Hearing Impaired

In an emergency the fastest way to access Police, Fire or Medical help is to dial 911.

This service is available to all callers, including those with disabilities of hearing or speech.

The Paradise Valley Police Department provides TDD service to all callers using a TDD (Baudot and ASCII) device.

When you call Paradise Valley Police or 911 the phone system will recognize the incoming call as a TDD and will notify the dispatcher who will then communicate with the caller as needed. We can also manually check any call for a TDD.

The Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division outlines the ADA requirements for 911 access:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) to provide direct, equal access to services for people with disabilities who use teletypewriters (TTYs), which are also known as "telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs)."

The ADA regulation requires 9-1-1 or other telephone emergency service providers to provide TTY users with:

• direct access; and
• an opportunity to benefit from the emergency services that is equal to the opportunity afforded others.

Direct access means that PSAPs can directly receive TTY calls without relying on an outside relay service or third-party services.

Equal access means that the telephone emergency services provided for TTY users are as effective as those provided for persons who make voice calls, in terms of:

• response time;
• response quality;
• hours of operation; and
• all other features offered (e.g., automatic number identification, automatic location identification, and automatic call distribution).

Direct, equal access requires PSAPs to have the appropriate equipment to communicate with people who use TTYs. It also requires them to use the proper procedures and practices when TTY calls are received.

For additional information you can review the Department of Justice document.