Disabled people and the police – a new relationship

Report: 5
Date: 2 December 2004
By: Clerk

Summary

Members are aware that the MPA commissioned Greater London Action on Disability (GLAD) to produce a report and hold a conference on policing issues affecting disabled people. The key findings and action areas from the draft report were presented to Equalities and Diversity Board (EODB) and formed the basis of discussion at the community conference on 7 October 2004. The report (attached as Appendix 1) presents ‘The Disability Agenda’ providing clear directions by which the MPA and MPS can provide a fair police service to the requirements of London’s disabled people.

A. Recommendation

That

1. members endorse the attached report, the ‘Disability Agenda’ and its recommendations;
2. an MPA oversight group be established consisting of members from Community Engagement, EODB and HR committees, along with representatives of the disabled people and the MPS and the GLA’s Senior Disability Co-ordinator to oversee the MPS implementation of the recommendations. A verbal progress report from the lead MPA Member will be a standing agenda item at each EODB meeting.
3. A MPS implementation group be established and configured around the current Disability Programme Board. The MPS implementation group report to the MPA scrutiny sub group. The MPS implementation group be comprised of representatives from the MPS disabled staff association, stakeholders from representative disabled peoples organisations and stakeholders from departments within the MPS responsible for implementing recommendations, i.e. procurement services, training etc.

B. Supporting information

1. The citizen focus agenda clearly indicates that community interest, engagement and influence upon crime and disorder priorities and resource allocation are an essential part of the community accountability and partnership processes.

2. Current statistics indicate that out of a London population of 7.2 million people, 1.7 million can be described as ‘disabled people’ and over a quarter of a million Londoners are unable to work because of ‘permanent sickness or disability’. These statistics may well be an under estimate.

3. The methodology used to engage with disabled Londoners broadens the way by which the MPA effectively engages with all sectors of the population and how the engagement may impact on and positively change policing in London. The views and recommendations from one equality seeking section of the community, if implemented will in turn result in the police service being better placed to provide a better service to all of London’s communities.

The methodology

4. A consultant from a community-based organisation of disabled people (GLAD) was commissioned to write a research paper highlighting the policing issues that disabled people are faced with. It is important to emphasise that the report is a community reflection on the policing service they receive, rather than an internal report based on reflection from an engagement exercise of listening to disabled people.

5. The context for commissioning of the research paper was based on a community sense that disabled people had been saying the same thing for years, yet nothing had been done. That is not to say that the MPS not made significant progress to enable a fairer police service for London’s disabled communities. However disabled people in London feel that there are significant changes outstanding. The aim of commissioning this report was to prevent disabled Londoners feeling consultation fatigue. The report pulled together existing reports, studies, references, research, major themes and issues into recommendations, which could then be discussed at a community conference, rather than discussing well known issues in an unstructured critical way.

6. The participants at the conference were asked to think about practical suggestions for implementing the ‘disability agenda’, and what that would look like in practice. Attempting to move the discussions, agenda and report from a critical “this doesn’t work” perspective, into a “this is what it will look like and how it should work” perspective. The final report (Appendix 1) takes both the research paper and the discussions and ideas at the conference to formulate the 12 agenda headings, which have in turn been translated into a number of recommendations for implementation.

7. Using this methodology the MPA has clearly focussed its community engagement process on the citizen’s agenda. Recommendations for improvements in policing have come from the community affected, not from people speaking for community groups. The process is good practice in that it ensures communities have both a suggestion and accountability role to play in local policing and at a strategic level

Implementation

8. Disabled Londoners are clearly stating in the attached report what a fair police service in London looks like in terms of the service disabled people want to receive, how disabled Londoners can participate in policing and influence decision-making, and the role and responsibilities of the MPS as an employer. Quoting Sir Ian Blair, in his address to the community conference “if this report by GLAD does not result in improvements in service then we will have failed”. It is this sentiment that must be taken forward in implementing the recommendations.

9. Key stakeholders in the MPS including Senior officers, the Strategic Disability team, borough representatives and human resources staff, attended the conference demonstrating the MPS commitment to furthering the agenda as articulated in the attached report. The MPA working together with the MPS can ensure the hard work of the community involved in bringing this report to the MPA amounts to a significant change in policing experience for disabled Londoners.

10. The establishment of an MPA oversight group and an MPS implementation group will ensure an organised and accountable process by which the recommendations contained in the attached report can be implemented and can be fed back to disabled people’s organisations.

C. Race and equality impact

The recommendations when implemented will ensure that policing in London impacts fairly on disabled people. The consultation and engagement processes undertaken asked disabled people to highlight issues that have a real impact on the quality of life and the way the disabled community are and want to be policed. Disabled people are represented in all equality strands across London. In addition the methodology used has led to disabled people setting the agenda and having a greater voice to ensure a fair police service.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications of relating to the report attached. The budget for the report contained in the Community Engagement budget. The financial implications may arise with the implementation of the recommendations.

E. Background papers

• EODB update papers - 4 November 2004 and 2 September 2004.

F. Contact details

Report author: Vicky Knight, Community Engagement Unit

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1: Disabled people and the police – a new relationship (Greater London Action on Disability report)

Foreword

The MPA commissioned this background report on policing issues effecting disabled people from Greater London Action on Disability (GLAD), a pan-London community-based umbrella organisation of disabled people. The report served to inform a community conference for Disabled Londoners, resulting in this report and recommendations to the MPA.

The MPA works to ensure the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) both reflects and respects London's full diversity in the way it polices the capital. Many disabled people do not feel they receive fair policing which is why the MPA is prioritising work to combat disability discrimination in policing.

It goes deeper than accessible police stations - it is about challenging prejudice and openly engaging on equal terms with London’s disabled communities.

The MPA is also concerned that the police service fully reflects the diversity of London's communities and is focusing on pushing the MPS to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which applies from October this year.

Above all the MPA continues to challenge the prevailing culture within the MPS which remains negative towards disabled people.

As a disabled person myself, I fully support this report and its recommendations and believe it as an important step for the MPA and MPS to improve the services they provide to disabled Londoners.

Kirsten Hearn is an independent member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Chair of the Authority’s Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board and a member of both the Community Engagement and Human Resources Committees.

The MPA ‘Disability Agenda’

For the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS):

1. Leadership – commitment to disability
2. Implementing the Social Model of Disability as a principle
3. Involve disabled trainers in delivery of Disability Equality Training to key local and strategic managers and provide regular Disability Equality Training for all police officers
4. Ensure organisations of disabled people can tender fairly for police contracts
5. Be responsive to disabled people’s reports of crimes and be understanding
6. Establish meaningful relationships with disability organisations at the local level
7. Ensure consultation with representative disabled people is representative and achievable
8. Make a priority campaigns against crimes of harassment and burglary against disabled people
9. Treat all disabled people as adults whether or not they are supported by advocates
10. Improvements to building access to involve the local disabled people’s access committees
11. Invite opinions from organisations of disabled people about the appropriate guidance when arresting disabled people
12. Disabled officers and staff and those who become disabled people whilst employed by the MPS, must enjoy fair and equal treatment and job security

1 Introduction

Why this report on disabled people and policing in London?

