The relevance of non-verbal language in interpretation in public services in the police contexts.

Abstract

Interpreting for Public Services (ISP) in the police context arises from the need to overcome the language barrier between two well-differentiated social groups. Hence, the importance of recognizing these professionals as linguistic and cultural mediators to guarantee reliable communication in highly emotional situations. The ISP profession requires confidentiality and sensitive treatment of information, since confidential data is handled. This work defines the PSI in the police field, the code of ethics of the interpreter and the formal and linguistic difficulties during the development of the interpretation. Likewise, it analyzes the importance of non-verbal language as a mechanism to verify the credibility and aptitude during the police protocol. Since the PSI in the police field is characterized by being an interpersonal communicative exchange within a multilingual and multicultural framework, it is concluded that the nonverbal language of the interlocutors exerts a clear influence on the act of communication. Keywords: Interpreting in the police context,non-verbal communication; body language; deontological code; fields of interpretation.