myself. I don't mind. I know I have a speech
impairment and I'm okay with that. I accept who I am since I was a little
boy. Other people that might have never experienced with people with speech
impairment, it's a learning from the other people from the outside and
they'll have to pick up and understand how I say certain words," DeForest
said.

Officer DeForest said he hopes his career encourages other Deaf individuals
and the agencies that may be hesitant to hire them and loves seeing other
deaf officers achieve their dreams.

"It's actually wonderful that the Deaf people that want to be a police
officer showing the agency that they can have the opportunity to prove the
world that they can do anything so Deaf can achieve," he said.

He also had a direct message for departments still reluctant to accommodate
cadets with hearing loss.

"If you believe in chances, give that person an opportunity to prove to the
world that they can achieve or make their dream come true," DeForest said.

His reach has extended beyond the badge. After his story became known, a
teacher at Lakewood Elementary School contacted him about a young deaf girl
who wanted to become a police officer. Officer DeForest visited the school
to meet with her.

"Last year I went to Lakewood Elementary School. One of the girls wanted to
become a police officer. So, one of the teachers emailed me and asked if I
could come there to their school if I had some free time to go there. So, I
went down there and met with the young girl. She looked up to me and I'm
looking forward to see her become a police officer one day," he said.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfboh-cleveland_nfbnet.org/attachments/20260806/c465b127/attachment.htm>