Over the last year the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) has been involved in a number of community engagement exercises on disability and policing. In November 2003 the London Civic Forum conducted consultation on behalf of the MPA on policing priorities. A report was produced for the Authority’s Consultation Committee in the same month. A month later the Disability Capital Conference was held, which again highlighted the absence of a disability agenda in policing. After discussions with the Chair of the Authority’s Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board, Kirsten Hearn, it was clear that a disability and policing agenda was long overdue. It is the aim of this report to propose a disability agenda.

Who is this report for?

The report is for the MPA and disabled people. It is intended to help influence MPA policy towards policing and disabled people. It will help disabled people campaign for changes in the way the police service treats us.

Why is policing so important for disabled people?

The MPS is undergoing change. In October 2004 it will come under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) legislation for the first time. This means as an employer and a service provider it must no longer discriminate against disabled people. Disabled people now have an opportunity to tell the MPS what kind of police service they want.

Methodology

This report has made extensive use of reports, comments, conference conclusions and MPS policies on disabled people and policing. It also included primary evidence from twenty organisations of disabled people, member organisations of GLAD in London who were able to contribute to this report. In total GLAD asked thirty organisations of disabled people for their views. In addition, the Report drew on the opinions and views of disabled people who attended the Conference on October 7, 2004 entitled Disabled People and Police – A new Relationship?

Over 100 people attended the conference bringing together disabled Londoners, MPS employees, members of the MPS’s Disabled Staff Association, the MPS Strategic Disability team and representatives from organisations across London. The conference sought to engage with the diversity of London’s disabled communities. Attendees to the conference were diverse in terms of, age, gender and sexual orientation and ethnicity. It was a crucial aspect of the conference that participants also represented London in terms of the wide range of sensory and physical impairments, people with learning difficulties and mental health system users. The report reflects in detail many of the Conference’s conclusions. The combination of reports and personal stories of the experience of policing has helped to provide a clear view of what disabled people want from the MPS. More importantly, this report provides the MPA with a clear route along which to take the disability agenda forward.

Report structure

The following section of this report highlights the issues that affect disabled people. These include general issues as well as those issues affecting minority groups of disabled Londoners. Most of these issues are well known within disabled communities because disabled people have been repeating most of them for a very long time.

The final section draws together the major themes that have come from the previous sections. It also gives the MPA key action areas that it will need to address if disabled people are to receive a fairer service from the MPS. This section proposes a ‘Disability Agenda’ for policing in London.

1:2 ‘Disabled Londoners.’ Who are they?

The term ‘disabled Londoner’ does not describe a single group. Indeed, there are so many ways to experience disability/discrimination that this term can lose its value very quickly. To be clearer about what disability actually is, it is better to look at how and why disabled people are regularly treated unfairly within society. The reason is bound up with what is called the Social Model of Disability.

The social model of disability

The Social Model of Disability, developed by disabled people, says that the problems faced by disabled people lie not with disabled people themselves or their impairments/medical conditions, but with the economic, social, environmental and legal barriers that society has put in the way of disabled people that prevents them from participating fully in society. [1] These barriers include access, attitudes, communication and information and legal and institutional barriers. Lack of access is therefore part of a pattern of discrimination. An inaccessible built environment - buildings, streets and other public spaces, and transport - disables people. [2] An organisation that does not listen to the requirements of disabled people creates the barriers that disable people.

The Social Model places the responsibility on society to make changes, rather than disabled people having to adapt to discrimination. Access is no longer a matter of making “special provision” for disabled people by for example, merely providing a separate entrance, a separate meeting, or providing a service at home because a service is inaccessible. It is also more than a matter of removing barriers to create equality and inclusion. The kind of treatment that disabled people receive once they access services is also important. Disability occurs when an organisation or its employees are hostile toward certain groups of people simply because they have a physical or mental impairment. The Social Model places the onus on organisations such as the MPA and MPS to change their policies to ensure that disabled people are included in the service they deliver to Londoners.

What the census tells us

The adoption of the Social Model of Disability means we can answer the question who are disabled Londoners and why do they live in certain areas? A look at the statistics immediately shows us that disabled people are found in all of London’s communities. The national census figures for 2001 show:

• Of London’s population of 7.2 million people, 1.7 million can be described as ‘disabled people’. [3]
• Over a quarter of a million Londoners are unable to work because of ‘permanent sickness or disability’.
• Most disabled Londoners live in the boroughs of Hackney, Brent, Newham and Tower Hamlets. These are among the most deprived boroughs in London. [4]

Disabled people are also well represented in London’s Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities:

• 1.5 million Londoners were born outside the European Union (EU).
• 1.1 million Londoners are from the Indian, Black African and Caribbean populations.
• There are over half a million Muslims in London.
• There are a third of a million Hindus in London.
• Brent, Newham and Tower Hamlets as well as being home for many disabled people, are also the most ethnically diverse boroughs in London. [5]

This means that:

Disabled people are at the heart of London’s community, not at its margin. They are fully represented in London’s diverse ethnic communities. They are also well represented in London’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual communities. This means they are as likely as anyone in London to be the victims of crime or even suspected of committing crime. For this reason it is all the more important that policing policy in London should not discriminate against disabled people.

2 What disabled people say about policing

Rarely have disabled people had the chance to make their views known about their experience of London policing. Naturally, some issues have gained a much higher profile than others. For example, we know more about mental health system users and their experiences of the police and disabled people as victims of hate crime, than we do about what happens to disabled people as victims of domestic violence.

This report will not go over issues already explored in greater detail elsewhere. Instead, it will be enough to refer to these issues and add personal testimony where appropriate. While this report is concerned with the problems it is however, far more interested in the solutions to these problems.

‘It is not the accessibility of a building we are only concerned about; it is the accessibility of the whole service. For some a telephone contact would be fine. For others face to face contact would be ideal.’
Lambeth

2:1 Access

What disabled people say:

• Many police buildings are still inaccessible.
• Placing ramps or lifts in buildings will not make them accessible for all disabled people.
• It is no good having accessible buildings when the poor transport means disabled people cannot get to the building easily.
• If the employees staffing the stations are insensitive towards disabled people then the barriers remain.
• For some people with learning difficulties the police station can be a threatening place and they would prefer to have a familiar contact person there.
• Old policies and old ways of doing things have to change with the building or it is a waste of time.
• Disabled people’s access committees are disappointed that they have had no consultation involvement in making their local police stations more accessible.

