Disability hate crime training found to boost police confidence and understanding

Designed by not-for-profit support provider Dimensions, the training aims to help police services navigate communication with people with learning disabilities and autistic people – helping ensure victims of disability hate crime receive the justice and support they deserve.

The training remains more crucial than ever, as research conducted by Dimensions in 2023 found that 6% of UK adults admit to having physically hurt someone because of their learning disability or autism – equivalent to 3.6 million people. However, disability hate crime remains underreported and in 2023, the number of prosecutions of disability hate crime offences continued to slump, despite both the Crown Prosecution Service and police chiefs admitting that their performance was not good enough.

To address these issues, Dimensions has worked with NTU to develop a face-to face training package, which can be delivered by university lecturers alongside local self-advocates with lived experience of a learning disability, and incorporates real-life anecdotes from hate crime victims.

Aiming to introduce the training across other universities, Associate Professor Irene Zempi and Professor Loretta Trickett with the support of Martin Tangen, course leader for MSc International Law Enforcement at NTU, and NTU research assistant, Ragin Maria John, evaluated the impact of its trial. They revealed the training’s success amongst participants, particularly in raising awareness, fostering empathy and providing practical strategies to better support disabled individuals and address disability hate crimes.

The evaluation report finds that whilst most police services do currently provide hate crime training, a dedicated section to raise awareness and knowledge about disability hate crimes is necessary so that officers can better equip themselves to help a disabled person.

Dr Mark Brookes MBE, advocacy lead at Dimensions, said: “This is a very personal topic for me because I have also been a victim. It is vital that training of police officers be mandatory and completed face-to-face with people who have lived experience. This kind of training doesn’t just provide knowledge, it fosters empathy and creates a safe environment for dialogue. We must ensure officers understand the challenges people with learning disabilities and autistic people face, and they are equipped to make adjustments that can mean the difference between a victim feeling heard or sidelined. Everyone deserves to feel safe, and it’s critical the police are seen as allies in that.”

Sarah Walters, campaigns manager at Dimensions, said: “NTU’s evaluation reinforces how vital this training is in equipping the police to tackle disability hate crimes effectively. Low reporting rates are in part due to victims feeling like the police won’t understand them. We need to change that narrative by educating the next generation of officers and paving the way for a more inclusive and supportive environment. Our vision is to expand this training across universities and police services nationwide, and beyond policing, we see huge potential for its application in healthcare, emergency services, and other frontline roles where understanding these issues is vital."

Associate Professor Irene Zempi, NTU School of Social Sciences, and Professor Loretta Trickett, Nottingham Law School, stated:“Disability hate crime remains a hugely under-reported crime and official statistics are likely to reflect the tip of the iceberg. Disability hate crime remains a significant area for concern in terms of under-reporting because of issues around accessibility of reporting, mate crime, victims’ lack of confidence, lack of awareness, and previous negative experiences of reporting to criminal justice agencies. This collaboration with Dimensions is timely and sheds light on the importance of disability hate crime training being informed by lived experiences.”

Martin Tangen, senior lecturer at NTU's School of Social Sciences, stated: "Hidden disability and neurodiversity are critical conditions that affect and impact upon modern policing. The work we have done with Dimensions in order to raise our future police officers’ awareness of these issues is crucial to those officers providing a better service to victims, witnesses and suspects who may have such a condition. By raising their awareness and giving them information about these conditions, those future officers will have a greater understanding and be able to provide a better and more considerate service to the public."

Dimensions developed the disability hate crime training session as part of its #ImWithSam campaign, which has been running since 2013. The partnership with NTU follows successful training with Avon and Somerset Police and Dimensions making its learning disability and autism hate crime e-learning available online and free for all police colleagues to take.

A virtual event is taking place to celebrate the launch of the Dimensions Disability Hate Crime training package and NTU evaluation report on Friday 11 October 2024, 11am-12pm. Please find more information and sign up here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/ntuhatecrimeresearchgroup/1412712