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. ∎

Following the end of tenure of DPA President Tracy Betts, we are pleased to announce that Inspector Andrea Shoetan from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has been appointed as Interim President of the Disabled Police Association.

Andrea comments: “I am honoured to have been elected as interim President of the Disabled Police Association. I hope to honour the hard work and commitment of all previous Presidents as I take the baton.

“I will be working with Tracy Betts, the current President, during this transition to learn as much as I can from her. I want to personally thank Tracy for her inspirational leadership of the DPA for the past two years. Tracy leaves a legacy of essential workstreams she initiated to benefit policing. I will ensure I do this work justice.

“The DPA Committee are euthanistic and driven. I look forward to working together with them to continue to raise the national profile of disability within policing. Supporting our staff and providing adjustments to remove potential barriers benefits everyone: it is a ‘must have’ – not a ‘nice to have’ – it helps with recruitment, retention, and service delivery to the public.

“I am excited about the journey ahead and what we will achieve together.

“Thank you in advance for your support.”

Andrea will remain in post until the 2025 Annual General Meeting, at which time elections will take place for the role of President and positions on the DPA Executive and Committee. ∎

Following the announcement of the first ever national police hearing survey, the Disabled Police Association has released the results as part of 2024 Disability History Month.

The survey, conceived and conducted by DPA members Kathie Buffery (Greater Manchester Police) and Andrea Shoetan (Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary), shows that there is likely to be an increased risk of hearing loss within operational policing, and recommends regular hearing tests for all frontline roles.

The survey results are available to download as PDFs: a single-page summary with recommendations (also available on the graphic – click to view full size), and the longer detailed results summary.

The authors look forward to updating on the progress of achieving their recommendations. Contact details can be found on the documents. ∎