Accessibility is not just about buildings but the whole service. Many disabled people find the telephone inaccessible. The idea that the police are only a phone call away has all too often proved to be a cruel myth for disabled people. However, many disabled people complain of inaccessibility to the police station. It is easy to think that it begins with the steps and ends with the absence of a loop system. But disabled people’s access requirements are much more complex to solve. Making a few physical changes is just the beginning of the process.

What needs to be considered is ‘the whole journey different disabled people would make through the whole building’. This begins with making contact. Who should I ring? Will they understand me? Will they come to my home? Should I bother them? These are some of the questions in the minds of disabled people when faced with contacting the police. This has a direct impact on a disabled person’s decision whether to report a crime or not.

2:2 Reporting a crime

“One of our members, he has Cerebral palsy, and he’d been burgled four or five times, I lost count. We have complained to the police and they have not even visited him. What do I think? I think it’s disgusting. The police service does not care about disabled people!”
Hackney

“When I called the police they came but did not show much interest. I felt angry because I knew that those youths would be calling me names the next time.”
Barnet

Harassment is probably the most common crime experienced by disabled people. [6] Verbal abuse outside homes and repeat burglaries are common experiences. Yet there is a feeling among disabled people that the police fail to deal with their complaints properly.

Contacting the local police:

• Many disabled people have found it hard to have their particular circumstances taken seriously by police officers.
• Disabled people feel that the length of time taken by police officers to respond to their complaints is usually too long. In many cases four or five hours is considered to be much too long.
• The ‘Third Party Reporting’ policies run by some borough police is welcome by disabled people. Third Party Reporting encourages disabled people to report hate crime by providing support for the victim through a partnership of specialist agencies, and can be done without revealing the victim's personal details. Only with the victim's agreement will police investigate the crime. However, few disabled people know about this policy.
• any disabled people have found individual police officers rude or disinterested.
• Some people with learning difficulties feel that they are continually stopped by the police and consider this to be harassment.
• Local police initiatives for disabled people in the past have not been sustained. Disabled people need to be shown this will change.

2:3 Hate crime

Hate crime has only recently begun to be recognised as a serious crime against disabled people. Disabled people have long suffered in silence enduring verbal attacks, spitting, physical attacks, theft, damage to property and harassment in the streets. Those that have reported such crimes have found the police lacking interest and failing to take such an attack seriously. As a result hate crime against disabled people is largely under reported.

‘Ever since I started using my blue badge to park in a disabled parking bay I have been regularly harassed. One time the police came around and accused me of illegal parking. They could see I lived on my own. They were quite unpleasant. I felt terrible.’
Hackney

Disabled people’s views of hate crime and reporting:

• Disabled people living in London are more likely than non disabled people to have been frightened or attacked.
• The vast majority of those who have been physically attacked have also experienced verbal abuse and intimidation.
• Young people and children are most likely to commit low-level harassment of disabled people.
• Many disabled people experience hate crime because of their impairment.
• Hate crimes are most likely to occur in public places, such as in the street or park, in shops or on public transport.
• Many disabled people have experienced more than one attack.
• In general, the police are seen as unable to provide help due to the difficulties in providing proof, and in some cases, lack of interest.
• The attacks have a major impact on disabled people. Around a third have had to avoid specific places and change their usual routine. One in four have moved home as a result of the attack.
• Many disabled people are not confident that the police can help to stop the incidents.
• Visually impaired people have reported initially a good police response, but follow up and perpetrator identification has failed visually impaired victims.
• There is a feeling that junior officers are more sceptical about the seriousness of crimes reported by disabled people.

2:4 Domestic violence

12% of disabled women aged between16 and 29 experienced domestic violence in 1995. [7] Yet domestic violence against disabled people is an under reported crime. Disabled people can be extremely vulnerable in the domestic setting as they can be placed in situations of extreme dependency. Like victims of hate crime, those disabled people who do complain of abuse rarely feel that their complaints are taken seriously. It usually requires someone to speak up as advocates before the police take such complaints seriously. However, few disabled people consider complaining to the police, as they fear their evidence will not carry as much weight as that of a non-disabled person.

2:5 Sexual abuse

One of the most significant reports on the sexual abuse of people with learning difficulties is the 2001 joint report by the charities Voice, Respond and MENCAP. This report highlights the fact that the incidence of abuse against disabled people is as much as four times higher than it is among the non-disabled population. People with a learning difficulty are even at the highest risk. [8]

• Disabled women are the most likely to experience domestic violence.
• Many feel that the word of non-disabled family members will be taken more seriously.
• Many disabled people, women especially, are in weak positions within the family home.
• Domestic violence affects all cultural, social and ethnic groups.
• People with learning difficulties fear that their complaints will not be taken seriously.
• Disabled people whose first language is not English feel that a complaint to the police about domestic violence is a waste of time.

2:6 Organisations of disabled people and contact with the police

‘Here in Lambeth we’d welcome a relationship with the local police. They did start something a few years ago but few disabled people were interested. They [the Police] gave up. They [the Police] have to realise it takes time to build up a relationship. We do not trust them and we have little time to do it ourselves.’
Lambeth

With a few notable exceptions, most organisations of disabled people have had little or no contact with their local police. Those that do often only report negative experiences. One such organisation was forbidden to hold an outdoor social event by the police because there were disabled people attending. There are organisations of disabled people who do report positive experiences with their local police. Sadly, this is not a common experience among people we asked, especially those in the more deprived areas of London. Most organisations feel remote from the decisions made on policing locally and have no idea what the local policing policies priorities are.

• Most organisations of disabled people are disappointed that they have little contact with their local police.
• They know little of local policing priorities.
• Organisations of disabled people feel they have a lot to offer the police in shaping policing priorities in their local communities.
• Most organisations have never spoken to the Police Community Liaison Officers.
• Those organisations in London’s most disadvantaged areas, such as Tower Hamlets, Lambeth and Hackney for example, have the least contact.
• No BME disabled people’s organisation questioned enjoyed any ongoing helpful contact with the Police whatsoever.

2:7 Employment

‘This is a time bomb. They (MPS) will come unstuck I have no doubt. Transfers, promotion, any sort of career progression, are seriously hindered by any suggestion that somebody is not 100 per cent Rambo fit.’

How well an employer treats its disabled employees is a good sign of the level of commitment the employer has to provide a non-discriminatory service to disabled people in general. [9] In this regard, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) expressed alarm at the ‘cultural’ resistance to employing or retaining disabled people as police officers. Disabled people agree with the DRC that ‘it will not be enough for services simply to develop policy and write guidelines. These will be ineffectual if the issue of cultural change is not embraced at the highest levels and real commitment to change given’. [10] If the police cannot treat its disabled officers and staff fairly how can they expect disabled people to have confidence in the ‘good intentions’ of the police?

