Police Don’t Take Disability Hate Crime Seriously Enough

I’ll admit that, since I have a physical disability, I don’t usually blog about learning difficulties or disabilities. However, I feel that this issue can, and does, apply to people with both types of disability, so I’m going to cover it.

On Sunday, the Guardian learned that many disabled victims of crime are being failed by the system.

The article highlights the case of a teenager with learning difficulties who has been a victim of crime. The police were blamed for not taking the victim’s claims seriously enough, and were forced to apologise.

Last month Gareth Williamson, 19, became the latest victim of crime to receive damages after the police accepted they were guilty of “serious failures” in their investigation of a repeat robbery of the teenager.

Williamson received £70,000 including legal costs from Northamptonshire police after they did not adequately investigate the reported crime, despite the fact that it was caught on CCTV and confirmed by several witnesses.

His mother, Alison Williamson, said: “As soon as it was mentioned to the police that Gareth had special needs, it became obvious not much was going to be done. It’s unbelievable the way he was treated – we all felt totally failed.”

Williamson, who was robbed twice within two months, said he was deeply affected by the failure to investigate his attack. “I was not believed because I had learning difficulties and as a result the people who attacked me have still not been brought to justice,” he said.

Chief Constable Peter Maddison admitted, in a letter sent on his behalf, that the police made “basic errors” in investigating the complaint and provided an “unacceptable” level of service.

Tony Murphy, a partner at Bhatt Murphy solicitors who represented Williamson, said: “It should not have required litigation for the police to honour its duties to people with disabilities in Northamptonshire. Sadly, I am dealing with these kinds of cases nationwide.”

Although, unfortunately, few of us need any proof of the amount of racism that exists within our police force, other forms of prejudice, including disablism, are another matter. Gareth Williamson’s case makes me wonder, being brought to public attention, as it has been, so soon after discussions of police behaviour during the G20 protests, whether the police are the real lawbreakers in England. They certainly don’t seem to have any trouble breaking the Disability Discrimination Act! If they are our real lawbreakers, is there a point in us having a police force at all?

To those readers of this post who are disabled, or the parents or carers of a disabled person, please share any experiences you may have of how the police handle disability hate crime in the comments below.