Dorset Police has issued a reminder on how people who are heard of hearing and deaf can contact the police.

Deaf Awareness Week 2024 began on Monday, May 6 and runs until Sunday, May 12 and in support of the campaign, Dorset Police are highlighting other ways in which people can contact them.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: "Yesterday (Monday May 6) marked the start of Deaf Awareness Week, a time to highlight the impact of hearing loss on everyday life while ensuring those with hearing loss feel included in our communities.

"It also promotes awareness of British Sign Language (BSL), encouraging people to learn this engaging language, to help make society more accessible for BSL users.

"We recognise that for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and especially if a BSL user, using some of the traditional methods to contact us, such as phoning or having to use written English can be difficult or even impossible.

"Our priority is ensuring everyone is supported and can contact us when they need to, so we would like to share the different contact options we have for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to contact us."

The ways in which Dorset Police say people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired can contact them are as follows: 

Emergencies:

  • 999 BSL (video relay for BSL users)
  • Text 999 (register for this service at www.emergencysms.org.uk

Non-emergencies:

  • Text 67101
  • SignLive (video relay for BSL users for non-emergency)