Part II provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act with regard to employment now apply to Metropolitan Police Service. The quote above demonstrates an experience of a disabled person as Police Office in MPS. Opinion from the conference and research has shown that the experience generally is an unhappy one, many police officers have lost their jobs on becoming disabled people or shunted into meaningless posts with no long-term career development prospects. The MPS have started to resolve this situation, making changes to support disabled staff and officers. However, disabled people as both civilian and police employees of the MPS reported to the conference that they felt discriminated against when compared to their non-disabled peers. This matter is of great concern to all disabled people as it was forcibly pointed out by an attendee at the conference, ‘how can the police treat the disability community well, when it can’t treat its own staff fairly?’ Many disabled people, including both serving and former members of the MPS, had some constructive advice as to how a fairer Police Service can be created.

There has long been a complaint by serving disabled MPS officers and staff that they were treated unfairly when they became impaired or admit to a previously undisclosed impairment once employed (while serving as a police officer). They complain of a ‘Rambo’ culture that equates disability with weakness and worthlessness. Some disabled MPS employees (disabled officers) have been sacked when they became disabled in the past. More likely, officers and staff who are disabled people are very unlikely to be put in positions of responsibility within the MPS. Also their career prospects will be severely cut.

Here are the views of MPS employees:

• Where disabled officers are restricted to office duties, they have been unable to gain the necessary "operational experience".
• Some disabled employees (officers) might have been denied promotion because of a lack of operational experience.
• Promotion opportunities have been found to be very difficult. Disabled people should be able to apply for promotion like any other colleague, and valued for their capabilities, skills and experience.
• Barriers to promotion also exist for police staff working for MPS
• No career structure exists within the organisation
• The MPS Police Federation needs to be more actively concerned with the plight of disabled officers.
• No consultation with disabled staff – management choose not to take the time.
• The MPS’s Disabled Staff Association (DSA) believes hundreds of employees (officers) could potentially have a case under the DDA.
• Transfers, promotion or any sort of career progression are seriously hindered by a strong ‘anti-disability’ culture within the police
• It will not be enough for the MPS simply to develop policy and write guidelines. These will be ineffectual if the issue of cultural change is not embraced at the highest levels and real commitment to change given.
• How can the police treat the community well, when it cannot treat its own staff fairly?

2:8 Procurement practices

The most obvious way the MPS provides a service to the public is through its public protection obligations. However, the MPS is also a major purchaser of a considerable number of services from many businesses, both big and small. These services can range from catering, laundry and office cleaning right across to training and business consultancy. The MPS, as a publicly funded organisation, should ensure that organisations of disabled people are invited to tender for services that they would be very well placed to offer. These services are likely to be in the provision of access advice and officer training. However, there are other services that business owned by disabled people and organisations of disabled people could provide and should all be given opportunity to do so. In order to invite disabled people to tender, the MPS should be aware that the process has to be fair.

Here are points to consider:

• There is a difference between organisations ‘of’ disabled people and other disability organisations like the large charities. Organisations ‘of’ disabled people are controlled and run and managed by disabled people. The other kinds are not.
• Organisations of disabled people tend to be poorly resourced.
• A tight deadline for a reply to a tender will be more likely to prevent organisations of disabled people from competing unlike non-disabled organisations.
• There are many non-traditional ways in which organisations of disabled people can meet tender requirements. A failure to be flexible amounts to discrimination.
• Disabled people have a better understanding of issues that affect them directly than non-disabled people.
• Do not underestimate the expertise within an organisation of disabled people.

2:9 Internal organisation of the MPS

One of the most difficult things for many people to understand is exactly how the MPS is organised. If the views of disabled people are to be effective it is important that the MPS is as transparent as possible.

The view of organisations of disabled people is that the MPS remains a remote organisation that is difficult to influence. The MPS Diversity Directorate is about to launch an Independent Advisory Group (IAG) made up of disabled people to advise it on policy. However, the question remains, do disabled people feel that their views about local policing will be listened to or taken seriously?

There is a huge difference between what happens within the strategic part of the MPS and what occurs at the thirty-three local Borough Operational Command Units (BOCUs), each led by a Chief Superintendent. BOCUs are the public face of the MPS. It is their actions, and not those of the Diversity Directorate, that will have a key bearing upon the success or otherwise of MPS policy and treatment of disabled people. Put simply, disabled people feel resentful that their views have yet to be properly represented throughout the MPS.

• The organisations of disabled people questioned think that consultation and a partnership is much more important at the local level.
• Few organisations of disabled people understand how the MPS is organised.
• Few have heard of the Diversity Directorate or the Strategic Disability Team and do not understand the role of the Independent Advisory Group.
• Only three organisations of disabled people out of twenty contacted knew whom to contact at their local BOCU about matters regarding disability and policing.
• Few, if any, Police Liaison Officers have visited local organisations of disabled people, especially those in the more deprived parts of London.

2:10 Disabled people from Black Minority Ethnic communities

So far we have looked at some of the general policing issues that affects disabled people. Now we turn to some other issues that affect on particular groups in London who rarely have a voice when disability and access is discussed. These include disabled people from Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, lesbian gay, bisexual and transgendered disabled people and people with learning difficulties. The policing issues that affect these groups are as a result of their experiences as marginalized and often-misunderstood groups.

“Five youths jostled my chair and laughing at me, called me a nigger in a wheelchair. I felt scared, shocked and deeply humiliated. Call the Police? It never occurred to me. What would they do?”
Camden

Disabled people from BME communities tend to have much said on their behalf yet are rarely consulted themselves. They are to be found in the most disadvantaged regions of London. Their organisations are small and very poorly funded. As a consequence they are often overlooked. However, they do have views about London policing.

Two statistics indicate the impact that mental health issues have on people from ethnic minority populations:

• African Caribbean males were over-represented amongst those formally detained in acute in-patient units and were more likely to be ‘taken to a place of safety’ under section 136. It was also found that they were up to three times more likely to be sectioned than their white counterparts. [11]
• Suicide rates are 60% higher for Asian women than for other similar groups. [12]

Ethnic minority communities, particularly those people from Irish and African Caribbean communities, are over-represented in Britain's mental health system. [13] The prevalence of African Caribbean young men with mental health issues within the criminal justice system is obviously a challenge for the police. However, there are other concerns expressed by disabled people from within BME communities.

