The Police and Crime Commissioner Elections

Who will you vote for?

 

 

Malak says:

Have you heard about the Police and Crime Commissioner  elections?

                                                             

        

 

KA Maracas:

What is it about?   

 

          

                          

 Ace says:

Police and Crime Commissioners are people who can be voted in to manage and check how the Police do their jobs.

 

 

Annabel:

The elections will happen on 15 November in 41 areas across England and Wales (but not London) Each area will have one Police and Crime Commissioner.

 

 Why is it important and why should we bother to vote?

 

 

 

It’s important because each person who might be elected has different ideas about things.

 

 

 

So it is important to choose the person who supports equal rights, disability rights, women’s issues and knows about disability hate crime.

 

 

So it’s important to vote because your vote will make a difference. To find out more about the people in your area you can vote for, go to this website:

www.choosemypcc.org.uk

or you can telephone  0800 1070708  for more information.

Police & Crime Commissioner Elections to be held on Thursday 15th November

In Memory of Fiona Pilkington and Frankie Hardwick

 

Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Frankie Hardwick

On the 23rd October 2012 it was a sad day because five years ago on that date mother and daughter, Fiona Pilkington and Frankie Hardwick, killed themselves.

 

 

They killed themselves because they were fed up with the years of bullying they went through. No one helped them, not even the police. They tried to get help, they phoned the police 30 times but they didn’t listen.

 

 

If the police had helped them and stopped the bullies they would be alive now and maybe they might read our blog!

 

 

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a group whose job it is to make Britain more equal and to speak up for disabled people. Last year they did a report called ‘Hidden in Plain Sight ‘about disability hate crime. On the 23rd October they put a new report called ‘Out in the Open’. This one is all about what should be done about disability hate crime and you can see it on their website:

EHRC – Inquiry into disability-related harassment

 

 

I think we should make October 23rd a special day to remember the Pilkingtons and other victims of disability hate crime. It could also be a day when we get disabled people to speak up about bullying and for professionals to learn more about how they can do a better job of helping. Look at the report for more ideas about what professionals and groups can do to improve things.

 

 

Disability Hate Crime – Stop It!

 

 

 

The A-TEAM

 

 

 

Report it to sort it!

Are racism and abuse acceptable in football?

Chelsea captain John Terry (right) is accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand (centre) during an October 2011 match at Loftus Road

 

Footballer John Terry has been in court accused of racially abusing fellow footballer Anton Ferdinand. Ferdinand had complained that Terry had called him “a black c…”

 

Some people said that it was usual during football that there was swearing. But the judge cleared Terry of the charges because he said there wasn’t enough evidence that he had been racist.

Anton Ferdinand gives evidence against John Terry in court

 

I think Terry should have been charged and struck off the team for saying racist things! I think racism in football should be taken very seriously and dealt with so that players don’t have to put up with it. Any kind of racism, swearing, or verbal abuse shouldn’t be allowed.

 

It shouldn’t matter if players are black or white – everybody should be treated equally. Even though Terry was let off the serious charges he has been stopped from being the England captain.  

Disabled people stop the traffic in protest!

Disabled people stop the traffic in London’s Oxford Circus, 28th January 2012

 

Last Saturday I went to London with Annabel to join in an action about the cuts.

 

 

It was a demonstration against the cuts to disability benefits.  The cuts discriminate against disabled people.  We chained ourselves in a line across the road to stop the traffic.

We wanted to make people in Britain realise that the cuts are wrong and disabled people are suffering.

 

 

I saw it on the news. What the government is doing makes me mad.  But it was really good to see disabled people being really strong, clever and having disability pride. 

I watched a film about it on the internet.  It was great to see disabled people speaking up for our rights.  You can watch it on the Guardian website: click here.

Bullies found guilty of murder in Stephen Lawrence case

(From left) Stephen Lawrence, Gary Dobson and David Norris

 

 

Over the holidays the court case about Stephen Lawrence has finished. We have written about this in our blog last June and November.
The bullies were in the gang who killed Stephen Lawrence and have been found guilty of murder and sent to prison.

 They are called Gary Dobson and David Norris and they will be in prison for a long time.  Some people think they should be in prison for a much longer time because it was such a terrible crime.

  

Even though this is a sad story, the one good thing is that it has got a lot of people in Britain talking about racism and what we can do about it.

  

I hope that this will help Duwayne, his family and the Lawrence family to move on.  It has been very hard for them to lose Stephen but now there has been some justice for his death.

Leeds OAP Tied Up and Robbed

Annabel says:

It is sickening what has happened to Mr Watson in Leeds. He was tricked on the doorstep and pushed inside his own home by people he didn’t know. He was tied up whilst the intruders went through his house and wrecked it and robbed him.

Malak says:

It was brave of Mr Watson to raise the alarm, by calling a neighbour and his son. The neighbour called the police.

  

Ace says:  

I hope the police find these men with the descriptions from Mr Watson. 

                                     

 KA says:

Never, never open the door to people without any ID or to people you don’t know - this can lead to you being hurt or your home being burgled.

David Askew and his family

David Askew

Annabel says:

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (called the IPCC for short) is a group who look into it when someone says they haven’t had a good service from the police or when there has been a big problem like someone dies. Their job is to look into it and come up with ideas about how to stop the same problem from happening again.

The IPCC have been looking at the case of David Askew and his family. After Mr Askew died it became clear that the family had reported being bullied to the police many times. 

 

K.A.Maracas says:

The IPCC have finished their report about what happened and they have said:

 1. The police did not name the ways the family were at risk because of their disabilities

2. The police did not name the bullying as disability hate crime

3. The police and the other organisations (like social services) did not work together to help the family

4. The police and the other organisations did not deal with the bullies and stop them from behaving badly. 

 Ace says:

It is good that the IPCC have said this and it interesting that the same things were said about the Fiona Pilkington and Frankie Hardwick case. 

   

 

Malak says:

Who is Fiona Pilkington and Frankie Hardwick? 

    

Ace says:

The Pilkington case is very important because it was in the news and a lot of people were very shocked about what happened.   

   

 

K.A.Maracas says: 

Yes, because it made a lot of people realize that we have to do something about disability hate crime.   

 

 

Malak says:

So what happened to them? 

 

Ace says:

Fiona Pilkington and her disabled daughter Frankie Hardwick were bullied. They put up with years of harassment and verbal abuse from local young people. They reported it to the police but nothing was done to protect them. In 2007 they killed themselves. 

Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Frankie Hardwick

 

Malak says:

We want all hate crimes to stop – right now! We want all victims to be able to speak up and get help!