Sign language helping Augusta officers serve public

AUGUSTA - It took Richmond County sheriff&#39;s investigator Richard Roundtree an hour to take a statement from a deaf man after a shooting at an Augusta apartment building. <br> <br> Roundtree said the communication barrier was frustrating. <br> <br> Determined not to let it happen again, he volunteered to take a sign language course. His supervisors liked the idea so much that the department paid to enroll Roundtree, another investigator and two deputies. <br> <br> Sign language training is rare in law enforcement agencies around Georgia. Many sheriff&#39;s departments, including DeKalb and Cobb counties, usually communicate with deaf inmates through writing or special teletype phone systems. <br> <br> Police spokesman Michael Tilson said that in Albany, officers use volunteers who know sign language to act as interpreters. <br> <br> Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength said knowing sign language can be crucial in a department that serves more than two-thousand deaf or hearing impaired people in Augusta-Richmond County. <br> <br> The ten-week course, which meets twice a week at the Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired office in Augusta, is teaching the officers basic words and phrases, such as ``kid,&#39;&#39; ``truck,&#39;&#39; or ``I&#39;ll call you tonight.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Deputy John Perry the third said, ``The hardest part is that so many different signs seem the same, like the same motion.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Investigator Greg Newsome said they also are taught the importance of using facial expressions while signing.