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Cheshire Police to take part in initiative addressing hate crime

Cheshire Police to take part in initiative addressing hate crime

Categories: Latest News

Wednesday February 07 2018

The Chester Standard reports that the Cheshire Constabulary is to join the other North West police forces this week to address hate crime.

The initiative will involve various events being held across the region to raise awareness of hate crime, in an effort to better tackling it.

Nick Bailey – the Acting Assistant Chief Constable at Cheshire Constabulary – said: “Being targeted because of your race, gender identity, religion/faith, sexual orientation or disability is a hate crime and we are determined to do all we can to stop all forms of hate crime”.

The initiative follows evidence that communities most vulnerable to hate crime are also frequently distrustful of reporting incidents to the police and unaware of third party reporting services.

Mr Bailey continued: “…we understand that some people are wary of speaking to the police. It is imperative that victims have the confidence to speak out if they have been subjected to a hate crime…”.

The events aim to educate the public on what constitutes a hate crime, encourage the reporting of hate crimes, and to raise awareness of the different support services available for victims of hate crime.

One part of the initiative will involve a training event being held on diversity and hate crime reporting. This will focus on improving the training of staff of third party reporting centres.

Inspector David Gordon – Cheshire Constabulary’s hate crime lead – said: “Third party reporting centres are community service allies that help us ensure that as many of the incidents of hate crime that take place in Cheshire are reported to us as possible”.

Considering the growing number of hate crime cases, it is highly welcome that police forces are taking stronger, and more community-based, initiatives.

It is important that anyone who believes they are in immediate danger from a prejudice-based hate crime should contact the police as soon as possible on 999. If not in immediate danger, or if you have suffered a prejudice-based hate crime in the past, then you can report it using the non-emergency number 101.

You can also – in addition to the police – report any Islamophobic hate crime to MEND’s Islamophobia Response Unit (IRU) here. This allows us to monitor levels of abuse and compile accurate data on the levels of Islamophobia.

The IRU can also help you contact and deal with the police (if you choose to do so), and signpost you towards free legal advice and emotional support that may be available.

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