• BME organisations of disabled people spoken to have no contact with their local police service.
• They resent the fact general BME organisations are assumed to solely represent the views of disabled people in their communities.
• BME disabled people fear they are more likely to be arrested because they are either from a minority community or disabled people.
• BME disabled women, especially those whose first language is not English, fear that their complaints will not be taken seriously by the police.
• Disabled African Caribbean young men, especially, fear that they will be more likely to be victims of the police power, contained within section 136 of the mental health legislation (72 hour detention). [14] This group prefers not to contact the police for fear of hostile treatment.
• Finally many BME disabled people feel that their experiences will be seen through the prism of ‘race’ and they will be isolated from their white disabled peers.

2:11 Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender disabled people

“It’s all very well being harassed because you are gay and a disabled person. But when the police do not take seriously my complaint, and they never have, then I do not even feel safe in my own home.”
Brixton

The key issue for gay, bisexual and transgender disabled people is the ability of the police to take their complaints seriously and to treat disabled people who have a distinct sexuality fairly. They are vulnerable to homophobic harassment and incidents that are motivated by homophobic prejudice.

• Disabled people feel that their sexual orientation can result in a poorer service from the police.
• They find that individual officers often discount their complaints - homophobic harassment is dismissed as not credible.
• Harassment of disabled people by local children sparked by homophobia is frequently ignored by local police services.
• Many lesbian and gay disabled people have little confidence in the local police. Confidence has yet to be built.
• Deaf gay men have found that they are more likely to be questioned by the police. Often the inability of the police to communicate has led to confrontations.

2:12 People with learning difficulties

‘People with learning difficulties are treated with no respect ... No one believes us. It is time that criminals are taught a lesson.’
Victim of un-redressed sexual offence

‘I would never tell the police if I was raped, because once I went to the station to help them identify someone and they got angry with me.’
People First Member

As long ago as 1995 research by Christopher Williams demonstrated that the police have long failed to provide a fair service to people with learning difficulties. [15] People with learning difficulties are vulnerable to many forms of victimisation, including abduction, sexual offences, assaults, and less apparent crimes such as 'false imprisonment', public order offences and theft by deception. The level of unlawful killings involving people with learning difficulties is also a cause for concern.

However, people with learning difficulties are often more readily seen as potential offenders than potential victims. People interviewed for the study had rarely been taught to think about crime as something they might be victim of, rather than something they ought not to commit. [16]

The onus is on the police service to ensure that officers are adequately trained to assist people with learning difficulties and their families when such a crime is committed.

More and more people with learning difficulties are living independent lives in the local community. They are no longer living in residential homes and have a much greater control of their lives. As a result, they have the same concerns about the quality of local policing as other disabled people. They have also created their own organisation to represent their interests called People First.

The following are some of the views about policing by people with learning difficulties:

• The police are too quick arrest us when we are going about our day-to-day life.
• We fear that we will not be able to choose who will talk for us at a police station.
• There should be a police officer we know and trust at every police station.
• We get picked on when we go out. When we complain the police treats it as if it is our fault.
• The police believe what our carers or relatives say and do not believe us.
• The police should come to our organisations and get to know us better.

2:13 Deaf people and the police

The main concerns of deaf people are the communication problems that arise when dealing with the police.

The police came and there were some confusion going on. The police couldn't ask us to leave without a qualified interpreter and that took a while for them to figure out what to do or find one …. We managed to block the road for one and half hours! A policeman came to our group with an interpreter and asked us to move. If we didn't move they would [have] arrested us! At last the police knew what they had to do. That was our purpose, to wake the police up and make them realise that something is wrong with their system and they have to do something about it! There is nothing wrong with us but with them!

• Deaf people are frequently treated badly in their initial contact with the police because of the officers’ inability to communicate easily.
• Typically law enforcement officers are trained to deal only with hearing people. As a result, confrontations and misunderstandings occur often when a deaf or hearing-impaired person comes into contact with a police officer.
• British Sign Language interpreters are rarely on hand at a police station and this can harm the rights of deaf people who make a complaint or are subject to a complaint.
• Deaf people's rights during a police interview are often compromised by a lack of awareness of their communication needs.
• Many deaf people do not report crimes because of fear of being misunderstood.
• Few know whom they should contact at a police station despite the Link Officer Scheme whereby Link Officers will provide communication support in non-emergency situations such as reporting a crime or at the reception of police stations.

3 The MPA ‘disability agenda’

This section takes as its starting point the content of the previous section but takes further the views of disabled people by suggesting the route by which their ambitions can be achieved. This section suggests a disability agenda for the MPA that emerges from the major themes in the previous section.

Leadership – commitment to disability

Many attendees felt aggrieved at the lack of commitment to disability among MPS senior management. The future Commissioner Sir Ian Blair addressed the conference and boldly committed to the recommendations. Sir Ian Blair said in his speech “if this report by GLAD, which I have read, does not result, and this conference, does not result, and the efforts we are making to work with the disabled, does not result in improvements in service then we will have failed”.

Participants at the conference made a number of recommendations that must be implemented to achieve this commitment. It is therefore recommended that:

The commissioner of the MPS publicly adopt the Social model of Disability as the policy foundation by which the MPS undertake a plan of action to address the policing concerns and needs of Disabled people.

The MPS take steps to ensure that there is no hierarchy of equalities issues Disability as an equality issue must have equal status and importance

Review and broaden the current equalities impact assessment process to ensure that disability issues are fully addressed.

Officers and middle managers receive training to engage with and effectively interface with the disability community

Play a mediating role on behalf of disabled people between the various agencies involved in the Criminal Justice System.

Participants at the conference also suggested that MPA and MPS need to do the following:

MPA

• Strengthen the equalities issues agenda.
• Push the boundaries and challenge the MPS. It has a large budget – expect to get more for equalities work.
• Consult with the MPS Police Federation.

MPS

• Territorial Policing identify their key stakeholders within the disability communities, identify the problem areas, find out what is being done and develop strategies to overcome these.
• Ensure that the best Borough Command policies and practices become cross-organisational strategies.
• Assess the application of new technology to improve access for disabled people.
• Senior managers must be in post long enough to master issues. The term ‘champion’ should refer to the role not the person.
• Commitment needed from everybody in the MPS to ensure change.

Participants at the conference also suggest that:

• That disability organisations explore the feasibility, individually or collectively, of pursuing a grievance test case on disability issues.

Implementing the social model of disability as a principle

Social barriers (physical barriers, attitudes of police officers, lack of transport, limited forms of communication, public fear or hatred of disabled people, poor housing etc.) prevent the police from delivering a fair service to disabled people. These barriers directly contribute to the number of crimes against disabled people and their feelings of vulnerability. An understanding of the social barriers confronted every day by disabled people will assist the police in fairly treating disabled people.

The police contribute to the disabling barriers faced by disabled people. An acceptance of the need to remove disabling barriers would make the job of a police officer much easier.

