Information on Police Link Officer for Deaf People(PLOD)

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.034181

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. Does your police force have a Police Link Officer for Deaf People (PLOD) scheme?
1a. If so, how many PLOD officers does your force have?
1b. What British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications do those PLOD officers have?

2. How many of your officers have received Deaf Awareness training?

3. How many suspects in the last 12 months have disclosed that they are deaf or hard of hearing?

4. How many suspect interviews have required the use of a BSL-English Interpreter in the last 12 months?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - Does your police force have a Police Link Officer for Deaf People (PLOD) scheme?

No. When a deaf person requires the services of the MPS (no matter what the situation), the language department provides a BSL interpreter to aid the person.

Q1a - If so, how many PLOD officers does your force have?

N/A

Q1b - What British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications do those PLOD officers have?

N/A

Q2 - How many of your officers have received Deaf Awareness training?

This is not something that is currently held in officers’ training records. Officers can record external courses/qualifications they may have, however this is up to the individual.

All staff are required to complete the Equality Act 2010 training, however, there is no specific deaf awareness training mandated to the force.

Q3 - How many suspects in the last 12 months have disclosed that they are deaf or hard of hearing?

Please see spreadsheet below. Please ensure that the data provided is read in conjunction with the notes also provided, to ensure correct interpretation of the data.

Q4 - How many suspect interviews have required the use of a BSL-English Interpreter in the last 12 months?

Language Services have advised me that in the last 12 months 50 requests have been received for a BSL English Interpreter.

Of these 28 interviews were completed. 15 requests were cancelled by the requesting officers and 7 were either abandoned or no interpreter was available.