H-0700 Interviewing Hearing Impaired Persons.pdf

Kern County Sheriff’s Office Policies and Procedures TITLE: INTERVIEWING HEARING IMPAIRED PERSONS NO: H-700 APPROVED: Donny Youngblood, Sheriff-Coroner EFFECTIVE: REVIEWED: REVISED: UPDATED: February 1, 1996 10/20/2020 04/01/1996 11/28/2017 POLICY It is the policy of the Kern County Sheriff’s Office to furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services whenever required by law and whenever reasonable and/or necessary to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. This policy addresses only those situations where a Sheriff’s deputy determines that the services of a qualified interpreter are necessary to ensure effective and accurate communication. For purposes of this policy, a deaf or hard-of-hearing person means a person with a hearing loss so great as to prevent his or her understanding language spoken in a normal tone. It does not include a hard-of-hearing person who is able to understand through the use of electronic devices or hearing aides.