Plymouth police learn Makaton in new pilot project

Police and frontline staff in Plymouth have teamed up with a local charity to help them support people with communication difficulties in the local community.

Members of the Speech and Language Therapy Department at the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust in Ivybridge are teaching Makaton to 25 police and front line staff as part of the pilot scheme.

The Dame Hannah Rogers Trust, or 'Hannahs' as they are now known, supports children, young people and adults with a range of disabilities. Makaton is a language programme which uses signing and symbols to support spoken language and help people to communicate. It is widely used with many of the young people who attend Hannah’s.

The training scheme was proposed by acting Sergeant Dave Brown who, in his own time, has contributed to several college sessions at Hannahs over the past 18 months about the work of the police. During his time there, he was able to talk with both the staff and young people to help build positive attitudes towards the police. This eventually led to discussions around equipping officers with skills, such as Makaton, in order to help support people who have been previously been difficult to engage with due to their communication difficulties.

Superintendent Chris Singer said: “We know the reporting of disability hate crime is disproportionately low compared to other forms of hate crime and that as a service we need to increase engagement with people with learning and communication disabilities.”
Initially two taster sessions were held to offer a basic introduction to Makaton.  There was a significant interest at that time which led on to funding being sought for further training as a clear need had been identified.

Sergeant Dave Brown said: “Being able to communicate is one of the most important skills in life.  Almost everything we do involves communication and so for those who’ve experienced the frustration of being unable to communicate meaningfully, Makaton really can help.

“If police officers and staff can have an understanding of Makaton, even in a limited way, it really can help us to engage with certain groups of people that would normally be difficult to communicate with.”

After a business case was made, funding was obtained to initially train 25 staff. Results will then be reviewed to explore whether this scheme can be rolled out to more officers in the city.

Sergeant Brown said: “The first group went through last Thursday and Friday and I must say it was even more positive than I could have hoped for. The sessions went well and the attending participants were really passionate about the training and transferring their skills into the work place.

“On the second training day engagement with service users is introduced to let officers apply their newly acquired skills and also to increase their awareness in how they communicate with someone with complex needs, such as looking and talking at the person and not their carer or the type of equipment they use.”

The training is held outside the usual police environment at Hannah’s in Ivybridge.

Baukje Gregory and Caroline Hodgson, the regional Makaton tutors who ran the course said: “It has been a privilege to work with Dave and the police on this initiative. Those who have attended have been very positive about increasing their awareness of how to communicate more effectively with people with learning disabilities.  They are already looking at ways that this could help in the situations that they encounter. We hope the skills that they have learnt on this training can be added to those they already have and that this, together with the many resources that have already been put together by other organisations, can assist them in their workplace.”

Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, Tony Hogg said: “I made it very clear in my Police and Crime Plan that we need to work to better understand and respond to crimes motivated by prejudice against someone’s beliefs or circumstances, such as hate and mate crime, particularly with those who have difficulty in communicating.

“It is of paramount importance that all members of the community feel confident to report crimes or incidents to the police so I applaud the work involved in this project which means police officers can work closely with specific community groups to improve reporting figures and to ensure that all incidents, from the low-level to the more serious crimes are dealt with effectively and quickly.”