Derbyshire Constabulary – Supporting the Deaf Community

This year’s Deaf Awareness Week runs from 1-7 May 2023. We hear from Pete Rawlings, Disability Engagement Officer and PLOD Manager at Derbyshire Constabulary.  Pete’s role involves managing the PLOD (find out more about this below) scheme in Derbyshire, as well as a broader remit of disability, and neurodiversity, that links to both internal processes in force and how they support officers and staff, to external processes across the force, such as service delivery and how they support the disabled communities that we serve.

Around 12 million adults in the UK are deaf or have hearing loss. In the UK, Derbyshire has the highest number of Deaf or people with hearing loss living and working within the county than anywhere else in the country, proportionate to its population, so it’s important that we support the Deaf community that we serve.  For us to be able to do that, we have to be an accessible service, therefore, a number of services and schemes have been established to aid this.

Supporting the Deaf Community

PLOD

PLOD, meaning Police Link Officers for Deaf People, is a scheme designed to train officers and staff in British Sign Language to help bridge the gap in communication between members of the Deaf community, and the police.  The position of a PLOD officer is voluntary and an addition to an officer or staff members role, but the purpose of a PLOD officer is to provide a service for non-emergency situations when communication support is required, such as –

• Providing assistance at a front enquiry desk at a police station.
• Assisting in the custody area whilst waiting for the services of an interpreter.
• Offering communication support and advice at a scene of a crime.

Ultimately, a PLOD officer is about breaking down that barrier of communication at the first point of contact when a member of the Deaf community needs our support.  Whilst PLOD officers do have British Sign Language skills, a PLOD officer doesn’t replace a professionally qualified (NRCPD) interpreter.  Some other things that a PLOD officer doesn’t do are :

• They do not provide any interpreting for cases involving evidential procedures such as taking a statement or interviewing.
• A PLOD officer is to support the officer in the case not to replace the officer in the case.
• PLOD officers are not available 24/7 but they can be utilised if available.
• If appointments are being made, a qualified interpreter should be booked in the usual way.

Derbyshire Constabulary currently has 20 officers and staff who hold qualifications in British Sign Language up to Level 3, with more officers and staff to be trained later in the year.  Having these officers and staff who are able to use their British Sign language skills helps to make community links and further supports in building the trust and relationship between the Deaf community and Derbyshire Constabulary.

BLS App

We also have a 999 BSL app and web-based platform that enables Deaf BSL users to contact us in an emergency.  This allows a Deaf BSL user to be connected to a remote BSL interpreter who will then relay the conversation to the emergency operator.  The app is extremely simple and easy to use, with a single button needed to connect to an interpreter.  999 BSL has been set up so that no Deaf person will be excluded when they need to make an emergency call, therefore saving lives.

Police Deaf Advisory Group

We also have a Police Deaf Advisory Group which was set up to help support Derbyshire Constabulary to ensure the needs of the Deaf community are considered.  The group meet at least three times a year and offers the force advice and support to enable us to improve our service delivery and progress our understanding of Derbyshire’s Deaf community.  Our Deaf Advisory Group members have previously worked in conjunction with the British Deaf Association (BDA) and made significant changes in building confidence within the Deaf community, encouraging them to use our SMS service and explaining the difference between emergency and non-emergency situations, which included a series of films made by the Deaf community which can be seen on our website, and on the PLOD Facebook page.

Social Media and Community

Our Social media Facebook PLOD page (Derbyshire Constabulary PLOD | Facebook) allows us to engage with the community, as well as enable the community to engage with us.  This is vital in supporting us to develop our relationship with the community and helps us to communicate any information to the community, whether that’s information around PLOD, events that we attend, or just showing our faces amongst the community so people can visibly see the PLOD officers.  Seeing us means that they know we’re there.

Louder than Words Charter Work

We’ve previously held the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) charter mark ‘Louder Than Words’ since 2010 and prided ourselves on being the only police force to hold this charter mark, until it ceased to operate in 2022.  This was a nationally recognised accreditation awarded to Deaf-friendly organisations and ensured that we delivered a high-quality policing service to the Deaf community.  There were ten standards to complete, including provisions such as –

• Training staff to communicate with customers.
• Providing clear information around our services.
• Providing appropriate equipment allowing accessibility for Deaf users.
• Meeting requests for communication support whenever requested.

As I mentioned at the start, with Derbyshire having the highest number of Deaf or people with hearing loss living and working within the county than anywhere else in the country, proportionate to its population, it’s vital that we support the Deaf community that we serve.  Having the services and schemes mentioned above helps us to support the Deaf community and ultimately, helps to provide a better service to the community.