Disability Hate Crime refers to crimes targeted at anybody as a result of his or her disability or impairment, as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and can take many forms, including ate crime can take many forms including: physical attacks, threats of attack or verbal abuse, insults or harassment.

The association of Chief Police Officers ‘True Vision’ website  exists to set out what hate crimes or hate incidents are, and has information and advice on how to report them.

The joint review of disability hate crime published earlier this year suggested that disability hate crime was “overlooked” and “under-reported.”  The review found that more than 1,700 disability hate crimes had been recorded by police in England and Wales in 2011-12

Reporting hate crime can be a difficult thing to do, and people with learning disabilities have been found to be unclear when to call 999 and when to call the 101 police contact number. To respond to this, and in partnership with last week’s Learning Disability Week, Hampshire Police produced an easy read poster to explain when to use the 101 number and when to call 999.

Chief Constable Andy Marsh said:  “I hope that this poster… will encourage people to come forward to report problems they’re experiencing, demonstrate that the police are here to help and that we can make a difference.”

The poster is available to download and print

You can also download an Easy read booklet about disability hate crime