Though many attendees at the conference were naturally preoccupied with the performance of the local Borough Operational Command Units in the MPS, they also had clear views about the strategic direction the MPS should take. Without clear strategic policy guidance at the centre, the changes looked for at the local level would be less likely to occur. At best, the changes would be uneven as each local Unit made it own changes without any central coordination. While the greatest strides to overcome and improve a legacy of disability discrimination have taken place at the Diversity Directorate of the MPS, there is a great deal more that can be done.

It was felt that the way in which the Diversity Directorate was set up emphasised the distinctiveness of each oppressive experience, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and disability. Attendees saw these experiences as similar and as resulting in isolation and discrimination. To address these concerns there should be a review of policies in place that might discriminate against certain groups. This is a direct challenge to the male dominated ‘canteen culture’ that has existed in the past within the MPS.

From this narrative the following actions be undertaken by the MPS:

The adopted principle of the Social model inform all policy and practices and that all existing policies and organizational set up be reviewed within the MPS to ensure they are in conformity with this principle

Review old policies and ensure new policies are DDA compliant, responsible staff must perform in terms of action and implementation of policies.

Learn from the implementation of the Race Relations Amendment Act and build on this to implement the next stage of the DDA

That the MPS develop and disseminate clear strategic policy guidance from the centre to ensure there is consistency across boroughs

That appropriate training be developed on the social model for policy makers and be integrated where appropriate in existing training and development programmes.

Involve disabled trainers in delivery of Disability Equality Training to key local and strategic managers and provide regular Disability Equality Training for all police officers

Disabled people and their organisations have found that Disability Equality Training (DET) devised without their involvement can easily amount to the repeat of ‘disablist’ ideas. Confidence in MPS training programmes can only be guaranteed by the involvement of disabled expert trainers, just as BME experts deliver training on issues concerning ethnic diversity.

The view held by many at the conference was that the training of senior managers ought to reflect their role as key decision makers and leaders in their particular domain. As a result they should be the first to receive DET. This should be specialist training delivered by disabled people who have an expertise in this field. It would send a clear corporate message that disability equality starts at the top.

DET for recruits at Hendon in needed but it should not stop there, DET for all officers is also crucial to ensure that they gain the degree of understanding of the circumstances faced by disabled people. Training should cover compound discrimination that some people face. When a crime has been committed against them or when the police detain a disabled person DET will help to ensure that the officers concerned will be better equipped to ensure fair and non-discriminatory treatment.

This training should be role specific training and based on consultation with disabled people and service providers. There needs to be an awareness of different strategies for different levels of contact. For example, custom designed training needs to be developed to address those functioning at the corporate, strategic or borough levels. Training should be appropriate to role and need.

It was the opinion of many at the Conference that the MPS is a traditional organisation with an old fashioned and, perhaps, condescending view of disabled people. Not only is this view ancient history, it will no be longer acceptable to disabled people. Police training must include a challenge to paternal views many Officers might have about disabled people.

The experience of disabled people with the MPS varies from one Borough command unit to another. There is even a lack of communication between departments within one borough command. This can make the life of an employee much more difficult if they find themselves in a section that has an unsympathetic view of disabled people. As a consequence, training is critical. Disablist views within parts of the MPS in the opinion of attendees of the conference were very strong. Training based upon distance learning where officers train themselves was considered by former officers to be unsatisfactory.

It is therefore recommended that:

• Disability Equality Training (DET) for all staff be delivered by disabled expert trainers
• Senior Managers be the first to received DET
• DET be custom deigned to fit the with roles and responsibilities of the learner
• The feasibility of delivering DET for Met Police Federation Officials be explored
• Ensure that adequate training time is devoted for every officer every year

Ensure organisations of disabled people can tender fairly for police contracts

The MPS is a vast organisation. It relies on outside contractors to provide it with a myriad of services. These range from catering to training. Organisations of disabled people must be included in the tendering process and be given a ‘level playing field’ opportunity to win tenders placed by the MPS. This means the MPS must welcome bids from organisations of disabled people. They must ensure the bidding process is not disabling. Finally, it must acknowledge the level of expertise in certain fields that disabled people possess. The kinds of services that organisations of disabled people might offer were identified at the conference.

These included:

• the delivery of training,
• the provision of access audits,
• expert policy assessment especially with regard to impact assessments,
• advocacy services,
• and finally, transcription services.

The list is not finite, and it is clear that both the MPA and MPS should ensure organisations of disabled people can tender fairly to deliver these and many other services. It is therefore recommended that:

MPS Procurement Services review the organisation’s supplier pool and take proactive steps to market the MPS purchasing needs to disabled peoples organisations and businesses

Procurement services review its purchasing procedures to ensure they are fair and not disabling and take proactive steps to encourage and support the participation of disabled peoples organisations in meeting the purchasing needs of the MPS

Be responsive to disabled people’s reports of crimes and be understanding

Time and time again disabled people expressed deep dissatisfaction with the way they were treated when they reported crimes that made them feel vulnerable and exposed. When they needed a quick response, they got a tardy reaction or no response at all! This demonstrated a clear lack of understanding by the police of the circumstances in which disabled people live. The police have to respond faster and understand the concerns of disabled people.

Disabled people have long been sceptical of the ability of the MPS to provide a sympathetic and reassuring service to disabled people. This has increased anxiety and a sense of insecurity in their own home for many. All this was expressed at the conference. However, the attendees did have practical suggestions for the MPS that would make their daily lives easier.

Children and young people perpetrate a lot of the low level harassment of disabled people. Disabled people at the conference suggested that the MPS work with local schools to reduce the harassment by local children many people with learning difficulties endure. Children should be made aware of the crime of harassment and should be prosecuted if they persist in this behaviour. Police officers should visit schools to explain the rights of disabled people and challenge the children’s’ behaviour. This education should not stop with the children. The parents of children who harass disabled people should also be made aware of their responsibilities for their children’s behaviour and its impact on disabled people.

The other area of great concern regarding the MPS response to crimes against disabled people is the scepticism among local Officers that disabled peoples’ complaints are not serious. Time after time throughout the conference the view was expressed that the Police failed to act appropriately on complaints, humiliated the disabled complainant or failed to respond altogether.

In response to these concerns, many disabled people suggested better training of police officers. They proposed not just general disability awareness training, although this would be welcomed, but also training that reflects the realities faced by disabled people (this is discussed in detail in recommendation 4). They are vulnerable to crime and harassment, they might be vulnerable in the home to abuse from family members or, more likely, carers, they might find communicating with the Police extremely difficult. The MPS are looking at different ways of reporting crimes i.e. text messaging. These are welcomed initiatives and the MPS are encourages to consult with disabled people about progressing this and developing the existing third party reporting structures.

