A WOMAN from the Isle of Wight is at the forefront of a new police initiative to provide security to people who are blind, or who have problems with their sight.
Tina Snow helped inspire the idea after her experience last year.
Scroll down for her story...
Hampshire Constabulary has launched a new protocol - called VIP - to help visually impaired people identify police officers.
How it works...
If you're visually impaired and need to call 101, or 999, you can agree a password with the call handler.
When an officer visits you, they should repeat the password back, to prove who they are.
The advice is not to let them in unless that can do that.
Tina uses experience to inspire positive change
Newport resident Tina Snow, who is blind, got a knock on the door from a police officer and was concerned.
She said: “Last year I had a police officer call at my door. He was making enquiries after an attempted break-in at a neighbouring property. Unfortunately he did not have any braille ID on him.
“I let him in, and I shouldn’t have because I was taking a huge risk, as he could have been anybody.
“I contacted Hampshire police and am delighted they have put together a protocol to safeguard people with sight loss in the future.”
Craig Dibdin, force lead for disability, said: “We contacted Tina and were absolutely delighted she was willing to work with us to help us find a solution.
“We have been working closely with local charities Sight for Wight, Southampton Sight, and Open Sight to gain further feedback from visually impaired members of the community about their experiences with the police, and to introduce the VIP to them.”
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