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Disability is not Inability

::Please Teach the police sign language
10 July 2006

The Kenya Sign Language training for law enforcement officers’ is a necessary project being promoted by the Kenyan Sign Language Research Project (KSLRP). It is a country wide initiative aimed at sensitizing Kenyans at the disadvantaged position of the deaf people. This particular program targets law enforcement officer’s country wide by equipping them with the necessary sign language skills and attitudes in dealing with deaf people.

The deaf are a unique group within the larger hearing population using spoken languages. The deaf are a language minority using Kenya Sign Language (KSL) in midst of a majority population which use spoken languages. This presents a major communication challenge for any social economic and cultural integration into the wider society.

Deaf people do not have the capacity to learn any spoken language for purposes of speaking it due to the loss of their auditory faculty. Hearing people on the other hand have the capacity to learn a signed language and use to communicate with the deaf. It is in view of the above, in order to address the communication barrier between police officers and deaf Kenyans, this project proposes training police officers countrywide in basic KSL skills to empower them in terms of their ability to communicate with deaf Kenyans therefore improving service delivery to deaf people in line with the police motto “utumishi kwa wote”.

The project proposes to achieve its objectives of making sure that at the end of the project period there will be at least one general duty police officer in every police station in Kenya who will be able to communicate with a deaf person. There will also be in all police divisions in Kenya at least one special duty police officer and senior police officer conversant with KSL and therefore able to communicate with a deaf person.

The proposed sign language training for law enforcement officers’ project which is part of our deaf reach programme will empower police officers in dealing with deaf people better access to police services at a of cost about 15 million within the duration of two years of implementation.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The deaf do not face justice when they go through the police system. Many deaf persons are not read their rights when they are arrested. Many deaf people do not know they are arrested for what reason and how to negotiate the police system. Many police officers are at a loss in dealing with the deaf who break the law. There is a strong need to increase sign language skills of police officers. At the end of the project period there will be at least one general duty police officer in every police station in Kenya who will be able to communicate with a deaf person. There will also be in all police divisions in Kenya at least one special duty police officer and senior police officer conversant with KSL and therefore able to communicate with a deaf person. This will enable the law enforcement agent of the government discharge their duties effectively while ensuring justice for the deaf people in the country.

Law enforcement officers (Police Officers) belong to one of the professions that directly deal with the general public and by extension the deaf. Kenya is estimated to have about 40,000 police officers and between 300,000 and 600,000 deaf people. The majority if not all police officers have no knowledge of how to deal with deaf people in terms of their language (KSL) and culture. An encounter between the deaf and the police presents a major communication challenge since in most cases no effective communication takes place unless an interpreter is found. This could take a number of days, weeks or even months under which various rights could be infringed on. In most cases therefore, the rights of the deaf are violated exposing them to ridicule and inhuman treatment

Category: Community policy

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