'ability not disability'

Article in The Guardian by Laurence Pollock on 19th April 2006
Policing, historically, has been a macho world where weakness is concealed. Disability was an even bigger no-go area. Recently, however, Leicestershire deputy chief constable David Lindley decided to go there.

Policing, historically, has been a macho world where weakness is concealed. Disability was an even bigger no-go area. Recently, however, Leicestershire deputy chief constable David Lindley decided to go there.
His force hosted a meeting of the National Disabled Police Association (NDPA). While making a presentation, Lindley announced he was "coming out". After a moment's hesitation among the delegates, he disclosed a longstanding hearing problem that he had recently remedied with a hearing aid.

The NDPA itself is a sign of the times. It was set up in 2004 to monitor how the Disability Discrimination Act is applied to police officers. Lindley's actions will boost its credibility and help counter stigma. "I was conscious that I should give a little leadership to the meeting," says Lindley. "Earlier, another member of the police service had approached me over lunch because he saw I had a hearing aid. He wanted to talk about his own difficulties with hearing."

Lindley traces his impairment back to chronic sinus problems as a child and maybe a spell as a firearms officer. But his hearing worsened in recent years and he moved from problems with background noise to a simple inability to fully register what someone was saying in his own office. "It was getting embarrassing. You get the looks when you reply to someone with a complete non-sequitur. I apologised for shouting, though colleagues assured me I wasn't."

It was operational work, however, not business meetings, that brought matters to a head. One New Year's Eve he was out on the streets with beat officers. "We walked past a group of lads who would normally be a handful and they said something. I couldn't hear it. That was the point I was feeling vulnerable and it held me back from going out on the streets." He subsequently went for tests.

These experiences have made Lindley think long about the issue - he is unconvinced by simple legal obligations to accommodate disability: "It's about creating a climate and a culture. My decision to come out was so timely and I do think it was an opportunity."

He believes the default position for police officers and staff should be an assumption that they can do their jobs until disability is profound. "How can we ameliorate and correct these problems?"

Category: General     Posted: Apr 20, 2006