Comments on: Can I be a police officer with hearing loss?

By: leslie S

leslie S — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:48:34 +0000

You can try. It is not an automatic DQ. If one says no try another.
In my very large city we have a number of officers with profound hearing loss. They had to be able to hear the radio and shouted commands, no line of sight. One guy wears a bone conduction unit attached to his handie talkie.
Public safety does not violate ADA by excluding someone with a certain amount of hearing loss, but all departments do not exclude automatically.
If the department or area of the country does not work out heed what gene from Texas said.

By: Gene H

Gene H — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:46:20 +0000

I’m sorry but no. The reason I know is I spent 26 years in a large Texas PD and during that time my hearing went bad from noise exposure I received during my time in the Army. I was barred from going back to patrol, however, since I was already employed prior to my hearing loss, they had to make accomadations, such as admin jobs. But, if you really want to do something in the LE field, remember, there are other jobs than being a PO. How about the lab, or such, maybe something with Child Protective Service, etc. Don’t focus just on being a PO when it comes to the LE field.
Good Luck.

By: firefightere210

firefightere210 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:44:37 +0000

its not against the disability act.some jobs are excluded from having to follow that for the safety of the individual applying as well as the people around them.yes during the physical they will conduct hearing and vision tests and if your hearing is below the required level you could be disqualified.most agencies will give you a conditional offer before the physical which states that if you cant complete the medical or any other requirement of the dept you wil be disqualified for employment. my advice to you is to see if a hearing aid will help you out any. im red green color blind i cant read the dot book but i have an extensive resume so they sort of overlooked that requirement and let me take another test.so keep trying see if that hearing aid works if being a cop is your dream dont stop trying and if someone tells you its impossible let that make you try even harder.i had a muscle disease as a child along with bad color vision people told me i couldnt do it either but i didnt listen to them and im glad i didnt!

By: comeuprecords714420

comeuprecords714420 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:11:39 +0000

I could be wrong, but wouldn’t excluding someone with hearing loss be against the Americans with Disabilities Act? I mean, if you can perform all required abilities (passing police academy, etc.) why would you not be able to be a cop? There are definitely some police officers who are not very intelligent, but they passed the tests. Why couldn’t a hearing impaired / anyhting impaired individual be any worse? I would consult your local police department on this one!

By: Rock Firestorm

Rock Firestorm — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:15:54 +0000

Sorry, you cannot. Good sight and hearing are requirements.

By: stars11229

stars11229 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:23:24 +0000

nope not a chance. you need to hear really well