Hello just thought I'd throw the question out there. I'm trying to become a police officer and so far have passed everything. I'm not looking forward to the medical because they may reject me because I am partially deaf.

I have a moderately-severe sensorineural bilateral hearing loss in both ears, and wear ITC hearing aids which bring my hearing to 'normal' levels. My speech is not affected an the only modification I need in my current job (as police staff) is an amplifier for my office phone as it's too quiet.

I am looking at getting powerful CICs to increase my chances of getting in (because they're less likely to fall out, less noticable, less feedback when using phones/radios etc)

Does anyone know anyone who was partially deaf and managed to become a police officer?

I've contacted the force I'm applying to about my hearing but no one will give a straight answer until I go to my medical - the very last stage.

If there is anyone on here who could maybe reassure me, or tell me if their experiences were negative just so I can prepare myself for the worst.

I know I would be so good at the job and would be gutted if they rejected me just because of my hearing. In no way should my hearing affect my ability to do the job

Thanks

Stef

Hello Stef

My brother has recently retired from the south yorkshire police force at an inspectors rank. He became HOH whilst in the force and wears one aid.
He retired and is now working in the employ of the council. I will send him a link to this post via email.
He may have some advice to offer.

Thank you so much, I look forward to his response

If anyone else one here can offer any advice in the meantime I'd be very grateful

Thanks

Stef

post removed

Hi stef. im thinking about joining the police but im worried i will get rejected because of my Tinnitus, i have also contacted my local force and got the same answer, would have to wait for the medical. If anybody has an answer???

I can't predict the outcome for someone 'joining' the police, but many serving officers have hearing loss discovered during their service and continue to function, like me [hearing aid & tinnitus]. There are some restrictions on things you can do within the service eg Firearms use which requires near perfect eyesight & hearing for safety reasons. The most common problem encountered that I'm aware of is using police radios, especially in noisey places where their use becomes a matter of personal & public safety and frequently the most important messages come in these circumstances eg violent or dangerous times nearly always seem come with high levels of noise. I suspect they can't tell how you will do until your medical because unlike eyesight which has an easily understood scale, hearing loss is harder to define being a combination of tone & volume. But even eysight has a minimum unaided requirement on joining because you can loose your glasses/contacts at a crucial moment, so they may want a minimum hearing unaided as well. Good luck anyway and let us know how you do.

Hi Stef,
Although not a regular, i am a serving special constable of 4 years, and when i applied, i informed them i had a hearing problem, and they tested my hearing and also gave me a speech test, where they stood behind me and and spoke, and i had to answer questions, all of this was without my aid in, i passed the verbal test although the Audio, would not have passed as a regular.
interestingly, i have had some pretty good results, as a special, and my hearing has never at any point affected my performance, if there are situations that would require acute hearing i would simply say that i could not do this task, which may be different as a regular, and as Sarge plod says fire arms and certain areas of the force require pin point reflexes sight and hearing.
good luck