The Disabled Police Association held its fifth Annual Conference over the 29th and 30th 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. ∎