The Disabled Police Association held its fifth Annual Conference over the 29^th and 30^th September at the Radisson Blu Hotel, East Midlands Airport.

This year’s conference focused on maximising abilities and retaining skills and experience of disabled officers and staff, with the first day opened by DPA President Andrea Shoetan and Derbyshire Constabulary Assistant Chief Officer and NPCC Lead for Disability Andrew Price. The programme included presentations and breakout sessions on a variety of topics including the first DPA survey of disabled staff, workplace adjustments, and disability-related employment disputes. The highlight of the conference was the annual DPA Awards Ceremony on the evening of the first day, in which members from across the UK were recognised for their work as leaders and role models.

The second day of the conference featured moving accounts of lived experience from colleagues affected by chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, HIV and PTSD.

This year’s event followed the launch of the DPA Pledge, which – at the time of the conference – had been signed by 17 of the 48 police forces covering the UK.

Andrea Shoetan commented: “Thank you to all that attended this years Disability in Policing Conference. We hope it showed that looking after your people isn’t just the right thing to do, it also saves your Force money by reducing the number of grievances and employment tribunals when we get it right.

“We look forward to the DPA Pledge providing guidance to police forces in the year ahead, and to meeting more of you next year.”

The DPA would like to thank the NPCC as joint hosts, primary sponsors Axon UK and MindView, conference organiser CJS Event Solutions, and all those who gave up their time to attend and speak at the event. ∎

The DPA is pleased to announce that the 2025 Disability in Policing Conference will take place from 29^th-30^th September at the Radisson Blu Hotel, East Midlands Airport

Our theme this year is: ‘How to maximise the diverse abilities of your police workforce, retaining their skills and experience’.

The conference will help and inspire you to:

• Invest in equality, diversity and inclusion posts
• Save money, as investment reduces number of employment tribunals, estimated cost £100,000 each
• Improve public confidence because we are getting it right for staff
• Increase reporting of disability hate crime
• Acknowledge the disability pay gap for recruitment and retention

The conference will be live streamed to allow wider access.

The annual Disability in Policing Awards will take place on the evening of 29^th September. Nominations for these will open soon, so please start to think about your amazing colleagues and friends who you could nominate for the following categories:

• Coaching and Mentoring Diverse Abilities
• Service to Disabled Communities
• Inspiration to Others
• Leading with Diverse Abilities
• Lifetime Achievement Award
• Officer with Diverse Abilities
• Staff Member with Diverse Abilities
• Volunteer with Diverse Abilities
• Disability Advocate of the Year (whether disabled or not)

The conference is Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accredited with ten CPD points.

For more information, visit the conference website. There are limited spaces available, so register now to secure your place.

If you have any questions regarding the conference, please contact CJS Event Solutions on register@cjsevents.co.uk or 0333 222 4061. ∎

25^th June 2025 marks the launch of the Disabled Police Association’s strategic vision for the coming years.

The new Strategy, which replaces the DPA’s previous Action Plan, sets out how as a national staff support association we will champion fairness and equality for disabled officers and staff across the UK police service.

DPA President Andrea Shoetan said: “This is an exciting week for the DPA as we push to get disability into the national agenda for all police forces by creating our own Pledge. We are asking all Chief Constables, Commissioners, Police Crimes Commissioners and Mayors to sign this to pledge their commitment to our key aims held within the DPA Force requirements.”

During the remainder of 2025, the DPA will strive to get all police forces signed up to the DPA Pledge.

Our strategy includes:

• Our Vision
• Our Mission
• Our Membership
• Short and long-term goals and objectives

Click on the link to view the Strategy webpage. ∎