First of all I am profoundly Deaf and I use American Sign Language as my primary mode of communication.
From reading the posts, we do not have all the facts and we need to look at the procedures done by the Police as the critical issue here.
I am interested in how the Police handled him in terms of notifying him of his immediate arrest. If were calling his name out and so on without any visual reference such as sign language or without any gesturing to tell him to stop, then they approach this wrong. If they told him by speaking to him, first of all 80% of speech reading (lip reading) is difficult to understand Many words look the same while there is no sound. Such an example is "I Love you" and "Elephant Shoes" Say that to your spouse without voice and most will think it's I Love You!
The Deaf individual needs to see the Police gesture or sign to him that he is being arrested or simply comply to what being asked. Pointing down to ground and so on to do this. If the individual does not comply, then the Police can take him by force.
Also handcuffing the person in the front is critical to allow the person some limited communication. A few situations in the past I have heard about are the one where a student at Gallaudet University (
www.gallaudet.edu) was arguing with his professor only to have the campus police come and arrest him and handcuffed him behind the back and he was thrown to the ground. He was wrestling for his life as they were holding him down on a 3-step staircase only to result in his death because he could not speak because he was choking on the stair around his neck. The university was sued and it's my understanding a settlement was reached.
Another example is a Virginia State Trooper pulled over a Deaf man and the man was in a domestic fight with his wife and he was angry. He got out of the car and went to reach into his jacket for a pen and paper only to be shot and killed by the trooper.
For the Halton Regional Police Services, I have nothing but the highest regards for them. I have provided training to many Police officers in Halton in a previous position and they have shown the initiatives to work with Deaf individuals as Halton Region has many living here. However all Police forces have "bad apples".