## Crown Prosecution Service Policy

# Prosecuting Crimes Against Disabled People

You can read more about this in
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## Cps Policy

-  Make sure that we find out about
 as soon as we can.  This also
    includes
.
-  Do our best to make sure we have enough
    information for a court to work out if they think it is true that someone has done a crime.
-  Ask for a bigger sentence if we think someone
    broke the law because a person had a disability. This could mean a longer time in prison or paying a bigger fine.
-  Ask for a bigger sentence if we think that what
    happened was made worse because someone
 
    had a disability.
-  Work with other organisations like the police,
    so that we can better understand crimes against disabled people.
-  Work with disabled people to check how well this
    policy is working.  This will help us to get better at what we do.
●
 can happen
    if a someone thinks that disabled people are
 
    less important than other people.
-  Some people may think that disabled people
  
    are easy targets if they want to do a crime.
-  The problems that disabled people may face
    do not happen because of their disability. These problems happen because of the
 
    barriers they face in their lives - this means
 
    things that might stop people.  This is called
    the
.
-  Did the crime happen because someone
    was treating a person with a disability in a worse way?
-  Did the crime happen because someone has
    a disability?
If either of these things have happened, then it is more likely that we will take someone to court.

This section **CPS Policy** is about how we work when we take people to court.  Do you think this covers all the right things?

## Crimes Against Disabled People

-  The effect of the crime on a victim
    who has a disability
-  The person who did the crime knowing or
    thinking that the victim had a disability
By disability, we mean something that has a bad, long-term effect on your every day life - this can be either mentally or physically. You can read more about this in

## Disability Hate Crime

If someone did a crime because a person has a disability, then the court can give them a bigger sentence. We have agreed with the police what we mean by
.  A
 is:

 
Any crime which people think has happened
because a person has a disability or someone thinks that person has a disability.
You can read more about this in

## Disablism

We know that crimes against disabled people can happen because of the way people think about disabled people - some people might think disabled people are less important.  This is called
.  We will try to find information so that a court can decide if this is true.

## Other Types Of Hate Crime Situational Risk And "Vulnerable Victims"

We know that disabled people are often called "vulnerable". We think this makes it sound as though disabled people are weak and that they cannot cope without help.  When people think like this, they might do things or make decisions that have a bad effect on disabled people.  For example, with independence or safety. Another bad effect can be that some people think that disabled people cannot be good witnesses in court. So, instead of calling someone "vulnerable", we talk about "
" and an "at risk situation".  This means that it is what is happening around a person that is a problem, not the person.

Someone might try to use a situation to commit a crime against someone with a disability.  Or they might see a situation as a chance to harm someone with a disability, either mentally or physically.

We always try to use the word "vulnerable".

But sometimes we have to use it when talking about the law.

Does this section called Situational risk and "Vulnerable Victims" show that we do want to label people as "vulnerable"?

## The Social Model Of Disability

These barriers or things that stop people can be:

-  buildings and services that are not accessible -  attitudes and the way people think
●organisations that are not flexible and do not
change to meet people's needs
Reporting a crime, giving a statement and being in court can be difficult for anyone.  We know it can be even harder if someone has a disability. We do not want people to think that disabled people cannot be good witnesses in court. We know that having the right support helps to get rid of the barriers some disabled people face. We have made a Support Statement that says what support people can get from the CPS, the police and other crime organisations. We will:

-  Not make guesses about how reliable someone
  may be and ask that others do the same
-  Make sure that disabled people know what help
  they can get in court
-  Be more likely to take people to court if they did a
  crime because someone has a disability
-  Be careful about the words we use - we will only
  use the word "vulnerable" when we have to
-  Remember that some people will use the fact
  that a person is disabled as a reason for doing a crime
Does this section show how the CPS uses he social model of disability in the way it works?

## Working With Other Criminal Justice Agencies

This happens locally and nationally.  It helps us to understand crimes against disabled people.

## Criminal Investigation

Sometimes this can mean that we ask the police to look at other reports of possible crimes or we ask them to speak to other organisations.

## Charging Decisions

We look at whether there is enough information for a court to decide if it is true that someone did a crime. We then look at whether it is in the public interest that someone goes to court.  This means:  is it important for everyone? When we make a decision about crimes against disabled people, we will also think about:

-  What happened?  What harm that
  was caused - this could be mental or physical harm?
-  Did it happen because someone thought that
  disabled people are less important?  Or did
 
  they want to hurt someone, because they
 
  are disabled?
-  How much did this affect other people?
  This also includes thinking about the effect on the disabled community.
You can read more about this in

## Bail

We understand that this can be a worrying time for victims.  We know that disabled victims can be more affected by this.  For example, this can happen if the person who did a crime is also the disabled person's supporter.

We will work with other organisations to help people get the support they need. When we decide if we agree that someone can get bail and stay out of prison until their trial, we think about how this could affect a person who has a disability.

## Withdrawal

But we may still take someone to court, if we think that there is enough evidence or information to show that it is true that someone did a crime. You can read more about this in

## Prosecution And Sentencing

If the court decides this is true, then we can ask for a bigger sentence.  We will do this even if a has not happened, but the crime has had a big effect on someone because they have a disability.

We will ask for compensation or money to make up for the harm caused by the crime. We also look at a victim's needs, to make sure they will be kept safe from the person who did the crime in the future. You can read more about this in Does this section on make it clear when the CPS will ask for a bigger sentence?

## Victim'S Right To Review

We have a policy called Victim's Right to Review which we follow when this happens.

## Disabled Defendants

When this happens we also try to treat people fairly and make sure they have the right support.

## Making Sure We Use This Policy

You can read more about this in Is there anything else you want to say about the CPS Policy on Prosecuting Crimes against Disabled People?

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