Arlington County, Virginia

Police Department

Directives Manual.

523.07 -- Communicating with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Persons

I. Policy

The Arlington County Police Department seeks to provide deaf and hearing-impaired citizens with the same level of police service that is provided to persons with normal hearing. Indeed, it is essential to the success of the Police Department mission that police officers are able to communicate effectively with hearing-impaired victims, witnesses, and suspects.

Therefore, it is the policy of the Arlington County Police Department that all reasonable steps shall be taken to accommodate the hearing needs of deaf and hearing-impaired persons who come into contact with the agency.

In this regard, the procedures found within this directive are intended to provide hearing-impaired citizens with convenient, timely access to the full range of public safety services.

II. Procedures

A. Initial Needs Assessment

Upon encountering a hearing-impaired person with a need or desire for police service, an employee should attempt to identify the type of hearing assistance needed to establish effective, convenient communication.

In most cases this attempt will be accomplished by a direct inquiry to the hearing-impaired person. This inquiry may occur by any means immediately available to the employee, but usually will involve hand gestures, written messages, or sign language interpretation by a family member or companion of the hearing-impaired person.

In many cases, the employee and the hearing-impaired person will conclude that the aforementioned gestures, messages, and interpretation are adequate. This will typically be true in brief, minor contacts such as a deaf person seeking directions to a particular address.

In other situations, however, the hearing-impaired person may request more sophisticated assistance, or the employee may recognize that an auxiliary resource will be needed to ensure effective communication. In these cases, the employee should take all reasonable steps to procure the appropriate auxiliary resource, as discussed elsewhere in this directive.

B. Auxiliary Aids and Services

Two types of auxiliary services should be available to officers at all times. These include:

1. Interpretation Services -- Arlington County has contracted with a private vendor to provide sign language interpretation 24 hours per day. ECC maintains the contact phone number for this vendor.

Employees needing interpretation services should contact a supervisor, and if the supervisor concurs that the vendor's services are appropriate, contact ECC to arrange the vendor's response.

Per the contract, response by a contract interpreter should occur within one hour following placement of the request to the vendor.

In criminal cases, the contract interpreter shall be listed as a witness on the Incident Report or a Supplement Report. However, the vendor's address and phone number may be substituted in place of the interpreter's home address and phone.

2. Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDD), Text Telephone (TTY), and Relay Services

Employees are required to provide telephone access to a hearing-impaired person in any situation where such access would be provided to a person with normal hearing. This includes, but is not limited to, criminal suspects.

Since standard telephones will not be adequate for hearing-impaired persons, employees should arrange for deaf and hearing-impaired persons to use a TTY or TDD telephone.

At least one such telephone is always available at CID. It is located in one of the witness interview rooms, and may be used for outgoing or incoming calls by all hearing-impaired persons, including suspects, victims, witnesses, and visitors to the police facility. ECC also has the capability of receiving or sending TTY/TDD calls.

NOTE: TTY and TDD telephones enable their users to communicate through standard telephone lines using typed messages rather than voice, in much the same way that a computer permits "instant messaging." The acronyms TTY and TDD are inter-changeable, and refer to a single, common device.

C. Confidentiality

Employees who assist or arrest hearing-impaired persons shall consider these persons' privacy and confidentiality needs when assessing whether auxiliary hearing assistance is needed.

For example, a rape victim who is accompanied by a relative or friend with sign language skills may not be comfortable answering certain questions in the presence of that relative or friend. Therefore, depending upon the desires of the hearing-impaired person, it may be necessary to request a departmental contract interpreter rather than utilize the relative or friend.

Similarly, it is inappropriate in most circumstances for police to serve as a relay between a hearing-impaired criminal suspect and that suspect's lawyer or parent, etc. Accordingly, officers should not make such calls on a hearing-impaired suspect's behalf, but instead shall provide the suspect with access to a TTY/TDD telephone.

Employees should not observe written messages that are typed or received by a hearing-impaired person using TTY/TDD telephones unless the employee is a legitimate party to the call. As a general rule, employees shall accord hearing-impaired persons the same level of privacy and confidentiality that would be accorded to a person with normal hearing who was making a similar call.

Employees also shall ensure that written messages they exchange with hearing-impaired persons are protected from viewing by unauthorized persons. Potentially sensitive messages should be handled in the same manner as other confidential documents for that case.

D. Reliability of Interpreters

If an interpreter is used in a serious criminal case, care should be taken to ensure that the interpreter is qualified. If a relative or friend of the hearing-impaired person is used for this purpose, the interviewing officer shall ask the interpreter to describe his or her skill level, and shall inquire of the hearing-impaired person whether he or she has confidence in the relative's or friend's interpretive abilities.

Departmental employees who possess sign language skills may also be used. However, in any serious criminal case where the skill level or qualifications of any interpreter is limited or is in doubt, a contract interpreter should be requested.

E. Training

The Training & Career Development Unit (T&CD) shall ensure that all recruit officers receive training on communication with deaf and hearing-impaired persons. Where possible, this training should include dissemination of an appropriate brochure(s) provided by an advocacy or service agency from the hearing-impaired community.

T&CD also shall ensure that refresher roll-call training regarding this topic is administered to veteran officers at least once every three years.

Arlington County Police Department

1425 North Courthouse Road

Arlington, VA 22201