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Article published In:
Unpacking Sign Language Interpreting: Special issue of the Journal on Translation and Interpreting Studies 17:3 (2022)
Edited by Hilde Haualand, Maartje De Meulder and Jemina Napier
[Translation and Interpreting Studies 17:3] 2022
► pp. 455–477

‘Help is on the way’

(In)accessible policing in the UK through sign language interpreting

ORCID logo | Heriot-Watt University
ORCID logo | Heriot-Watt University

In the UK, police reforms to meet needs of a diverse society have been limited in the case of deaf signers to an increase in sign language interpreting services (SLIS). This article explores the consequences of this dependence on SLIS by the UK police. We consider how deaf signers’ contact with the police may be inaccessible, despite national frameworks that ‘guarantee’ accessibility through the provision of BSL-English interpreting. We draw on qualitative data from focus groups and interviews with police officers and custody sergeants who describe their experiences of having contact with deaf signers (or other minority language users) through interpreters. We examine and contrast their perceptions and experiences concerning if, when, and how SLIS provided access, as well as its impact on their contact with deaf signers. We compare these findings with UK police reform policies to identify the current state of these provisions along with potential divergences.

Keywords: deaf, interpreter, police, language access, criminal justice, accommodations
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Access to policing
    • Police reform, diversity and deaf signers
    • Police perspectives on interpreting
  • Methods
    • Positionality
    • Participants
    • Process and procedure
    • Analysis
  • Results and discussion
    • Understanding accommodation
    • Obtaining accommodation
    • Adapting routine procedures and practices
    • Problematic accommodation
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 22 May 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.21040.ski
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