In keeping with its “Putting People First” philosophy, Cleveland Police has now launched a dynamic SMS text messaging service specifically for deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired people. The service has been designed and delivered by SMS Provider Mediaburst in conjunction with partner TeleWare and successfully piloted by Cleveland Police since January 2008 with deaf people in its jurisdiction.
According to government statistics, over 9 million people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing and over 250,000 are profoundly deaf. It is unknown how many live in the boroughs covered by Cleveland Police… Hartlepool, Redcar & Cleveland, Middleborough and Stockton, which have a high population density of 9.3 people per hectare compared with the national average of 3.5.
Until the mobile came along, and SMS with it, deaf and speech-impaired people had great difficulty in contacting emergency services by themselves. They had to rely upon family and friends to report life issues or social misbehaviours on their behalf. Today, the deaf community is one of the most prolific users of SMS.
All that the deaf community in Cleveland Police’s boroughs need do to report an incident or ask for assistance is to text the word Police to the dedicated shortcode 87202 giving their address and explanation of the problem. The message is automatically converted into email and forwarded to Cleveland’s communication centre where incidents are recorded and actioned.
“Mediaburst’s text messaging service is a welcome and very dynamic solution for Cleveland’s deaf community,” says Mick Little, Acting Chief Inspector of Cleveland Police’s Control Room. “For the first time, deaf people can interact with Cleveland Police in near real time.”
Cleveland Police has issued a leaflet explaining how to use the new text service and issued a warning that any misuse of the service by people that are neither deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired may be liable for prosecution under the Communications Act, 2003.