It is therefore recommended that the MPS:

• School liaison officers in every borough work with schools to reduce harassment and hate crime of disabled people.
• Record and analysis all hate crime against disabled people and consult with local disabled peoples organisations in addressing identified trends and issues.
• Create a database to monitor crimes against Disabled people including the outcomes
• Voice recognition systems be made available for visually impaired people
• In consultation with Disabled people, develop the capacity to be able to treat disabled people as responsible adults.
• Consult disabled people about different ways of reporting crime and developing best practice structures such as third party reporting

Establish meaningful relationships with disability organisations at the local level

Every organisation of disabled people spoken to wished to have a closer relationship with its local police service. For these organisations it would mean a better service for their members and, crucially, enable them to influence the local policing policies that affected them. For the MPS a closer relationship would help to remove barriers and influence the kind of local initiatives put in place to assist disabled people locally. It would also help the MPS to better respond to local concerns that cannot be anticipated at the strategic level.

The conference attendees felt that a different kind of relationship should be established at the local level. A formal relationship between the local borough command unit and its neighbourhood disabled people’s organisations should be established. The officers responsible for community relations must make themselves know to all the organisations of disabled people locally and arrange regular meetings. These can be held jointly will all the organisations or individually. At these meetings local policy and community concerns can be discussed.

This would reduce the distance that currently exists between the local police service and organisations of disabled people. Disabled people wish to be consulted about the matters that affect them. Recommendation Seven shows what this consultation should look like.

Each MPS Borough Command Unit establish formal consultative relationships with local disabled peoples organisations

MPA scrutinise and monitor through its committee processes the established formal consultation processes using performance indicators and the MPA link member role

Ensure consultation with representative disabled people is effective and achievable

There is at least one organisation of disabled people in each of the thirty-three boroughs in London. They are all representative organisations with a constitution, an executive committee and a membership. They act on behalf of their membership and are accountable to the same. As disabled people have chosen the representative route it is right that the MPS should respect this and speak to the representatives of organisations of disabled people across London. They should not seek to control the voice of disabled people in London by selecting individuals.

Disabled people, as victims of crime, find the inability of the MPS to consult them extremely frustrating. It should be acknowledged at the strategic level the MPS has established an Independent Advisory Group (IAG) whose members, all disabled people, will advise the MPS Diversity Directorate on policy toward disabled people. However, at the local level, many issues such as low level harassment, theft from organisations of disabled people and parking disputes as examples will not be on the agenda of the IAG. These are issues better dealt with at the local level between Borough Operational Command Units (BOCU) and local organisations of disabled people. Sadly, unlike other local public bodies, the local Borough police have in the main failed to even consult on the most simple of issue. This has dismayed many local organisations of disabled people, but not surprised them. Consulting disabled people has always been seen as a difficult and controversial thing to do. This could not be further from the truth.

The local BOCU take responsibility for and should be monitored on seeking out local organisation of disabled people. Senior local Officers should also meet and endorse such a relationship; this will increase confidence that the consultation is not mere lip service. Consultation is not only listening to people’s concerns, the local BOCU must act upon concerns they agree to address. However, they should not promise what cannot be delivered. It is therefore recommended that:

• In the process of consultation, the MPS recognise they must go to where organisations of disabled people are and be aware of access requirements and the cost of consultation. Appropriate consultation should therefore incorporate:
  • An effective and seamless liaison process in each Borough with measurable results and effective feedback.
  • Awareness that organisations of disabled people are under resourced and over worked. The commitment to consult must come from the MPS.
  • Represent the diverse communities in London. In some boroughs ethnic minorities make up nearly half the population. Disabled people are to be found these communities as well. The same can be said for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender disabled people. The diverse communities cannot be ignored.
  • Members of the deaf community and people with Learning difficulties should be actively included, as they tend not to form part of local organisations of disabled people.

Feedback to the groups as to what has been done about the things agreed at previous meetings.

Make as a priority campaigns against crimes of harassment and burglary against disabled people

Harassment and burglary are the two main crimes disabled people endure, often in silence. A campaign highlighting these kinds of crimes would send two messages. The first message is to disabled people that the MPS are keen to ensure that they can go about their business in safety. The second is to perpetrators of these crimes that the abuse of disabled people is no longer acceptable and will not be tolerated.

The conference agreed that a few simple acts would boost disabled peoples confidence in the MPS and its intention to take crimes against disabled people seriously. It is therefore recommended that the MPS:

In consultation with disabled people develop a campaign to highlight crimes against disabled people, both in terms of the service the MPS offer to victims, and to highlight the seriousness of the crimes to the perpetrators.

Crimes of harassment and burglary against disabled people be placed as a formal local priority

Follow up and inform disabled people who are victims of crime, especially those disabled people who communicate in different ways. Always tell disabled people what is happening, even if there is no progress

Undertake proactive steps in taking seriously disabled people as victims of domestic violence

In consultation with Disabled people develop the capacity to be able to implement policy and procedures for an enhanced level of response for vulnerable people in community.

Treat all disabled people as adults whether or not they are supported by advocates

The demand for understanding of the circumstances in which disabled people live should not result in disabled people being patronised as child-like victims unable to speak for themselves. Instead, all police officers should realise that disabled people are no different to other adults who interact with, contact or make a complaint to the police. As such, they should be accorded the same respect and treated with equal weight.

Being wrongfully arrested or detained is a common experience of people with learning difficulties; therefore an acknowledgement by officers and a remedy sought, would go a long way to help community relations.

Most disabled people will act as responsible adults for their children. The police must accept this and be trained to support such people in those situations

People with learning difficulties at the conference raised these issues. They provided practical advice as to how the police should behave. It is therefore recommended that the MPS:

Ensure training deals with expected action after an officer has wrongfully stopped or arrested a disabled person.

Provide named officers in each police station that disabled people can come to recognise and have confidence in.

Review appropriate adults procedure. Disabled people as appropriate adults have expertise to be utilised.

Improvement to building access to involve the local disabled people’s access committees

Most boroughs in London have access committees run by disabled people. They were established to assist public building owners (Local Authorities, Primary Care Trusts etc.) to get access right. MPS buildings must be made accessible for disabled people and must this work involve the views of disabled people.

According to many who attended the conference, the issue related to a lack of willingness by the MPS to engage with disabled people.

It is recommended that the MPS:

• Undertake a comprehensive access audit of all its police stations and consult existing access committees of disabled people to evaluate building accessibility in compliance with the DDA.
• Provide people who use police buildings with the opportunity to feedback on accessibility
• Ensure suggestions made in the access audits and feedback are acted upon

Invite opinions from organisations of disabled people about the appropriate guidance when arresting disabled people

When disabled people are arrested, those with communication requirements, high support needs or mental health issues, can find their rights are severely undermined or, at worse they could be injured. Disabled people’s involvement in the development of policy can only assist the police in getting it right, and give disabled people greater confidence that the police are committed to the equal treatment of all disabled people when they are arrested.

