A man who uses ASL and ASL-English interpreters was arrested after a dispute with his neighbours. On the way to the station and at the station, the man repeatedly requested an ASL Interpreter. None was provided while he was held at the station for over 3 hours. He was brought into an interrogation room and again requested an interpreter, but was instead given documents to sign. He was not told when an interpreter would be available, or if they were making efforts to locate one. His parents had also arrived at the station and were offering to help communicate, but the officer refused to allow this. He signed the papers and was released.
The police service agreed to implement a monitoring system in which all occurrences involving deaf persons are reviewed. Regular and updated training will now be provided to police officers and staff in order to better serve the needs of the deaf community.