‘Sorry, I’m dead, it’s too late now’: barriers faced by D/deaf citizens when accessing police services

Abstract

Police organisations have been slow with regards to the integration of services which are accessible and responsive to the needs of D/deaf citizens. This qualitative study explored the barriers which D/deaf citizens face when accessing police. It considered the impact of police initiatives designed to widen the avenues through which D/deaf people can contact them including information and communication technologies (i.e. Emergency SMS Text Services and Video Relay Services) and interpreters. The study involved focus groups with D/deaf citizens, interviews with police officers, and a review of police practices in England. The findings focus on cultural, technological and interactional barriers, and demonstrate that despite indications that members of this community are likely to be vulnerable in terms of victimisation, current policies, procedures and training do not address access requirements.

Points of interest

• This article looks at the barriers faced by D/deaf citizens when accessing police services.

• Age, ethnicity and disability impacted on D/deaf citizens’ access to services and their use of technologies to contact the police.

• D/deaf citizens felt that more work needed to be done to raise greater deaf awareness amongst police officers and to avoid misunderstandings.

• Some improvements in police service provision have been made, but a better engagement strategy is needed to build D/deaf citizens’ confidence in the police.

• The research recommends that when designing police services and technologies, the focus must include the needs of D/deaf citizens.

Keywords:

• Access
• criminal justice
• D/deaf
• interpreter
• police
• technology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by College of Policing/HEFCE Policing Knowledge Fund. [Grant Number J04].