Attendees at the conference considered the Social Model of Disability particularly appropriate when resolving custody matters. At the heart of the problem are the barriers, physical, institutional and cultural barriers faced by disabled people. Poor communication is one of the biggest barriers faced by disabled people in custody. Also there is a lack of resources to make the required changes. Examples were given of custody experiences for disabled people in police cells. From this emerged the following specific recommendations:

• That the MPS ensure that a disabled person in custody has access to their familiar personal assistant.
• A disabled person in custody has access to their drugs with the appropriate precautions being taken.
• Custody suites be fully accessible
• Officers be trained how to take a disabled person into custody. Physical contact could place the disabled person at considerable risk
• Disabled people with learning difficulties have access to a chosen appropriate advocate
• Custody policy be part of MPS impact assessment scheme
• In collaboration with disabled people, the MPS review the custody policy
• The complaints procedure be accessible to disabled people, and how to access it be made public to organisations of disabled people.

Disabled officers and staff and those who become disabled people whilst employed by the MPS, must enjoy fair and equal treatment and job security

What disabled officers and police staff want is a guarantee of meaningful and constructive employment. This means no ‘blanket bans’ on access to certain responsibilities and a clear career path options for disabled people in the MPS. Even at the recruitment stage, discrimination can begin. It was suggested that the typical recruitment panel’s knowledge on disability is weak. Confidence in the process would be boosted if a disabled person were part of a recruitment review.

The most significant barriers to continued employment for both uniformed and police staff were prejudice and structural, especially outdated rules and regulations. Deaf employees who found a lack of opportunities for advancement in the MPS very frustrating made this apparent. They had clear suggestions as to how the MPS could improve the experience of disabled people.

Police still have the perspective from the 1800s that a police officer will do lots of different things over the course of a career rather than recruiting people to the police for special expertise. It is about time this was changed.

The participants at the conference made it quite clear that the MPS and the Police Federation have a great deal to learn about disabled people they employ and represent. What became clear at the end of the conference is that the principal barrier disabled people face is prejudice. The primary recommendation is simply to tackle this first.

Disabled people be part of recruitment reviews.

Recruitment barrier review panels be configured to ensure disabled people are involved in the decision making process of progression and career structures for staff.

Review career paths and development opportunities for the disabled staff to create meaningful promotion opportunities

Participants at the conference also suggested that the MPS look to recruit people for special expertise, as apposed to the traditional view that a police officer will do lots of different things over the course of a career. It was noted that Disabled people should be recognised in terms of skills and knowledge to the MPS and the positive role individuals can play.

4 Conclusions: What disabled Londoners want from their Police Service

Disabled people feel strongly that they should be free from fear of harassment on the streets. They should not be abused in their own home or in fear of repeat burglaries. Disabled people feel that they are entitled to go about their business without fear of physical assault. Disabled people resent being subject to suspicion and even arrest by the police simply because of their impairment. What the vast majority of disabled people wanted is a police service in London that understands their circumstances, listens to their requests and responds in good time.

Here is what disabled people want from their police service in London:

• Understanding of the social circumstances faced by most disabled people.
• To be more accessible to all disabled people
• Awareness that disabled people, while vulnerable, are also adult and responsible.
• Crimes against disabled people accorded a very high priority.
• Better-trained police officers who are well grounded in the Social Model of Disability.
• Disabled police officers and staff have the same employment rights and promotion prospects as fellow non-disabled colleagues.
• Complaints are acted upon swiftly.
• Greater contact with organisations of disabled people at a local level.
• Respond quickly to those who advocate for disabled people.
• An end to the refusal to follow a report of a crime by a disabled person.
• Equality of treatment of organisations of disabled people in the more disadvantaged areas of London as those enjoyed by organisations in wealthier regions.
• Establish sustainable relationships with organisations of disabled people.
• In recognition that organisations of disabled people are generally poorly resourced and over worked for the police to take the initiative and arrange consultation and contact in ways organisations find acceptable.
• Disabled parking space disputes are the result of a discriminatory transport system. The police must understand the importance of the ability to park for blue badge owners.
• Organisations of disabled people be provided the opportunity to be able to bid for contracts particularly for those services the police purchase that effect disabled people.
• Disabled people should be involved in the training of police officers.

If these principles were adopted and translated into action the relationship between the police and disabled people would be transformed. Implementation would go a long way towards removing the social barriers that prevent the MPS from delivering a fair and equal service to disabled people.

From the above it can be said that the MPS in London has failed to provide disabled Londoners with a good service. The MPS is failing a huge number of people in London for the simple reason that they are disabled people. The lack of confidence in reporting crimes, the fears that hate crimes will never be taken seriously, or its impact upon disabled people pervades this report. Disabled people just do not feel they are treated equally by London’s police service. This is a sentiment that must be taken very seriously by those responsible for policing in London.

This report is much more than a reflection of experiences faced by disabled people with regard to policing in London. It provides clear directions by which the MPA and MPS can provide a fair service to the requirements of the London’s disabled people. This is the ‘Disability Agenda’ and is outlined in twelve clear requirements.

While the agenda is addressed to the strategic level it is at the local level where radical change is most needed. For disabled people, the vast majority of their contact will be at the local ‘Bobby on the beat’ level. The kind of service these officers deliver has a profound affect on disabled people’s confidence in the MPS as a whole.

It is no longer acceptable to point to strategic good intentions. An Independent Advisory Group (IAG) to advise the police at the strategic level is a move in the right direction. Yet it is only a small move. In itself an IAG will do nothing to address what disabled people are really concerned about.

Disabled Londoners want an efficient police force. The ‘Disability Agenda’ points out where the police need to go. If the police choose to ignore these signposts they will continue to fail disabled people in London. This will no longer be tolerated by disabled people and their organisations.

Ossie Stuart
Greater London Action on Disability
October 2004

GLAD is a pan London organisation of disabled people that has been in existence since 1952. Our member groups include borough based organisations of disabled people, groups of Black and Minority Ethnic and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender disabled people, women’s groups, mental health system user/survivor groups and organisations of people with learning difficulties, as well as access groups and impairment specific groups. GLAD also has individual members.

The Metropolitan Police Authority exists to ensure that London’s police are accountable for the service they provide to people in the capital.

The Authority’s job is to; secure continuous improvement in the way policing is provided in London, increase community confidence and trust in London’s police, consult with London’s communities to find out what they expect from the police and oversee management of the police budget

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