Mobile Phone technology fits Police station's special needs requirements
Vodafone UK's accessibility team has been working in partnership with police in Bloxwich, in the West Midlands to improve communication between the police and people with hearing impairments in non-emergency situations.
PC Clinton Thacker, who works from Bloxwich Operational Command Unit (OCU), covering Bloxwich, Brownhills, Willenhall and Darlaston, contacted Vodafone in order to find a solution to a communication problem. He was responding to a complaint made by a profoundly deaf person who had been unable to make non-emergency contact with his local police station. Vodafone was only too pleased to get involved. The Deaf Community Police Link Officer (DCPLO) scheme pilot was launched, the first of its kind in the country, where Vodafone provided guidance on accessible technology and supplied mobile equipment to the station, free of charge. The service enabled people with hearing difficulties to contact officers at the station on non-emergency issues, both during the day and when the station is closed. PC Thacker has also become the Walsall Borough’s first Deaf Community Police Link Officer, a role dedicated to working closely with the Deaf Community, giving crime prevention advice and dealing with non-emergency issues. PC Thacker hopes to extend the remit of his role to include visually impaired and other disabled groups.
The project received a fantastic response from both the Police Force and the local community and it is hoped that other areas of West Midlands Police will adopt this as best practice very soon.
"The scheme and its success has been reliant upon Vodafone,' commented PC Thacker. 'Their commitment to this project is immense and has allowed a large number of the local population who were previously not catered for to have access on a very real level. At West Midlands Police, we pride ourselves on our relationship with other agencies, and I think that this type of work epitomises partnership working.”
- ends -
For further information please contact:
Ally Stevens
Vodafone UK Public Relations
Tel: 08454 444466
email: press.office@vodafone.com
Notes to Editor
PC Thacker and Mike Duxbury from Vodafone UK’s accessibility team are both available for interviews.
Vodafone UK
Vodafone UK has 16.3 million customers and is part of the world’s largest mobile community. The Newbury-based company offers a wide range of mobile voice and data communications. The Vodafone UK network covers 99% of the population and transmits over 20 million text messages every day. Vodafone UK was the world’s first mobile operator to introduce, texting, pre-pay phones and international roaming, and currently customers can use their phones on 425 networks in 182 countries.