Southampton’s Hate Crime Network and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have teamed up to make Southampton’s hate crime reporting app available to all Hampshire and Isle of Wight residents.
Hate Crime Awareness Week
This week’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week sees the app being updated with details of more than 70 Third Party Reporting Centres, which will give victims of hate crime anywhere in the Hampshire Constabulary policing area easy access to their nearest reporting centre.
Third Party Reporting Centres are independent of the police and offer confidential support to victims of hate crime, including reporting and signposting to specialist support services.
The hate crime reporting app was launched last year by a partnership of 29 organisations in Southampton as part of a community-wide anti-hate campaign.
Loynes: Aim is to stamp out hate crime
Ian Loynes, Chief Executive SPECTRUM Centre for Independent Living and Chair of the Southampton Hate Crime Network, said:
“We developed the app last year to make reporting of hate crime much easier for people in Southampton.
“Our aim is to stamp out hate crime, and we can only do that if people feel confident and empowered to recognise hate crimes and report them.”
The app, which is available to download on Google Play and Apple, allows its users to immediately report a hate crime to the nearest third-party reporting centre. Users can also use the app to learn more about what a hate crime is and the types of hate crimes that can occur.
Lane: Looking to develop the app further
Police and Crime Commissioner Michael Lane said:
“There are now more than 70 Third Party Reporting Centres across our region, many of them embedded within local communities, and it is important that victims of hate crime have an easy way of accessing them, no matter where they are.
“Over the last three years the Commissioner has invested more than £250,000 in tackling hate crime, but it is only through working in partnership with local community initiatives that we can make a real difference. Together with the Southampton Hate Crime Network, who have been leading on this community response to hate crime, we will be looking to develop the app further in the coming months to ensure victims have the best possible information and support at hand.”
A list of all Third Party Reporting Centres as well as detailed information about hate crime for the public and also businesses and organisations is available on the on the Commissioner’s website.
News shared by the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Michael Lane. Ed
