British Deaf Association calls on Hampshire Police to withdraw voluntary BSL teacher vacancy

The British Deaf Association (BDA) has called on Hampshire Constabulary to remove a job advert which would see a British Sign Language (BSL) tutor work between two to 15 hours a week for free.

The force faced accusations of “tokenism” earlier this week when it was revealed an individual was needed to provide BSL and Deaf awareness sessions to Police Link Officers for Deaf people (PLODs) on a voluntary basis.

Commenting on the ad, BDA CEO Rebecca Mansell told The Limping Chicken: “We are disappointed to see BSL teaching roles being advertised on a voluntary – i.e. unpaid – basis, particularly coming so soon after Parliament officially recognised British Sign Language as a language of Great Britain on 28 April 2022.

“The BSL Act requires government departments to promote and facilitate the use of BSL across public services. This is an unfortunate reminder that there is still a tremendous amount of work to do before BSL teachers and other Deaf professionals are truly valued and compensated for their work on an equal basis with their hearing peers.

“Training police officers in British Sign Language is highly-skilled, technical work that demands a qualified, trained teacher who is a Deaf, native BSL user. Hearing people with no lived experience of being Deaf should not be teaching BSL.

“We call upon Hampshire Constabulary to withdraw the advertisement and reconsider their policy of expecting Deaf professionals such as BSL teachers to work for them for free.”

Seriously, is this for real? A volunteer to teach the bobbies BSL for free? PAY Deaf people #commonsense #tokenism @HampshirePolice pic.twitter.com/oJstTk20Fl

— SarahCassandro (@sazcass) May 26, 2022

In a statement issued on Thursday, a spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said: “We have processes in place which have ensured our Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police Link Officers for Deaf People (PLOD staff/officers) have been trained via people that we have funded through recognised BSL training agencies.

“This position aims to enable Link officers to maintain their existing skills while forming part of their Continuing Professional Development. All of our Link officers have previously had the force’s support in funding their initial qualification through BSL levels 1 and 2.

“This is just one of a range of volunteer positions the Constabulary offers, which are open to people who wish to apply.”

They went on to add the role is “not exclusively offered to deaf individuals” and is instead “open to anyone with the necessary qualifications and experience”.

The spokesperson continued: “Inclusion is vitally important for Hampshire Constabulary and our officers and staff are working to provide the best service that we can to all of our communities.

“We have a significant history in providing a quality service to our deaf communities, having established the first Link officer scheme in the country in October 1999.”

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.