DPA appoints Interim President

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.

From left to right: Assistant Chief Officer Andrew Price, NPCC Disability lead; Andrea Shoetan, Interim President; Tracy Betts, current President; Derbyshire Constabulary Chief Constable Rachel Swann, NPCC DEI Lead

“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. ∎

International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2024

The Disabled Police Association is proud to recognise International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which this year falls on Tuesday 3rd December.

As part of our 12 Point Action Plan, we celebrate where we have got it right by publicly championing supervisors and managers who show a real commitment to diversity and inclusion, and how this enhances job satisfaction and improves service delivery.

This extends to championing police forces, and we therefore ask colleagues across the UK and internationally to share one thing they are proud of surrounding diversity and disability.

To start the celebrations, we are sharing with you the highlights video of our recent Disability in Policing national conference in September.

We were so proud to see representation from every police force in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, in person and online. A first for the DPA!

We would like to ask you to please share this video to inspire others to champion diversity and disability. ∎

DPA publishes results of National Police Hearing Survey 2024

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. ∎