Mencap asks police to Stand by me and end hate crime

Watford Mencap today asks the public to stand by people with a learning disability and put an end to disability hate crime. The Stand by me campaign calls for police to do more to tackle hate crime and forms the focus of Learning Disability Week which will take place from 20 June.

 People with a learning disability regularly experience a failure to respond to hate crime incidents by police, local authorities and other statutory agencies. However, when Sarah Maling and Veronica Chamberlain from Watford Mencap met with local hate crime officers, PC Nobby Jutla and PC Richard Staff, they expressed full support for the campaign.

 People with a learning disability have the right to justice, to feel safe and to live free from fear, yet they are being denied this by things that could be so easily changed.

 Sarah Maling from Watford Mencap said,

“When hate crime takes hold, with serious and even tragic consequences, it stops people living ordinary lives. It shuts people out from communities. We have to stand by people with a learning disability and together ensure that nobody has to go on living in fear.”

 Watford Mencap will be hosting a range of events during the week to raise awareness of the campaign. Look out for them at The Harlequin on Monday 20th and outside their head office, 105 High Street, Rickmansworth.

 The public can show their support for the Stand by me campaign by signing up at www.mencap.org.uk/standbyme from Monday. Mencap’s Learning Disability Week in 2011 runs from 20-26 June.

Posted on Thursday, 16th June 2011