Hello and welcome to the Disability Law Lowdown ASL podcast. My name is AJ and I am one of your hosts for this ASL podcast show. We are so glad that you found us and we hope you enjoy different ASL podcasts we put together.

For today’s podcast, I will talk about your rights, under the ADA, when you come in contact with law enforcement. For your information, the United States Department of Justice issued a guidebook called the “ADA Guide for Law Enforcement Officers” that is specifically about communicating with people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Most of what I am about to tell you is directly from that ADA Guide.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people who are deaf or hard of hearing are entitled to the same services that law enforcement provides to anyone else. So you may not be excluded or segregated from services, be denied services, or be treated any differently from other people. Law enforcement agencies such as local police or FBI or country sheriffs, for instance--- must assure their employees communicate effectively with you. Law enforcement has to give primary consideration to providing the aid or service requested by you, and of course, they cannot charge you for the aid. When you need effective communication by an interpreter, they must get someone who can interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially.

Of course, if an officer comes to your house to arrest you, or arrests you at the scene of a crime, there will probably not be an interpreter on site. In that case, an officer might use speech supported by gestures or visual aids, or writing with pen and paper. These methods are not always effective, of course, but they may be all that is available at that moment.

The Department of Justice instructs law enforcement officers how to deal with deaf or hard of hearing people by doing few things such as: face the person when speaking to them, try to get into a well-lit area, not to cover their mouths or chew gum, speak slowly and clearly, and point to printed information or other visual aids when possible. Officers are instructed not to use family members or children as interpreters because they may lack vocabulary or impartiality needed to interpret effectively.

Generally, interpreters are not required for simple transactions like checking a license or giving directions to a location. An interpreter is not required for urgent situations, either, such as responding to violent crime in progress.

The Department of Justice gives these examples: For example, an officer clocks a car speeding on the highway. The driver, who is deaf, pulls over and is given a ticket. The deaf individual is able to understand reason for the ticket because the officer points out information printed on the citation or written by the officer. So an interpreter is not required.

Another example.

A person sees someone getting beaten up and calls the police. The officer responds to the call and sees the victim bleeding. The person holding the weapon is deaf. The officer can go ahead and arrest them without an interpreter.

Another example.

An officer responds to a scene of domestic disturbance. The husband says his wife is beating their children and he has been try to stop her. The officer questions her by writing notes, but she doesn't understand. She requests a sign language interpreter. In this situation, an interpreter must be provided. If woman’s behavior is threatening, the officer can go ahead and arrest her and have an interpreter available at the police station for fingerprinting and being photographed.

Another example.

An officer responds to scene of car accident where a man seriously injured. The man is conscious, but is unable to understand officer’s questions because he is deaf. A family member who is at accident begins interpreting what the officer says. In this situation, where the need for information is urgent, and as long questions are basic and uncomplicated, a family member may be used for interpreting. But as general rule, interpreters should be provided by the law enforcement agency.

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The Disability Law Lowdown (DLL) is sponsored by the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers, a network of ten ADA Centers around the country that provide training and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA Centers are supported by NIDRR.

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