Trust relays: multi-mediated procedural justice and deaf British Sign Language users’ experiences of technology in police contact

The importance of procedural justice in police-public encounters is well known. When interacting with police, people tend to pay close attention to the quality of their treatment at the hands of officers, and on whether decisions seem to be made in an open, neutral and unbiased fashion. Most research in this area has construed these interactions as broadly involving direct unmediated contact between individuals or small groups. Yet, what happens when they are mediated in some way, such as via technology or an interpreter? This study explores deaf signers’ experiences of technologically-mediated interactions with the police, via two focus groups with deaf signers (n = 10). Our analysis points to the notion of a trust relay in multi-mediated police contact, with deaf signers’ trust being vulnerable to failure at various points between the interpreter, technology and police. Voice is a crucial antecedent of trust in police for deaf signers, with cultural as well as linguistic understanding being central. The opportunity to choose the modality of interaction and be afforded the authentic opportunity to communicate in one’s preferred language throughout the police contact journey is important. Video conferencing technology provides important access, but poorly thought-through technological adoption more widely can act as a powerful symbol of understanding and worth, negatively impacting trust in police. This paper contributes to the refinement and future-proofing of procedural justice theory and has wide-ranging implications for police policy and practice nationally and internationally.