Are the disabled being left to suffer violence, harassment and abuse because police officers, either by default or design, are failing to take disability hate crime seriously?

After surveying 14 police forces in England, with the help of a group of people with learning disabilities, the national learning disability charity Mencap concluded that more needs to be done.

The report, Don’t Stand By, released today, shows a general lack of police understanding of disability hate crime or a strategy to tackle it, and cites the deaths of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Francceca Hardwick in 2007 and David Askew in 2010 as examples.

Closer to home, last November, 67-year-old disabled Bradford man John Wills had his mobility scooter wrecked by vandals.

Mr Wills, who suffers from spinal meningitis, was living in another location in Idle while his Incommunities flat was being refurbished.

He said at the time: “They’ve cut all the wires and pulled off the steering column. It wouldn’t have been adults who did it, it’ll be youths and they must have known exactly what they were doing, which really disgusts me.”

Lee Wood, of Bradford People First, says this was an example of hate crime. His colleague, Karen Amos, described other forms of harassment endured, especially by those with learning disabilities.

“Our members go out of the door and kids call them names, throw things at their house. People will bang on their door and run away. Small things, but they make a big impact on people’s lives,” she adds.

What concerns Mencap particularly is the low-level priority given to disability hate crime by the 14 police forces looked at. The group who helped them with the survey reported that officers were “often rude and dismissive of their accounts of hate crime”.

The report states: “The police services who contributed to the research confirmed that actual levels of disability hate crime were much higher than reported and their statistics were almost meaningless.

“Many police services have also admitted that competing demands on their resources have meant that hate crime against people with a disability often gets overlooked. As one participant commented: ‘Disability hate crime is often the poor relative of racist hate crime’.”

West Yorkshire Police, which were not surveyed by Mencap, take disability hate crime “extremely seriously”, says Bradford District Community Safety Officer, Chief Inspector Marianne Huison.

“Over the last year alone, every front-line officer, from helpdesk staff to Neighbourhood Policing Officers, has received disability hate crime training, and we are currently embarking on a larger programme for all staff across the force.

“Further to our own internal training, we have worked with other agencies in Bradford, including self-advocacy group People First and Bradford Council scrutiny committees, as well as all elected members in the area.

“Our Hate Crime Scrutiny Panels also involve members of the local community who themselves have particular disabilities. These regular meetings help the police to independently assess how we respond to incidents and how we investigate.”

The People First organisations in Bradford and Keighley, watchdogs for people with learning disabilities, are both hate crime reporting centres. Staff are trained to deal with complaints of hate crime and pass them on to the police.

Karen Amos confirmed the Bradford organisation had taken part in training programmes involving Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police.

“People with learning disabilities have gone to train police officers. That’s been going on for at least 12 months. It was at their request we did it, in conjunction with Bradford Council. I think we can say that police are aware of it.

“Our experience is that hate crime is under-reported. People with learning disabilities who experience it on a daily basis put up with it. There have been occasions when the police have said, ‘it’s just kids being bored’.

“Historically, people with disabilities are seen to be less than human, as though they don’t have the same thoughts and feelings. A lot of the work we do is about educating people that we are the same as everyone else,” she adds.

To mark Learning Disability Week, which runs until Friday, Mencap today launches a three-year campaign against disability hate crime. People First have offices in Bradford (01274 744151) and Keighley (01535 607222).