Deaf and Hard of Hearing – Meet the Police

Police officers in Leicester are supporting the launch of a new drop-in service for people who are Deaf and hard of hearing, which is aimed at removing the barriers to communication that often make accessing police services very difficult for those communities.

The drop-in sessions will be held at the Action Deafness offices at the Peepul Centre, Orchardson Avenue, Leicester. Starting on Wednesday, February 1, 2012, the drop-in service will be held on the first Wednesday of every month, from 10am to 12 noon.  

British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters will be available to aid communication between police officers and D/deaf people whose first language is BSL. A loop system will also be available for hard of hearing people who have appropriate hearing aids.

D/deaf awareness training sessions have been provided to 16 police officers by Action Deafness Cultural, and it is from this group that the drop-in service will be staffed. The training ensures officers understand and are better prepared to work with people from the Deaf and hard of hearing communities. However, British Sign Language to level one standard will be provided to police officers by Action Deafness in the future.  

Sergeant Sarah Widdowson is the team leader for the Belgrave and Latimer neighbourhood beat teams who work in this area, and has also received the awareness training. She said: “The presence of the police at the drop-in sessions will ensure people from the Deaf and hard of hearing communities benefit from advice on a variety of police subjects, for example neighbour disputes, anti-social behaviour and crime reporting. The service will increase their accessibility to mainstream services, and provide a wide range of advice and information to a group within the community that has always been difficult to reach. The Peepul Centre is in exactly the right location, and is able to host this service within its wide range of community services.”

Jaz Mann, Manager for the Action Deafness Cultural department said: “We are so pleased that the Leicestershire Police have recognised the need to make their services accessible for Deaf and hard of hearing people, and it is encouraging to see the innovative ways we have been able to work together.”

For more information about this initiative, please contact Action Deafness Cultural on 0116 2533205; or email: hearnow@actiondeafness.org.uk; SMS 07816 950186.

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