PSNI Adopts New Protocol For Helping People With Sight Loss

The PSNI has announced the introduction of a new Vision Impairment Protocol, developed in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People Northern Ireland (RNIB) to assist people with sight loss and other vulnerable people who need to contact or be contacted by police.

Announcing the new Protocol, Superintendent Phil Prendergast of Justice Operations said: "We recognise that there are more vulnerable groups in society and part of our policing plan is to make the service more accessible to all in our community. There are those who target vulnerable persons at their homes for a number of offences, including burglary, and there have been occasions when they have pretended to be police officers in doing so. This protocol will complement the Quickcheck service already in place to assist in preventing this crime type."

"Two simple steps should be followed when in contact with someone who has sight loss, partial sight loss, or who is otherwise vulnerable."

1. If a visually impaired person requests assistance from PSNI via 999, 101 or online the call taker should ask the person to give them a password. The call taker will provide the attending officer with the password who will say it to the reporting person when they arrive at their door. The reporting person will therefore know the officer is genuine and will feel assured to give the officer access to their property. 2. If police need to call unexpectedly at the address of a visually impaired person, the attending officer should either provide:

• The log number and purpose for the visit to the member of the public at their door, or

• The CallSign details and their police identification number.

"The attending officer should then advise the member of public to close and lock their door while they do their check, to contact 101 and select option 2 on the selection list for Quickcheck. This will get them through to the control room who can verify it is police at their door."

Olive Rodgers from RNIB said: "Home is where we all should feel at our most safe but when you live with sight loss, callers to your door can be a source of anxiety or stress. If someone calls to your door claiming to be a police officer, you immediately look for the visual proof but if you're blind or live with sight loss, that method of confirmation isn't available to you.

"At RNIB, we welcome the introduction of this guidance as it's important that not only blind and partially sighted people feel confident when speaking with PSNI personnel but also that PSNI officers understand how to best engage with those members of the public who live with sight loss."

"This initiative is a good example of how we as a society can make a change to meet the needs of the 57,500 people who live with sight loss in Northern Ireland. Measures like the ones laid out in this new protocol go some way to help the sight loss community feel that they are being listened to and included in our society."