1,000 Surrey police officers trained to tackle learning disability and autism hate crime

More than 1,000 police officers in Surrey have completed training to reduce the prevalent under-reporting of learning disability hate crime. Since completion, there has been an increase in officers’ confidence in taking reports and a month on month increase in hate crime reporting in Surrey.

The training was developed by Dimensions as part of our #ImWithSam campaign to tackle disability hate crime. Dimensions’ research revealed that whilst a staggering 73% of people with learning disabilities and autism have experienced hate crime, less than half (48%) had reported it to police.

The process of reporting a hate crime can be stressful, and people with learning disabilities and autism say they feel anxious about talking to the police, and don’t feel like they are taken seriously. As a result, large numbers of crimes go unreported. ONS figures show that whilst there are 70,000 disability hate crimes happening every year, in 2016/2017 recorded figures stood at just 5,558.

People with learning disabilities and autism are four times more likely to experience disability hate crime than those with ‘visible’ disabilities such as those impacting stamina, mobility or vision. This ‘invisibility’ permeates into their experience of reporting hate crime, as often officers haven’t had training to recognise if someone might have a learning disability or autism.

Lack of mandatory training

Nearly half of frontline police officers (46%) told Dimensions they had never received learning disability and autism awareness training. This training gap impacts not only the confidence of people who’ve experienced a hate crime to come forward, but also the confidence of officers in taking their report.

98% of people with learning disabilities and autism have called for improved training for police officers. In response, Dimensions worked with Surrey Police to improve confidence and skills of their APT officers, who are often the first point of contact for victims of hate crime.

#ImWithSam training programme

Over the course of seven months, Dimensions trained over 1,000 officers to better support victims of learning disability and autism hate crime.

The face-to-face sessions were interactive and co-led by a person with a learning disability who had experienced hate crime, to share their first-hand experience with officers.

The training examined the origins of stigma and prejudice against people with learning disabilities and autism, and focused on improving officer confidence in recognising if someone has a learning disability or autism, supporting and taking a crime report, and knowing when to apply a hate crime flag on a crime report.

Ben Shiell, Contact Performance Manager at Surrey Police headquarters in Guildford, said:

“Dimensions’ training really hit the nail on the head. Hearing from someone who has experienced disability hate crime in the past but didn’t feel able to report it has made a huge impact on me. As a member of the police, hearing this from someone we’re here to protect and support was hard – and really brought home the fact that under-reporting is a pressing issue that we need to urgently address.

“Everyone in the police force should have an opportunity to go through the training. We all need to be much more aware of the particular challenges that people with learning disabilities and autism might face when reporting a hate crime. Dimensions’ training brought to light small changes that can make all the difference for someone who has been a victim of disability hate crime: from ensuring we speak in the right tone of voice and ask the right questions, to providing additional support after the report has been taken.”

Impact of training

The results of the training have been overwhelmingly positive, with a 22% increase in officer confidence in recognising whether someone might have a learning disability or autism. Over 90% of officers now feel confident taking a report from someone with a learning disability or autism.

Crucially, there has been a month on month increase in the number of recorded disability hate crimes in Surrey – and a higher average number of recorded disability hate crimes compared to 2017.

In response to the outcomes of the training, Dimensions is calling for the National Police Chiefs Council to make learning disability and autism hate crime training mandatory, and for all UK police forces to deliver classroom-based training on learning disabilities and autism hate crime to all staff.

Mark Brookes, Dimensions’ Campaigns Advisor who has a learning disability and co-led the training, said:

“The main problem with disability hate crime is awareness – too many people still don’t really understand what hate crime is and what to do about it. The same goes for police officers – so it’s positive to see that when they’ve got the right training, they feel more confident in supporting people with learning disabilities and autism.

“No one should have to suffer in silence and we hope that people in Surrey will feel more confident in reporting these crimes to police. We would like to see the training adopted by other constabularies across the country – so that we can put an end to learning disabilities and autism hate crime.”

About #ImWithSam

Through #ImWithSam, Dimensions has worked with police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the education sector and others to raise awareness of hate crime and to tackle low reporting.

Dimensions has called for changes in legislation to tackle learning disability and autism hate crime both on and offline. The current framework is not fit for purpose due to unique trends in disability motivated hate not being easily accommodated within legislation and policing.