Mich. PD to Train to Communicate with Deaf, Other Communities

By Susan Smiley

Source The Macomb Daily, Mount Clemens, Mich.

Warren police personnel will receive training to better communicate with deaf, partially deaf and limited English-speaking communities.

The department is partnering with Global Interpreting Services of Clinton Township to train officers through the "Have You Heard?" eLearning course.

"This program is essential to continued training of Warren Police Department personnel to successfully interact with these communities," said Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer. " Warren is a community with a diverse demographic and having our officers trained to better communicate will be a win for all involved. Global's training is a proactive move to educate our officers and build trust within the community."

Effective communication is key for police officers and it is estimated 30 million people in the United States are deaf or partially deaf. Another 25 million are considered to have limited English proficiency. This new training strives to improve language access for officers and in doing so, build trust in the community.

"This is another tool in our toolbox that will help us communicate with citizens," said Dwyer. "We can get an interpreter on the phone immediately and we can use our cameras to interpret sign language. This is law enforcement addressing the needs of people with disabilities and moving forward."

Warren is the first law enforcement agency in Macomb County to use the newly-created program. According to Mark Sabor, Marketing Manager of Global Interpreting Services, his company worked with the Warren Police Department to develop the program.

Officers and police personnel will be trained to recognize the characteristics of someone who is deaf, hard of hearing or has limited English language skills and establish communication with those populations. The program complies with federal, state, and local guidelines for providing services to those specific populations and is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act.

"It is important for our law enforcement to provide effective communication to its citizens and not all citizens are the same," said Dawn Flanigan, CEO of Global Interpreting Services. "We designed the course knowing the dire need for organizations to be properly trained on how to effectively communicate when the individual has a hearing loss or when English is not their primary language."

Global Interpreting Services has three decades of experience with training public safety personnel. Their full services include American Sign Language (ASL) and foreign language interpreting, video interpreting, phone interpreting, and document translation.

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