Can Deaf Individuals be Police Officers?

[djc]

I was wondering if Deaf individuals could be police officers? Has this ever happened in this line of work? What would be the challenges they would have to face? I can imagine the biggest barrier would be the Dispach system. Is there any other way around this? I'm Deaf myself and very interested in the Law Enforcement. I can speak for myself and am physically fit other than being Deaf. Any advice/pointers.

Respectfully,

dj

[Dan]

Can you hear Ok with a hearing aid? Or are you completly deaf?

[Stump]

djc,

I am not sure of the specific requirements to get onto the force, but I know you have to meet certain hearing qualifications. I rode with an officer a few months ago that wore hearing aids, and he was fine to deal with. He did keep the radio up really loud though! I can't even stress how important it is to be able to hear what is going on over the air - you really need to be able to hear.
As everyone always suggests, go to city hall and get a copy of the requirements. If that doesn't help, then look online.

[djc]

I can only hear sounds with an hearig aid but can’t understand speech. But I can distinguish between various sounds such as sirens, phone ringing, people talking, dogs barking; gun fire etc; but just cannot understand speech. I communicate by reading lips, writing, and with an use of an interpreter. 95% of the people can understand me without using an interpreter.

[djc]

I was also wondering about the current techological trends such as Incorporating laptops into police cars... Can they be designed to type out the dispatch msg? Such as using CART (Computer Assisted Real Time) technology they do closed captioning and court reporting that are often done live? Could the police department provide a ride along interpreter as well?

[Dan]

Dunno, you might have a hard time getting hired. I don't think a department would pay for a interperator. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can type messeges in the computer .
Not being able to understand speech might be the biggest problem. What if you pulled over a guy thats a suspected murder or some thing. The suspects car is like 25 feet away(suspect is in car and has back towards you) Its dark and you can't see him. So you wouldn't be able to read his lips. What could you do?
That is what I think would be the biggest proplem in getting hired.

[Stump]

I am assuming CART is the same as my CAD (computer aided dispatch) system. It is an in-car computer that is a good communications tool - WHEN IT WORKS. The main job of the CAD system is to type out dispatch messages, so the design is already in place. To rely on that 100% is not possible. There are certain areas in my county that the system doesn't work on, sometimes it locks up, etc... and ours is one of the most up-to-date systems in the country. You cannot rely on the CAD system as a primary means of dispatch.
djc, I really don't want to rain on your parade, but a ride along interpretor? It would have to be an officer, and that is a big strain on a police dept budget.
I also am concerned about your ability to communicate with dispatchers. The radios aren't perfectly clear, and we rely on officers speaking clearly. When you say 95% of the people can understand you - I don't want to take the chance on the other 5% being your fellow officers, or dispatcher.
I really don't want to give you the impression that I am against the hearing impaired/ deaf community. My city is the home of the biggest college in the country for deaf people (NTID, part of Rochester Institute of Technology), so I have a lot of contact with the deaf community. I know sign language, and work with the TDD system almost on a daily basis. I am well aware that the deaf community is capable of performing jobs a lot more than what some of the mis-informed public thinks.
What about working in another capacity of law enforcement? What about being a technician? Some PD's hire civilian techs.... Or working in the jail? I think the jail deputies/officers here have the same requirements, but I am not sure.

[Dan]

Read these requiriments.(might be diff with diff departments)
http://realpolice.net/police_requirements.htm

[Charlie]

djc--I think commonly one has to be able to demonstrate that they can satisfactorily perform, probably at most any given department, what's commonly referred to as "the essential functions of the job" in question. Typically, most any LE agency, SHOULD have some sort of formalized standards and qualifications any given applicant MUST meet to perform the job in question.

With that being said, most any LE agency likely has something in their hiring process that address physical requirement issues. Hence, as in your case, I'd bet they have something in place concerning hearing requirements.

I think your best bet will be to contact any LE agency you have intetrest in to find out more about their hearing requirements. These standards may differ from one department to the next.

Charlie

[djc]

Thanks for all of your inputs. Will keep researching this. I've done some research on the internet by looking at some job annoucements for various police depts in Yahoo and I noticed that many of the Police Officer openings have TDD numbers at the bottom of the announcement for more information which doesn't make sense. If being "Deaf" is an issue why would they advertise the announcement with TDD numbers? Based on common sense they shouldn't; unless they are concerned wth job discrimination and wanted to cover their bases.

Also I recall about 4 years ago I read an article that there is a Deaf Female K-9 Police Officer that works out in Louisiana but have not been able to find that article. I've been trying to locate her so I can actaully ask her some questions.

I'm also contacting a Law Firm who is familiar with the ADA ask what ADA can/can't do.

Again thanks for your inputs!

Dave

[Solego]

In my opinion, being deaf is a big officer survival issue. If you can't hear some mope sneaking up on you from behind, it could cost you your life.

[Dan]

Originally posted by Solego
In my opinion, being deaf is a big officer survival issue. If you can't hear some mope sneaking up on you from behind, it could cost you your life.

well said.

[abirtz]

DJC,

In all honestly I can almost guarentee you that you would not be able to be hired as an officer. It would be impossible for you to complete the function of your job properly 100% of the time...BUT, this does not mean that you can not get involved with a career in Law Enforcement. It just means that if you are deaf (or hearing impaired) you can not be out there patrolling the streets. But there are plenty of other ways in which to make a difference without working the streets. I once knew a gentleman that worked for the Boston police force and was paralyzed from the waste down. Now there is no way he could be hired as a patrolman, but there were other ways that he could use his skills on the job. I urge you to look around. There are ways that you could also earn some major money doing interpretor work for a much larger department. Good Luck and let us know what you do or find out .