MODEL POLICY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ON COMMUNICATING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING

ON-CALL INTERPRETIVE SERVICES

• The Agency will maintain a list of sign language and oral interpreting services that are available (on-call 24 hours per day) and willing to provide qualified interpreters as needed.  Each of these services will be chosen after having been screened for the quality and skill of its interpreters, its reliability, and other factors such as cost.  The Agency will update this list annually.

• A qualified sign language or oral interpreter is one who is able to interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.  Accordingly, an interpreter must be able to sign to the deaf individual (or interpret orally to the person who speech reads) what is being said by the officer and be able to voice to the officer what is being signed or said by the deaf individual.  The interpreter must be able to interpret in the language the deaf person uses (e.g., American Sign Language or Signed English) and must be familiar with law enforcement terms and phrases.  Because a qualified interpreter must be able to interpret impartially, a family member, child, or friend of the individual who is deaf may not be qualified to render the necessary interpretation because of factors such as professional, emotional, or personal involvement, or considerations of confidentiality.  Additionally, although a “qualified” interpreter may be certified, a certified interpreter is not necessarily “qualified,” if he or she is not a good communications match for the deaf person (e.g., where the deaf person uses Signed English and the interpreter uses American Sign Language) or for the situation (e.g., where the interpreter is unfamiliar with law enforcement vocabulary).