It is always jarring to hear that a police officer has been killed, but this morning, it was even more of a shock for me.
That's because one of the most memorable stories I remember doing was with the officer, Tony Wallace.
I met him in 2003 when he was helping lead a class for Rochester police officers. Back then he was a recent graduate of R.I.T. and was working campus safety. Tony was deaf, and with such a large local population of deaf and hard-of-hearing, police wanted to learn how to better interact with people in this population. Tony was a natural choice to teach them.
He was wonderfully charismatic, funny, and broke the ice by breaking up the class in laughter on multiple occasions. The officers were tasked with attempting to read lips; Tony asked them to mouth the words, "I love you" to their partners. It took a difficult challenge and gave it some levity.
But he was also deeply effective in helping the officers take the first steps in communicating with the deaf and hard-of-hearing. By the end of the class I attended, they could count, spell their name in sign language, and understand some of the cultural issues they might not have previously considered.
One officer told me that Tony's lessons changed his life. I have no doubt that this will be part of Tony's legacy.
Tony's dad was a police officer, and he always wanted to be the same. He told reporters a few years back that no disability would stop him, and his words should be remembered long after he is gone. Tony became a cop and he made his family, his school, and his community proud.
You can watch the full story that we did that day back in 2003 in the top right part of this page. I am thankful for having the chance to have met Tony Wallace, and I am thankful for his service.
