Critical friends

As Disability Now, Scope and the United Kingdom’s Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) prepare to publish a major report on disability hate crime, Ruth Bashall and Anne Novis, co-chairs of the Metropolitan Police’s disability independent advisory group (DIAG), describe how their work is slowly helping the force improve its attitude to hate crime

DIAG is a diverse group of deaf and disabled people. Our role is to be a “critical friend” for the police: we advise when asked and relay concerns on issues such as communication with deaf people, disability hate crime, stop and search, domestic violence and how disabled people are treated by the police in emergencies and by custody officers.

We all share a passionate commitment to promoting the right to live free from violence and abuse with fair treatment from the police.

The Met has a big impact on disabled people. It is also a very bureaucratic organisation.

Changing its practices takes time and determination. We have faced considerable barriers: some have made us want to throw in the towel. And we still face a medical/special needs approach from many sections of the Met, in spite of its commitment to the social model.

But with the support of committed police people, things are changing, particularly in the case of disability hate crime.

Several of us had experienced hate crime but few had reported it. Disability hate crime was not recog­nised by the Met: if recorded, it was hidden in “abuse of vulnerable adults” statistics.

Then, six years ago, the UK’s first disability hate crime “third party reporting site” and advocacy service was set up by Greenwich Association of Disabled People, which Anne then chaired.

When Albert Adams, a local disabled man, was murdered in 2005, Anne informed Greenwich police that disabled people thought it was a hate crime. The police disagreed but after DIAG pressure, the murder was at least recorded as a domestic violence murder.

DIAG has worked with some dedicated officers in the Met’s violent crime directorate to ensure that disability hate crime is recognised, recorded, and dealt with seriously. A new recording system will start this autumn and we think it will better show the extent of disability hate crime across London.

Some DIAG members are working to make sure local police understand disability hate crime and deal better with victims. We would like to see deaf and disabled people’s groups also working with their local police on this, and police officers given disability equality training, including on hate crime and domestic violence.

Over the past year, after the murders of several disabled people across the UK, there has been increased awareness that disability hate crime is a real issue. We are now part of a growing online disability hate crime network.

DIAG has also assisted in writing the disability hate crime report, which will be launched soon. We hope this leads to some responsive and positive action from the UK’s criminal justice systems.