Dyfed Powys Police Is Working Towards Becoming A Dementia Friendly Organisation
Dyfed Powys Police will be promoting Dementia Awareness throughout the force area and encouraging all staff to become Dementia Friends.
Our ageing communities are very much a focus of our work here in Dyfed-Powys, so much so that one of the objectives of our strategic equality plan is:
To ensure that staff and officers have the appropriate knowledge and resources to take into account our ageing population through service delivery and workforce management.
The most common point of contact police officers and staff have with people with dementia is when they are experiencing a crisis. However, they may also be a victim, witness or perpetrator of crime. Effective partnership working and improved training are key to ensuring an appropriate police response in all situations. It is also important to remember that many people in the service are, or will be, affected directly by dementia.
A number of our local Neighbourhood Policing Teams already support Dementia Friendly communities having become recognised Dementia Friends, with a number of officers becoming Dementia Friends Champions in order to allow them to deliver the inputs themselves. Several departments within the Force have already received the input and this will now be delivered throughout the force area.
As the force works towards becoming a Dementia Friendly Organisation it pledges to
Identify Dementia Champions within the organisation whom can be trained to deliver the input to staff and officers;
Roll out Dementia Friendly training across the Force, and encourage all that undertake training to wear the ‘forget me not’ badges;
Raise awareness within the Force of the impact of dementia on policing, and ensure that increased awareness informs policy and procedures
A missing person’s protocol for people living with Dementia is currently being trialed by the Neighbourhood Policing Team in Ammanford with a view to introducing it force-wide. The ‘Herbert Protocol’ initiative is a preventative measure and involves asking carers’, family members and friends to complete a form in advance, recording all vital details about their loved one such as medication required, mobile numbers, places previously located, a photograph etc. This information can then be shared quickly with the relevant agencies should their loved one be reported as missing.
Chief Constable Mark Collins said:
“It’s really important we deliver a service that is accessible to all our communities and is mindful of all our communities’ needs. By becoming a Dementia Friendly Organisation and developing dementia friendly services we will be able to better assist those who have dementia and their families. I would like to thank the Alzheimers Society for their support in helping us as we work towards becoming a Dementia Friendly Organisation.
Marcia Vale, Dementia Friendly Communities Co-ordinator for Alzheimer’s Society Cymru said;
“A dementia-friendly community is a city, town or village where people with dementia are understood, respected, supported, and confident they can contribute to community life.
“It is great to hear of the positive work of Dyfed Powys Police. They are setting a high standard that I hope many more will follow across the country. We want people from all walks of life and backgrounds to join the Dementia Friendly Communities movement.”
PIC from left to right
PC Thomas Draycott; Chief Superintendent Claire Parmenter; Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn; Chief Constable Mark Collins; Cheryl James, Operations Manager South West Wales for Alzheimers’s Society Cymru; Inspector Brian Jones; Sergeant Kerry Scoberg; Marcia Vale, Dementia Friendly Communities Coordinator for Alzheimer’s Society Cymru.
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